Did you get outside for a bit this morning?  The sauna has dissipated, at least for a little while.  It actually felt cool for the first time in an eon this morning.  There was a delicious breeze, the sky was bluer than blue, it was in the 60s and it was not at all humid.  After months of working in hot soggy "air you can wear," it felt like everything heaven ever promised.

This week is one of those rare serendipitous weeks that are hard to come by in August.  It's a fair bit cooler.  The steam machine has backed way off.  No rain for a few weeks now, which means I have all the fall and winter crop plots - almost an acre - nicely worked up and weed-free.  It will continue to be dry; I like that for planting the cool-season crops.  I'd rather gently irrigate where I need it than see bruising thunderstorms pound the seedlings to a pulp and wash out all the little tiny shallowly planted root and greens seeds. 

The hot steamy weather has made it tough to get anything started in the ground so far; anything I've planted has wilted as soon as it germinates, despite my best efforts.  It's just been too hot; the soil will burn bare feet, which means the soil far too hot to support little seedlings of just about any kind.  Nor have I been able to move most of a few thousand veggie starts out of the shade, let alone into the field. 

A break in the weather means this week is THAT week.  I'm betting I won't get another near-perfect chance.  It all has to happen now, or we won't have much to eat for the next six months.  Timing is everything in farming, especially when trying to grow through the back half of the year.  There will be no deliveries, pick-ups, or markets this week.  All attention is going towards getting the cool-season crops planted, transplanted, happy and hale in the ground.   

Thanks as always for your business, and for your patient understanding.  We'll see you all again the week of August 29th.

I made a substantial addition to our laying flock in May to try and meet the increased demand from you for eggs.  The little girls are about three months old now, and recently moved from their enclosed brooder house to the 'Big Girls' yard where they are learning the finer points of scratching, running, foraging, and cackling from their older sisters.  The move involved more than a little running, swearing, sweating, and lunging - catching young flighty chickens is not one of my favorite activities - a new Olympic sport, maybe?  Everyone is settled in together nicely now, though we do have about another three months before the new girls start producing eggs.

I take a break every year for a week or two towards the end of the summer, and we're coming up on that time.  From about April through early August, this is a six and a half day per week sun-up to sun-down job, and farmers need vacations too!  The crop mix is in transition, I need a little extra time to make sure the fall and winter plantings get completed, and maybe most importantly I need a little extra time to just lay flat on the floor, do nothing, and breathe after a long summer.  Just a heads up; that break is coming up soon.

The Sungolds are rapidly dwindling, just a very few pints available this week.  We should have another round of cantaloupes and Sensation melons in a little while from a later planting; none this week.  No sweet Italian peppers this week unless you want them green - the plants are loaded down with green fruit, but I am still waiting on them to ripen to red.  Peppers have a tendency to come and go in short flushes over the course of their season; there will be plenty more in a bit.  Down to the last of the stored gold potatoes and sweet onions; I expect to be sold out by the end of the week.  Still oodles of okra, which unlike the rest of us, thrives on high heat and humidity.   Thanks as always for your business, stay cool, and have a great week!

One of the more rewarding parts of my job are the little things you all share with me, whether it's a family recipe, a story, a photo, or best of all, seeing the children I've helped feed over the years suddenly shoot up from toddlers in strollers to outstretching their parents.  A wonderful soul shared the photo up above with me last weekend.  It sums up everything I've been trying to say here for the last ten years.  I can get fairly long-winded in this space at times.  I have absolutely nothing to add to that beautiful note. 

Our tomatoes are done for the summer, except for the Sungold cherry tomatoes.  I know, tomato season always seems too short.  The reality of it is that we live in a hot, wet, humid climate.  Hot, wet, and humid are the perfect conditions for plant disease spores to breed.  I do my best to make sure we start with the healthiest possible plants, and give the soil everything a plant could possibly want.  Short of moving to a drier climate, or using a lot of nasty fungicides (I don't want to eat that either), we usually get a 6-8 week harvest period.  We got seven weeks of tomatoes this year; right on average, and I think it was a pretty good haul for what was an incredibly wet July.

A few watermelons this week; mostly 'Orangeglo' watermelons and a few reds.  Still lots of cantaloupes and 'Sensation' melons.  Drowning in eggplant and okra!  August's offerings can get a little light as most of our attention is turning towards getting fall and winter crops established - always a bit of a trick in the murky heat of late summer - so we all have good things to eat for the back half of the year.

Last but not least, would you like to take a survey?  The Midtown Farmers Market really wants to hear from you!  Complete their quick and painless one-page survey, and they'll put you in a drawing to win $50 in market bucks plus a $150 North Hills Mall gift card!  Sweet!!  Click on this link and make your voice heard! Thanks as always for your business, and have a great week!