Well, no sooner had I waxed poetic about the joys of good weather and weeding than a rainy rainy week pushed us out of the fields altogether. While the weeds grow like, well, weeds, we busy ourselves with other things. When you have CSA boxes to deliver, you have to get the food in on a deadline, so harvest happens even in the rain. The lower portions of the field are either standing water or boot-sucking mud, and even the higher parts of the fields are pretty saturated. The soil is pretty sandy here, which usually means it dries pretty fast. Unfortunately in wet seasons, however, we’re not very high above the water table, so the water doesn’t really have anywhere to go. If this weather continues, we’ll run the risk of losing some of the plants at the lower end. As it is, we’re probably looking at some stunted growth. The good news is that all of the crops have a higher end of the field, so as long as we can keep them weeded (eventually) and keep the bugs at bay, we should end up with some food. When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound that hard, does it?
With the rains comes humidity and puddles, which means we’re knee-deep in the first flush of sticky mosquito weather, which for me is a much harder battle to fight than the weeds or the rain. I found myself pruning and trellising tomatoes in the hot greenhouse in long pants, long sleeves, and my collar pulled up over my face and ears. I’ll tell you, it really does motivate you to move faster!
This past weekend, I drove down to surprise my dad on Father’s Day and watch Argentina’s first game in the World Cup. It was great to be home even for about 36 hours, and was worth the drive. This coming weekend, I’m looking forward to attending a permaculture meet-up on a farm down towards Madison. It’s a whole weekend, full of workshops and potlucks and good music, and I’m anticipating meeting lots of cool people.
Thinking about: buzzzzzzing, pest control, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!
Eating: stir-fry with Chinese cabbage, garlic scapes, ground pork and rice noodles; crunchy juicy delicious sugar snap peas; salad salad salad
Reading: Atina Diffley’s Turn Here Sweet Corn, Michael Phillips’ The Holistic Orchard, Christopher Shein’s The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture
