July 2020—still in the midst of a pandemic

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Welcome summer! July sums up summer here—hot, hot, and hot. I remind myself that it is supposed to be hot in the summer and that heat brings sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches, and all the wonderful summer vegetables. It’s a fair trade. This year has not been super hot (we have seen higher temperatures) nor super humid (we have had much stickier days).

This year, we have been dealing with the effects of an unusually cold, wet spring with late frosts and freezes. Very few summer Lodi apples and Methley plums, peaches a little late, and peppers are a little late. On the plus side, lettuce, asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries went longer in June than we can remember. The corn is fabulous, the peaches are very sweet, and the tomatoes are delicious.

The tomatoes are coming from our early planting in the high tunnel. Planted in the ground, but pampered with some heat and covered until mid-June. Then the sides are rolled up and the ends opened. These early tomatoes have carried us through as it is just now, in the last third of the month, that the “outside” tomatoes have started to produce. Weather is everything in farming, and trying to beat the weather is our annual game. The end result is great tasting tomatoes for our customers, no matter what the weather is doing.

People loved the salad turnips so much that we planted another crop. These were pulled in July and added to our CSA shares over the course of 2 weeks. Now that people are cooking at home more, we have seen interest in our CSA program increase. We hope that everyone enjoys the fresh and great tasting produce that they have each week. If you haven’t checked out the Facebook group for CSA subscribers, you should. There is a lot of recipe sharing and plenty of ideas on how to use what is in the share.

It is interesting to live in the midst of historic events. Definitely not very comfortable. We have learned to adjust our expectations that we are in this struggle for racial justice and a pandemic for a while. We are learning to live with lots of unanswered questions and uncertainty. We appreciate our customers who are involved in passing new laws, participating in the necessary dialogue to bring justice to every aspect of life, AND who have been diligent about wearing masks and washing hands. I have said for decades that we have great customers!

We appreciate our staff who are masked 8 hours each day, wear gloves, wash hands, sanitize carts and doors. Our little community is staying safe, thanks to the efforts of everyone. We continue in our efforts to feed people clean, delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables. Thank you to all our customers who have continued to support our family farm. Stay well, stay safe!

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