Message from the farmers
Greetings,
This week’s challenge wasn’t so much as getting the scheduled plantings into the ground, or to perform any of the other numerous field chores, but to simply keep most of the vegetables alive with irrigation water. On all of our fields, we have a soil texture that is a sandy loam. While it drains well with moderate rainfall, it tends to dry out quickly with 85 to 90+oF temperatures. As you have experienced over the past week, we’ve had both very warm temperatures and no rainfall. Just as we folks loose moisture through respiration and sweating, plants loose moisture through their leaves in a process called evapo-transpiration. I can tell you that quite frankly that our staff or anyone working in the fields were not the only ones wilting over the past few days.
While I’m not terribly proud of the fact that there were some parts of our field that looked like the vegetable plants were ’sleeping’ due to the moisture stress, it was a fact. What I try to avoid in all cases, is the point of no return, which for plants is called the ‘permanent wilt point’. It is something we don’t mind seeing in any of the weeds that have been pulled from the vegetable rows, but not something we like not to happen to any of the vegetable crops.
On another note, I found out that my pickup truck temperature gauge that shows the ambient temperature registers above 100oF quite easily. I happened to glance down at my dash board just as I was turning into one of our fields this afternoon. (I was thinking that I didn’t really need to know that, just plain hot would have been enough for me to think about.)
I haven’t quite gotten into the swing of running under the sprinklers in the middle of the day, but it is definitely an option I am looking into for tomorrow’s sunny forecast of more warm temperatures.
Hope you’re staying hydrated. Below is the expected harvest list for your CSA delivery # 5, Wednesday July 7th.
Be Well,
Fred & Karen
Oh and a BIG PS: Clark, of Briermere Farms, is planning on bringing us the first week’s Fruit share for delivery to you Tomorrow. Yes, it is a week earlier than planned, but the Peaches and mixed berries, are ready and they ain’t waiting for next week to roll around. I just found out, so now, you all just found out. If you have a fruit share, please look for your fruit tomorrow with your vegetable share. Our records have you for (83) fruit shares. Each share is a bag of Peaches, 1/2 pint of raspberries, 1/2 pint of Blackberries, and 1 pint of Blueberries.
This is more than what would normally be given out in a week’s share, but the warm temperatures have moved the berries forward into optimum harvest ripeness. This will mean that subsequent weeks will have less, and since it is starting one week earlier, it may end one week sooner at the end of the season. Hopefully everyone will understand this too.
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