While this week has begun in sunny territory for once,
I seize this opportunity to share with you how unpredictably unlucky – or lucky – one can be in agriculture. Last Thursday, as I was mowing the alleys between sections in one of our big fields, dark clouds suddenly appeared on the horizon. The wind picked up, the moist and humid air became almost chilly – a shift that would have been welcome, were it not for the violence of what was still to come. Intent on finishing my mowing before a downpour, I picked up the pace to finish the task at hand and to be able to make sure that everyone else was out of the fields.
Indeed, the sheer randomness of it all
can be quite disconcerting:
what could very well have burst over our fields drifted towards the neighbouring region of Farnham, an angry storm cell that settled over a narrow area encompassing the farm of our friends at Samson & fils, who supply us with potatoes every season. The end result : while we (our fields and everything in them) remained safe and sound, the Samsons’ fields were severely damaged, with hectares of losses in their onion and melon crops as well as large swaths of potato fields destroyed – all due to golf-ball-sized hail, according to witnesses of the unfolding disaster. Such acts of nature leave one speechless, torn between tremendous relief at having been spared and profound empathy for those hard hit, knowing how easily the outcome may have been otherwise.
I am happy to announce the start of our
2023 garlic harvest today,
the first of several group harvest efforts during the season, where the participation of all is mandatory to ensure the task does not last forever. We are hoping for nice, plump bulbs, despite losses which may be heavier than usual given the excess humidity of the past several weeks. We’ll find out soon.
In your baskets this week :
kale or Swiss chard, cucumbers, summer squash, carrots, beans, spring onions, basil and one or two more vegetables to be determined.
We look forward to seeing you again.