Another Blast of Heat

For a brief period of time last week the weather forecast showed highs in the upper 70s at the end of next week, which temporarily helped us to tolerate this current furnace blast. The forecast has changed, and the heat swelters on. We're back to mildly hoping for rain after wishing it would stop raining, and so far the thunderstorms have missed us the past few days. I reluctantly turned on the irrigation yesterday for many of the crops that are currently being harvested on a continual basis. The boom and bust rain cycle leaves us pleasantly bewildered. The dry weather and soil combination is allowing us to catch up and get ahead with certain tasks like harvesting potatoes and onions, subduing grass and sowing cover crops, and perpetually working towards the common goal of successfully completing the 26-week CSA season. I feel very close to mother nature as I sit here and write these notes in a lingering sweaty mess in an un-air-conditioned house and am thankful for the solar panels providing some of the needed power to our 2 window AC units and walk-in cooler refrigerator in the barn. The window AC units are set for 60 degrees and are currently protecting potatoes, tomatoes, and winter squash, as well as some seeded flats of colder-germinating crops like spinach, lettuces, and collards. The walk-in is set for 36-40 degrees and houses everything else we harvest. I wouldn't mind sleeping out there.