Happy 4th of July. We hope everyone has had a safe and fun holiday. We, of course were working, but enjoyed a fun cookout and swim at a neighbor’s. July is a real transitional time on the farm. All the early season crops have pretty much run their course, so we’re starting to clean up those beds. We’re pulling out the drip lines, folding up any row cover we used on them, taking down trellises, mowing down the crop residue, and discing it all in. If we can get a large section cleaned up we can sow some buckwheat, a fast growing cover crop, that bees and wasps love. As well as cleaning up we’re also getting ready for fall. Many of the leaf greens, cabbages, broccoli, etc, have been sown in the greenhouse. They will be ready to plant our by the end of the month and ready for harvest in late August, early September. So we’re dealing with the past, present, and future crops at this point in the season.

The present crops are looking very good. I think I mentioned that first round of corn has tassled and there are now little ears of corn getting bigger on the stalks. The third round of summer squash is about to get started, as the first round is about to be mowed down. The winter squash is starting to vine out and flower. As those flowers are germinated little fruits will start to grow. The mature squash won’t be harvested until late August, a full three months of growing. The bio-degradeable mulch is holding up well. We have to keep the paths weeded, but haven’t had to do any weeding in the beds or around the plants. So far so good with that experiment.

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