Sounds like rain later this week, and do we ever need it.


In my decade plus of farming, the summers have always been dry on the Island. Usually the rain in the shoulder seasons makes up for it, refilling the ponds and the aquifer and comforting us through the dry months. But this spring was drier than any I can remember and now we are heading into many weeks of what will most likely be little rain. 

I spoke with a friend in California this morning about the ever-rising threat of reliable water access out west. She spoke of a farm up the road that normally pumps all the water for their irrigation needs from a nearby river. With the presence of severe drought, the farm recently received a cease and desist order from the state, denying them access to this lifeline. The farm has had to let go of their employees and stand by as crops wither. This is an ever increasing reality for many farmers on the west coast as rainfall becomes less and less. 

As a grower, I have watched climate change in real-time. In our fields, we have shouldered against increasing wind storms and irrigated through no-rain summers. We have had frosts in June, and then been frost-free well into early winter. We grow more crops under the protection of hoop houses, hoping to combat increasing pest and disease pressure and to mitigate unpredictable weather patterns. Who knows what lies ahead of us; this is such a tenuous game we play. 

For now, each time I turn on the irrigation, I try to pause and offer a blessing of gratitude for this wealth that too many of us count as a given. 

So, let's hope for those rainstorms later this week. If we get a good shower, you'll find me doing a joyful jig amid the raindrops! 

​Hello Everyone, 
I delivered our off-Chappy flower shares today and the island is hopping out there! I hope you are all staying out of the fray and getting in lots of ocean dips. 

Our stand was so busy on Saturday we closed an hour early. I restocked at 2 PM and when I returned at 3:45, it was as if the hords had descended. Everything was cleared out, except for one sad head of lettuce and a bunch of turnips. We were happy to pack up and head home, where I promptly took an outdoor shower in the rain, rejoicing at all the much-needed moisture! 

We had a greenhouse head-scratcher this week. For the past few weeks, Peter and I have noticed a bit of munching in the big hoophouse. Some of the dahlias were nibbled as well as a few of the serpent cucumber vines. It seemed odd: it looked like deer damage, but no way could a deer get into the house, walk through the tightly planted crops and not cause some serious destruction. Plus the openings are not big enough for a deer to pass through. 

Or so we thought. 

On Saturday, the damage was even worse and this time it was clearly deer. We finally found a few faint footprints to prove it.  Amazingly, one (or perhaps several) was indeed sneaking in. We patched up a few low holes in the plastic and decided to only crack the sides open for ventilation during the day, as opposed to opening them wide as we normally do. 

The plants should recover, but it may set the dahlias back a bit -- I was feeling particularly proud of these plants which I overwintered as an experiment. Usually dahlia bulbs are dug up in the fall and replanted in the spring. Because they overwintered and got a head start, the plants are well ahead of our field dahlias and are waist high. Or were, anyway, until the dumb deer passed through. There's always something! 

Anyway, the crops are by and large looking good out there. As we say goodbye to our spring crops and hello to summer crops, this may be the last week for the sugar snap peas. The carrots are slow slow slow this year, but hoping they can make it in the shares by next week. Cukes and eggplant are just around the corner and I did have my very first cherry tomato yesterday. Plenty to fill your bags in the meantime!