RAIN!!! A storm rolled through last weekend that brought cloud cover, lower temps and overnight rain during the early hours of Sunday. Aaaahhhhh, it's hard to put to words just how refreshing and calming it felt to hear rain drops falling on the roof... and to feel thick humid air. I think this storm brought the most moisture we have seen since August... August! Needless to say, we feel temporarily rebooted and I sense the farm feels the same.
Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the kickoff to Summer! What better way to spend it than outside, weeding the many crops that will feed us throughout the Summer, Fall and Winter months.
Mike seeded a cover crop of oats a couple weeks ago, they're up and LOVED the rainfall. It's pretty amazing how quickly things grow this time of the year. We check them every other day or so, and each time I'm so surprised by how much they have grown. Same goes with the potato field!
Mike wrote a piece for Edible Southwest this spring on farming in a drought year, suicide, and how to help. Please take a moment to read this. We need to be taking care of our farmers and ranchers, especially on years like this one that bring additional challenges.
In other news... I spotted a few cherry tomatoes starting to ripen in one of the Moveable Tunnels?! Tomatoes ripening in June is not a normal thing at our farm as we do not provide any supplemental heat in our greenhouses. We transplant the tomatoes in these houses once we see a pretty clear window without deep frosts in the forecast. Then we row cover them in the evenings to protect from cool temps and light frosts until they're ready to be trellised. This spring has brought us much warmer than normal day and evening temperatures and so much sunshine. This allowed us to transplant the tomatoes a bit earlier than normal. So... fingers crossed we have an early and strong tomato season! We'll keep you posted.
CSA Members! We want to THANK YOU for your incredible support, encouragement and kindness this season. Everything from sweet emails, hugs, pastries and just sincerely asking 'how are you guys doing?' reminds us how lucky we are that we get to do this work. We get to grow produce for YOU to nourish yourselves and your families and friends. Thank you for being a part of our CSA Community this season and making the commitment to support our farm and to eat locally grown produce. We're in this together, and it feels good. Thank you!
Now... on to weeding! Because if there's anything that loves a good rain it's the weeds.
Have a beautiful day!
Your Farmers,
Mindy and Mike