Happy Spring…or Summer?
Good day to you all. I sit here writing, and listening intently for the sound of raindrops on the roof. Any moment now it should start…right?
This spring has been full of challenges. And while I will touch on some of them, I would also like to share some of the positives that come along with them.
Sometimes, as a farmer, I wonder if I am growing food for people or for wildlife. This spring seems like the latter. The peas, strawberry plants, peppers, lettuce, carrots, and beets have all been found by rabbits. This is a problem we did not experience to any great extent last spring. The deer seemed to take a liking to the kale, broccoli, and corn. I have taken steps to mitigate these problems including covering the crops with fabric row cover, putting up motion detecting flashers, setting live traps, installing fencing in the greenhouse, spreading chicken manure pellets, and yelling at the offending animals whenever I see them.
The drought and heat have worked against the radishes, spinach, and kohlrabi and I fear we will not see them this spring. However, despite these setbacks there are a few things that have proven helpful. With drought, the weeds don’t grow as well either. With heat, we may have lost some spring crops, but the heat-loving summer corn, tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, and squash all look good so far.
I expect we will have a few things to offer soon such as garlic scapes, lettuce, and hopefully a few strawberries. We will keep you posted and what’s that I hear? Rain? Hallelujah!