June 27, 2024
The sunny, breezy afternoons with temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s have been a welcomed sight this week. While we celebrated the rain early in the season, it has now come in excess, leading to flooded fields. That presents a wide variety of challenges.
Among the challenges we have faced are fewer planting rotations, broken machinery and planting equipment, and much lower yields. However, we realize that after the chronic drought we experienced over the past few years, the rain has replenished the aquifers for irrigation, refilled our wetlands (which have been dry for several seasons), and finally provided a “drink” for many of the drought-stressed trees on our woodlands. So, although the rain has been challenging, we are trying to remain optimistic!
Those Beautiful Berries
One thing sparking our optimism is that we are harvesting the most beautiful strawberries you’ve ever seen.
It’s almost a miracle, but we’ve been able to keep our berry crop producing through all of this rain, and the berries are looking and tasting phenomenal. For a new twist this year, we’ve opened up our strawberry field for the first time ever for our guests to come and pick their own berries!
With Veggies Right Behind
We continue to harvest sweet and tender zucchini, slicing cucumbers, chub cukes, and even some green beans!
Green beans are one of those crops that have really been affected by the rain. Enjoy them now, because once we are done harvesting the crop from our high tunnels, we will have a fairly substantial break until the next planting, because the ones in the field were drowned out.
Don’t worry, more will be coming, we’ll just need to be patient. We’ve begun harvesting a few tomatoes as well, but we could definitely use some hot summer days to move the ripening along.
Adjusting, and then Adjusting Some More
All in all, we are hanging in there. Each year brings different challenges. In a drought, we can typically control growing conditions by adding water with irrigation. But in a year with excess rain, we can’t remove moisture. That makes crop management just a bit more complex. We’re up for the challenge though, and will do everything possible to continue to grow for you.
