Consistancy vs. Tribulations

Tommorrow (Saturday 8/28) will be the second week in a row that we will not be attending our regular farmer's market. Consistancy is one of the most importaint qualities we can provide our customers but despite a booming spring and mid summer, late summer is not looking so hot on our small farm. The heat wave we just escaped nearly killed the tomatoes, did kill many ground cherries, finished off the zucchini, made some of the fall plantings a bust, and the list goes on. But we don't have our heads hung too low. The pumpkins are ripening, some fall crops still have promise, and there have been lessons learned.

Ground cherries drying out and drooping in the summer heat.

We have got lettuce, radishes, and many other salad greens planted and coming up as I write this. Okra is still strong but isn't worth taking to market without other crops. We also have a second planting of beans which are a wonderful purple type called Royal Purple. We are looking forward to digging some sweet potatoes in the next few weeks. So not all is lost we are just in an unfortunate lull.

I have learned some valuable things this season. One thing is to not under estimate the power of succession planting. While the tomatoes are just starting to produce a second round and looking quite sad doing it a few "volunteer" tomatoes are looking healthy as ever and getting ready to produce soon. The "volunteer" tomatoes are at least four weeks behind the other tomatoes because they came up when the soil was warm enough. Next year I will certainly plant my tomatoes in two plantings staggered a month apart so we will have a continuous supply through fall. I am also going to do this with other summer crops that tend to wain off this time of year like zucchini, ground cherries, and cucumbers.

I know some will wonder why I wouldn't just water to avoid this but that really isn't the solution. Firstly, we are very conscious and work very hard at keeping the gardens as sustainable as possible, but most importantly it is not the heat which has defeated the plants because of drought but instead because of the plants age. By mid-late August the plants have been working hard for at least sixteen weeks. They have been attacked by bugs, wind whipped, stepped on by people and animals, flooded by torrential rains repeatedly and now dried out. It took seeing the volunteer tomatoes to make me realize this because they are growing as if the weather was just perfect.

Since this is our first full season I think we have done pretty well. Thanks to the cyclical nature of the seasons there is always next year to do better.