July 31, 2025
The past week brought some truly sleepless nights as we watched the radar, wondering what Mother Nature had in store. Days like this past Monday were a blur of cleaning up from Sunday night's storm and preparing for round two.
While we can't control the weather, we do our best to adapt. That means making quick decisions like repositioning irrigation pivots to align with anticipated winds and choosing whether to open or close our high tunnels. It's a constant balance of protecting against animals and preventing wind damage. Sometimes we get it right, and other times we learn.
As of Tuesday afternoon, we were still assessing damage, but we also know it could have been much worse than what we are seeing.
- We have some downed trees, one of which is on a house, but those are manageable.
- Our sweet corn took a pretty big hit from the high winds, but we're crossing our fingers that it will perk back up in the coming days.
- We had some posts snap inside our high tunnels, which just means the winds were extremely strong.
- A few pumpkin fields are underwater from all the rain. Some will be a complete loss, but we're holding out hope for others to dry out and recover this week.
We truly have zero control over Mother Nature, so we've learned to adapt and make the best of every circumstance. Time will tell the true effects of the past two evenings.
Dive into Harvest Season: It's Tomato Time!
And just like that, we're in the thick of harvest season! We're adding more and more items each week, and right now, it's all about tomatoes.
You might remember our "big tomato mishap" back in March. Our first shipment of grafted tomatoes froze during shipping, wiping out almost all the plants. This put us behind schedule, but a few salvaged plants combined with our second planting are now producing fruit simultaneously!
This happy accident means we have an abundance, leading to our Tomato Spectacular! It's the perfect time to stock up for canning and freezing, and we're offering some great deals for the next two weeks.
Beyond Tomatoes: A Bounty of Fresh Produce
Tomatoes aren't the only stars of the show!
- Peppers of all kinds are starting to come in, including colored bells, shishitos, serranos, and even some Sweet Italians.
- We're harvesting homegrown cantaloupe every couple of days, and we've even begun picking a few homegrown Black Diamond watermelons for our pop-up markets.
- Those highly anticipated Sugar Cube melons are also making their appearance, and we expect them to become more consistent once we transition from high tunnel production to field harvesting within the next 10 days.
The Rhythm of the Farm: Hard Work and Tough Choices
Our harvest lists are long, and there are only so many hours in a week. While we'd love to give everyone unlimited overtime this time of year, it's just not financially feasible.
This means we make tough calls daily about what absolutely needs to be harvested and what can wait. It often becomes a game of give and take, but we make it through, one crop at a time.
Support Local: A Little Goes a Long Way
If we could suggest just one thing right now, it would be this: shop local and support local farmers.
It's been a challenging growing season with unpredictable weather patterns. Make an effort to visit local farm stands, trek to your farmers market, or seek out locally grown produce at the grocery store.
Yes, it might add a little time to your shopping schedule, but it goes a long way in keeping local production thriving here in Minnesota. This is the best time of year to enjoy farm-fresh produce with so many varieties and options available.
Challenge yourself to cook one meal a week using all local ingredients and share your awesome creations with us on social media – we'd love to see them!
