July 26, 2010
July 25, 2010
This is a strange growing season! We just have to be upfront. Last week we got another 4 inches of rain and a few days where the heat index shot to around 110 degrees. The strange part is how it's been the wettest summer in many, many years, but the rains come mostly at night, which makes it seem like a dry year. Very strange.
Needless to say, we didn't need another 4 inches of rain following all the rain we've already received in July (granted, we don't need a drought, either, but still....). We got it, and we'll deal with it, but it sure starts sounding like a broken record to keep writing about it every week. (... and, yes, the "broken record" reference is becoming sadly out of date, isn't it?)
A season like this, when the weather is playing havoc with the crops week after week, is a real test for local, sustainable agriculture. Our primary value is in our longevity and quality, in our commitment to reducing inputs, pollution, resource use, unnatural soil erosion, synthetic chemicals, etc, as well as our commitment to building soils, connecting the community to the land, stewarding the production of excellent crops, and building and diversifying the local economy. But it all comes back to the weather. We need it, and we work with it every day, but we can't control it.
The rough times put your principles and commitments to the test. But we welcome that test, knowing that our investment (and your investment) are succeeding even if the weather causes short term havoc with short term crop production. We continue to do the work of farming, and continue to stay ahead of the curve as best we can... With farming, the future is always bright, even during days that are blindingly bright!
This week, we continue to harvest tomatoes, which is great fun, although we expect to find more cracked skins, which just means we all need to eat them as soon as possible. Please refer to last weeks newsletter for our description of the cracked tomato skins.
WHAT'S IN YOUR SHARE
Full Share: Tomatoes, squash, cucumber, scallions, bunched leeks, fennel, carrots, beets, basil
Half Share: Tomatoes, squash, cucumber, scallions, carrots, beets, basil
The best summertime meal? Tomato-Basil Sandwich!: This is the time to enjoy tomato-basil sandwiches. Buy some really good fresh bread, fresh mozzarella cheese, and some olive oil... Slice one of your heirloom tomatoes, and make a wonderfully fresh sandwich of bread, tomato, sliced mozarella, and fresh basil leaves seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. Make sure everything is fresh and you can't go wrong. Add some olives and a refreshing beverage of your choice... enjoy this meal all summer long!
HOW TO FARM WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL
Plants need water, but too much is as bad as too little. In fact, plants whose roots are sitting in too much water respond the exact same way as plants with too little, by wilting. Plants wilt when they can't take up enough water to keep themselves upright. When plants aren't getting enough water, the reason is obvious: there simply isn't enough water for plants to get. When there is too much water, the reason plants can't take up enough water is that the roots are literally drowning. Plant roots need air as much as their leaves do, for a multitude of reasons. Another possibility is that the roots are actually rotting, much like anything would if it sat in overly moist conditions too long.
There are a couple of strategies we can use to manage overly wet conditions. The easiest strategy is be patient for conditions to change. The most drastic strategy is to carve out drainage gullies across our fields. Or, in the future, we can use implements to raise the bed in our seed beds a few inches (on 5-acres, it's not feasible for us to make permanent raised beds like you would in a garden; there's just too much area to cover). Another short-term strategy is to allow weeds and/or deep rooted cover crops to remove excess water through transpiration. Or, we try to cultivate the soil to expose it to the heat and sun above.
The best short-term solution to most bad conditions is to keep planting. We're prepared to respond to the bad weather this year with tens of thousands of plants being readied for transplant in the near future, not to mention all the seeds that we'll sow directly soon enough. This is the age-old best-response that has taken farmers and gardeners through countless rough patches and bad years. It's a constant belief and faith in the future, that if at first things don't succeed, try, try again. Like we mentioned at the outset, we can't control the weather. But, we also can't let the weather control us, at least in terms of controlling our emotional responses and desires to possibly panic and do too much when we could do what's right.
For those of you who are new to CSA, and thus new to being this closely connected to the local growing season, remember that a rough weather year every now and then is normal, and that small farms have survived many periods of rough weather only to thrive immediately afterwards. We have friends in the East who nearly lost all their summer production last year, and now are having a banner year. That's the pattern we're familiar with, even here the past several years. You simply cannot predict the weather, but you know that if you don't like it now then it'll probably change soon. We keep the faith, and appreciate the opportunities we have to wait this out.
WHAT WE'RE PLANTING
We can't wait to plant again! This is time for planting cabbages, broccoli, bok choy, kale, collards, rutabaga, kohlrabi, broccoli raab, and any other member of the brassica family. Also, we have a couple more weeks to start fall carrots, and few more weeks to start fall beets. We have one more sowing of scallions and basil coming up, and then they're pretty much done, as they won't grow much into October. We still have a few more weeks of bean sowing. And lettuce! We sow lots of lettuc this time of year.
A VISIT FROM VEGETABLE SPECIALIST ELIZABETH WAHLE
Back in May, when our fields were under water for two weeks and our spring crops were suffering across the board, we contacted our local Ag Extension office in Edwardsville to ask for consultation. It turns out that the statewide specialist for vegetables and fruits, Elizabeth Wahle, is based in Edwardsville, which gives us direct access to the person with the broadest base of information regarding any number of problems we might be facing. At the time, from our descriptions of the crops and the fields, she gave some great advice on what to look and plan for. Mostly we needed to know whether she thought the problems were only temporary or much larger than that....
We were happy to welcome her to the farm last week for an on-site consultation. It turns out that she liked what she saw, relative to the conditions we've been working with. According to her, most of our most pressing problems are primarily due to the excessive rain. Even as we walked in the fields, crops were sitting in water, conditions which are perfect for the spread of disease, especially molds and mildews. Ultimately, she was very encouraging and pressed us to be patient with this season, and to stick to our management strategies which are otherwise setting us up for good things to come. Overall, she said it looks like we're doing very well, all things considered...
LOOKING AHEAD...
The rain and heat prevented us from planting last week, so we have a LOT of planting coming up. We really like this time of year because planting and sowing seeds is one of our favorite activities, and is also a chance to apply what we learned in the spring. Due to be planted are a lot of fall brassica's like cabbage, radicchio, broccoli, kale, collards, chinese cabbage, etc., plus basil, scallions, fennel, lettuce, escarole, spinach and salad greens. In the meantime, this is the time for our fruiting crops, like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant to start hitting their stride.
Until next week...
Kris and Stacey, and the rest of the Riverbend Roots family!
