July 9, 2023
Coulda, Shoulda
by Farmer Derek

Well, the fancy weather forecasting computers misinterpreted the rain gods' vibrations (data) and we could probably have hosted The Great Garlic Harvest this morning. Sometimes it's all a guessing game for us, a gambling game, picking the probabilities and possibilities. Wouldn't it be super nice to be sitting here knowing that 15,000 garlic bulbs are hanging in the barn, curing? Unfortunately we have to wait one more week to harvest and hang those goodies, but they should bide their time in the soil just fine. Also, it did give me the opportunity to disappear from the farm with the kiddos and spend some quality time playing in the ocean for half the day.

There's also another two beds of carrots to retrieve, approximately 500 feet, from the fields. Last week, with the help of many members, we cleared four beds of direct seeded, mostly straight, carrots, and one bed of transplanted, mostly interwoven and oddly shaped, carrots. Overall the yield, size, and quality of spring sown summer carrots looks great and we'll all be a little orange in a month or so.

Additional traditional summer crops are starting to grace us with their soon-to-be-plentiful presence. Cherry tomatoes are ripening, eggplant are fattening, and basil plants are bushing. Cucumbers and zucchini seem to be peaking (at least I hope anyway, so much weight...a big thanks to Farmers Gabby, Connor, and Adeline...they hauled in over a ton last week). Peppers should be picked soon and even tunnel slicing tomatoes are turning red. Heavy hauls from the pick up room indeed.