Trials and Tribulations of This Summer

Although last week brought more of the same - yup, hot and dry - by Friday we at least had the first cloud cover that we've seen in weeks. The rain predicted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday didn't amount to much, and we're still very much feeling the effects of the drought that 99% of Massachusetts is experiencing.  It's not just that

we're moving our irrigation systems constantly, which has accounted for many, many labor hours this year, but that it has been impossible to get a buildup of soil moisture.  The depth of dryness is so extensive, the soil particles are so desiccated and the air has been so hot that the tension between getting water on as many crops as possible over the course of a week and having water on crops long enough to really soak them has been one we can't ease.   Lack of water leads to stressed crops which in turn makes them more susceptible to pests and disease.  We're seeing this effect heavily in our spring planted kale and collards, which are staples of the CSA distribution and our Outreach Market.  It used to be that flea beetle pressure would be high in the spring but by the time we were putting fall brassicas in the ground in mid-July, pressure would be low enough to not affect them too much.  There would be a perfect lull in the population and when the second generation appeared briefly in the hot days of August, the plants would be established enough to fend them off and be less appealing to the pest.  This summer is the worst pressure I've seen of the beetle, and our newly planted cabbages, kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, and especially Napa have already needed a spraying of the few approved controls we're able to use in organic production.  We seem to be in the midst of a population boom with the second generation coming on earlier than ever.  

Flea beetle damage is unsightly, but the produce is perfectly fine
 to eat (and may even contain higher amounts of phytochemicals 
good for human health) .

For the first time ever, we've decided to use row cover on a few beds of July planted Napa seedlings, a control method we usually reserve for the cooler weather afforded by the spring.  We've had to spray our spring planting multiple times and I was surprised and disappointed to see our purple kale practically black with flea beetles last week.  And despite getting the irrigation going on them at least weekly, the plants seem to have stopped growing altogether in the droughty heat wave.  There have been many hours spent weeding, feeding and watering our earlier planting of kale and collards and I am hoping that they'll pull through the next month to bridge the gap to the new planting.  But if the flea beetle pressure on them continues to be too strong to contain then we'll have to make the tough decision to mow it early in order to ensure the health of our fall crops.  As for now, we're taking a break from harvesting both kale and collards with the hope that a little more tending will get them back on track. 

Weed crew has their hands full this season.

One of the other big challenges the drought has presented has been with our direct seeded crops.  Most of what we grow is started in the greenhouse and transplanted out into the fields as seedlings.  A few crops, namely carrots, dill, cilantro and beans, are seeded multiple times throughout the season directly in ground.  Usually just a little soil moisture is enough to get these guys germinated and popping through the soil, either ahead of or neck and neck with the plentiful weed seeds in our fields.   This year we're struggling with all in-field germination, which has been erratic, unreliable and sometimes just not there.  The weeds, however, are as opportunistic as ever, and the irrigation that we're putting on our direct seeded beds has frustratingly been enough to encourage weed germination but not our crops.  When this happens, it becomes extremely difficult to cultivate or even hand weed the beds.  A flush of weeds grows rapidly, and if we've got our cilantro or carrots coming up a week later at best, and another week or so before the crops are established enough to actually weed around, then we end up in quite a pickle.  At that point, the weeds are so well rooted that it becomes even more disruptive to pull them out and increases the likelihood of pulling out the small, tender, just barely there crop.  On top of that, the soil is probably pretty dry, because we probably have the irrigation going on the newly planted lettuce that we're trying to keep alive in the 95 degree heat.  Weeding small crops in these hot and dry conditions can actually disrupt the plants to create more harm than good.  My hope here is that you can start to understand why the beans, dill and cilantro you may be picking in the next couple weeks are such a hairy jungle.  Luckily, the cherry and plum tomatoes have strong fruit sets and we're starting to see some more consistent ripening with them.  We're getting water on the tomatillos and husk cherries as much as we can and hoping to see them, along with the chiles, come on in the next few weeks.

 It's tough to keep energy and attitude from faltering in the kind of weather we've had this season.The past few weeks in particular have been so hot and trying that it's demanded a real commitment to community and camaraderie from everyone working in the fields.  Thankfully, everyone was able to rise above the impossible drain of the heat waves and keep on keeping on.  By Friday we had those precious clouds all day (though not filled with nearly as much rain as we would have liked) and I was feeling the cumulative fatigue of countless 90+ degree days and relentless sun.   But with a spirit true to both farm crews this year, everyone rallied for a 3:30 power push, getting the last of our cauliflower planted in record time, all of us racing against our own exhaustion.  With a final burst of energy, we surged through the end of July together.

Enjoy the harvest!  
-Erinn, Farm Manager

for the farm staff

Notes from the Field: Too Much of a Good Thing

Plants need water. This is one of those basic lessons you learn in elementary school (or, in the case of my personal houseplants, you keep on learning -- sorry, plants). When it's raining, we don't have to irrigate. When it's raining, we can get other work done.

These are the things we kept telling ourselves last week when it just kept raining. We got six inches of rain between Friday the 7th and Thursday the 13th -- more than in the entire month of May. It rained while we were doing our first harvests, re-learning all the things we knew last season about picking and packing and washing and storing. We got a few beds of okra and lettuce planted in between the showers. We seeded lots of fall broccoli and cauliflower in the greenhouse. All of the other tasks that farmers need to do in June -- cultivating, turning in cover crop, seeding, making beds for crops that need to go in, fertilizing plants that need a little extra after the rain washes it all out, scouting for all the pests and diseases that can pop up in cool, wet weather -- had to wait. Even the weed crew, who just started June 4, had two days when they helped harvest instead of weeding last week as the rain made it too wet to pull weeds in the field.

The trick with the wet weather is the mind games it plays. We know we shouldn't be in the fields when they're that wet. Even the pigs know; they stayed inside their Pig Palace for most of last week. But farmers sitting on their hands in June, when we should be our busiest, makes for some cranky farmers. We should be out killing weeds. We should be out seeding carrots. We should be out plowing in rye and vetch to make room for fall crops. But we can't. And so we wait. And worry. We pace, and complain, and put on the rain gear again, and get used to the ache in the feet from the rain boots that -- let's face it -- just aren't that comfortable, and try to remember all the things that we had on our rainy-day list back when it was sunny and warm.

The wise farmer Dan Kaplan, of Brookfield Farm in Amherst, said of last week "at times like these we try to remember that what is required is a spiritual practice. We can only change what we can change. And for all else, we have to learn acceptance."

By Friday, acceptance came a little easier. We remembered how to deal with wet weather. You put all your plans on the shelf and seed in the greenhouse. You eat a little rhubarb snacking cake (thank you, Lizzie!) and catch up on your paperwork. You settle in to the sound of the drops on the barn roof and greet all the shareholders who don't mind picking herbs in the rain, and enjoy the sight of all the brightly colored rain gear in the fields. You wait for the rain to stop and the sun to come out so that you can check out all the crops, see how things fared, and catch up on everything else.

Enjoy the harvest,

Amanda, for the farm crew