It is the beginning of July and for the farm and for us submersed in the growing season the sun is going the other way. Remarkably, the days will be getting shorter. We leave behind a very wet month of June that I believe has helped increase the harvest but at the same time made getting into the fields to plant and weed more difficult. This has resulted in some delays in getting a lot of the summer fruiting crops like egg plant, tomatoes and peppers in the ground. At this point we are mostly caught up and will now turn increasing attention to maintenance, i.e. weeding. There are some “fires” to put out but with our 2013 apprentice crew I think we can keep things from spiraling out of control. I say that in trepidation as the forecast for this coming week is a lot more wetness but rest assured the effort will be there.
We have also experienced a little heat of late and that is a good thing. It is harder to work in but the most of the plants prefer it. So we sweat a little. The plants will grow and we all know it’s all about the plants! I have been able to get summer cover crops sown in many fields, which is also very important. Soon the bees should be very happy as the buckwheat flowers and the sorghum/sudan grass/sun hemp mixture will continue to build soil for some of the early crops of next year.
Compost making has yet to begin in earnest but I anticipate an opportunity to collect some more grass in the next few weeks. The grass is combined with leaves and horse manure and whatever vegetable scraps we have about to make up the recipe. Clay and finished compost are added to round it out. If managed correctly we’ll have some “black gold” in about three months time.
Last year we had a very hard time with deer incursions in the plots near the garden house. It started again in the spring and then Smadar witnessed some of the buggers entering in a gap in the fence near the greenhouse. That space is also near a rock wall and the propane tank. For some reason we never realized that they would go in there. Uh Duh! Turns out they use the driveway just like we do. The gap has been sealed and a good deal of other fixes have been and are being completed. As of late we haven’t noticed any further damage. I do hope it continues that way. I also hope that you, our members, have found the shares of value. You should know that a great deal of hard work and energy goes into it all and I am very proud of the commitment the gardeners show day by day in growing this good food. I thank them for their great attitudes and I thank you for supporting us.
Live long and prosper!
Mike
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