It was touch-and-go last week,
but all’s well that ends well, as we managed to circumvent the worst of the weather and to sow our late summer green manures despite the rain, cover crops that are a guarantee of success for next year’s growing season. Indeed, yours truly is already focused on securing the winningest conditions for our 2024 vegetable production!
The fields in question were already sown with a
green manure cover crop in the spring.
This grew well, was mowed and then eventually turned under with a disk harrow. But as you already know, we’ve been battling the weather all season, with too many rainy days filling the gaps between too few sunny days, and mission-critical fieldwork being postponed time and again, driving us to distraction.
A window of opportunity finally opened on Saturday,
just before another downpour, and we managed to sow all our fields in need of a second green manure sowing. Our work is far from done, though, as we will still have to clean all the fields currently in use over the course of the fall, sowing a mix of oats and peas as we go, weather permitting. It is fieldwork that will be done gradually over time, between harvests and other farm tasks, but the urgency of last week’s mega green manure sowing is now behind us. End-of-season sowings are mostly to protect the fields from winter erosion, while contributing some organic matter to nourish the soil in preparation for the spring.
Meanwhile, in your basket this week :
another batch of corn, and eggplants galore, again…Tomatoes are back, albeit not yet in full force, and there will be summer squash, too. The squash plants are still generous, but we can sense an incipient fatigue setting in. While the offering may vary by drop-off location, there will likely be tomatillos, peppers, watermelon, fresh onions and a yet-to-be-determined leafy green. On a separate note, we will shortly be sending you an email re garlic and paste/sauce tomato orders. Details re how to place your order will be provided therein.
We look forward to seeing you all again.