July 5th.
Finally saw the sun today after what seems like weeks. This sunshine combined with the steady and sometimes stiff Northwest wind will go a long way toward drying out the soggy soil that has, in the past, been called Hope’s Edge garden. It is, however a long long way that we need to go before these fields can be called gardens again.
The pleasant day afforded me the opportunity to walk the garden and fields taking stock. What I saw is not the scene that makes a gardeners’ heart soar. I will describe in the next few paragraphs the situation that we the gardeners and you the consumers currently find ourselves. I am providing this somewhat bleak description not to depress you but in order to put us all on the same page with regards to the season ahead.
First, a note about last months’ weather. Unless you’ve been sailing in the Bahamas for the last month you don’t need me to tell you that it’s been wet. How wet? Record setting wet. Eleven and a quarter inches of rain fell in June surpassing the old record of 10 inches set in June 06. The average precipitation for June is three and a half inches. (This begs the question; Are extremely wet Junes going to become more commonplace? Some climate scientists say yes.) In addition its been colder than normal. The highest temperature for all of last month was only 73 degrees; 14 degrees cooler than the highest June temperature last year. We also had two mornings of frost last month. » read more…
Wednesday morning, June 24th. Just took a walk around the farm to see how things are growing. There is an old saying that the best fertilizer is the farmer’s footprints across the field. The implication being that by walking the fields the farmer is able to observe what needs to be done. On this particular walk as my foot lifts off the ground, each footprint rapidly fills with standing water. I have observed that some of the crops are in puddles inches deep. A few growing beds have small rivulets moving across them. Weeds are everywhere and we can’t do anything about them. There are plug trays full of plants still waiting to go in the ground and the main crop of potatoes is yet to be planted – their intended home is a sea of mud. I could go on, but I will spare you from my dower mood. As for what to do? As far as I can see there is not much we can do except hope for sunshine and at least a week without rainfall. Both are remedies out of my control.
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It’s been over a month since I sent you an e-mail soliciting your comments about the general operation of Hope’s Edge CSA. I’ve received many responses and feel obliged to get back to you. But, rather than respond to each of you individually, I’ve chosen to respond with this one general note and hope that this will be more than sufficient to answer your concerns and comments. » read more…
Spring? Where? Not here in Hope Maine. It seems like not so long ago that I e-mailed you raving about the arrival of cold weather. But now, a look out my window tells me that winter is staying way past his welcome. But, it’s the weather It does me absolutely no good to complain about it. All I can do is be patient and wait for the inevitable change. In the meantime I’m visualizing an awsome May through October.
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Early in the season I had set out some books for people to borrow. They were on the table to the right of the farm stand. At the time, I had failed to mention that they were to be signed out and returned when you were done with them. Now we are down to the last week and these books have still not made it back to me. I’m hoping that they are not gone for good. If you took one of these books (I’m not refering to the magazines) please bring it with you when you come to pick up your share this week. I don’t even remember all the titles but among the titles I do remember were; Against The Grain, Saugeen River CSA cookbook, and Summer In A Jar. Please bring them back. I miss them. Tom
Next week marks the end of our season together. The garden beds have gone from sodden muck back in May and June, to productive soils which have fed us through the summer and now, for the most part lay fallow or are planted to cover crops. The cycle is nearly complete. This is a bittersweet time for me. I am sad to see the end of the productive season, yet I look forward to a winter of physical rest. » read more…
