Mid Summer Update

July 13

Mid-Summer

Well it has been 4 months into the Summer of Vegetables. 4 more to go until the Winter of Unknown Changes. Over 100 emails have been sent to farms in the Central and North West Coastal Region. Half of the responses so far are MAILER-DAEMON rejections, so a round 2 of snail mail resumes will be heading out soon.

This summer has been so instructional in a hugely comprehensive way. I've been able to see positives and negatives, problems and solutions from turning grass field into farm rows; greenhouse usage including timing of plantings and transplantings; mechanized equipment versus manual labor; market business model versus self-sustaining production versus value-added production. I've seen a hugely diverse small-scale operation and made preliminary judgments about what works well and what's not really worth it. 

I've seen the overwhelming complexity of governmental regulations, insurance, licensing, taxation. The business side of farming is something of which I have been made hugely aware-- I am not prepared for it. 

So the question-- what's the next step?

One thing I am extremely interested in learning more about is Sustainable Architecture; and more specifically Recycled Homes, Green Roofing, Sustainable Energy, Water Catchment and Greywater Systems.

I am also very interested in getting some experience in a wide range of Culinary and Medicinal Herbs, and also Edible Mushroom Cultivation. These are two major interests of mine of which I have been able to gather only the most basic of knowledge here. 

Hopefully some of the emails I have sent out will enable me to find another farm, where I can live on-site- rent paid in labor, and receive some amount of stipend for food, gas, savings, and if possible the chance to get hands-on experience building sustainable housing.

Here on the farm July has been a hot, humid and happy month so far. After the hottest June on record we started July with a week of mid-80's temperatures and low-humidity. I made sure to appreciate and be grateful for each day of that week because I knew that such perfect weather could not possibly last. Sure enough we experienced a week of the hottest temperatures surely I have ever experienced fully. 8.5 hours daily working outside in 95 degrees by noon, peaks hitting 103 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Significantly, this experience brought home to me that the record of daily temperature is always read IN THE SHADE. So actual temperature in direct sunlight, and even worse- asphalt- are always going to be much hotter. Inside the greenhouse I saw the thermometer go upwards of 130 degrees Fahrenheit. 

As I am writing this, in the nearby town's coffeeshop, it is a cool, rainy evening. The past several days have been slightly less hot, rather more humid, and we've been getting a few good rainstorms passing through. It had been about 21 days since the last really good rainfall. Local fruit orchardists were worried about having any fruit in the fall, having sunk their 17-acre irrigation lake 9 full feet. Our spring-fed pond was down a good 1.5 ft. 

Lack of rain didn't kill much here, only succeeded in slowing growth down to a crawl. Amazingly, the tomatoes are still only beginning to ripen. We walk swiftly up the rows of tomatoes, crouched over peering among the bottom-most branches for the slightest hint of color. Big bug-bitten ones get snipped and dropped on the ground--recycle nutrients and free-up more energy to mature the as yet still pretty ones. I tell you, I have come down with a bad case of Tomato-Love. Its the phenomenon common to those with close experience with so many gorgeous tomato specimens. There are bright reds, deep reds, orange-reds, deep yellows, pinks, purples, browns. Sometimes it is difficult to control my urges to just bite into and start eating many numbers of these meaty beasts. The creamy opaque yellow that is Yellow Pear is my favorite. Mild and Savory, they have no sourness or spicy bite. They are juicy, but great texture. 

The peaches have ripened! Only they are about 1/3 smaller than normal and are just adorable. The lack of rain is the assumed culprit. They are delicious though. 

I feel very comfortable here now. Even knowing that I'm leaving, it feels like home for now. I absolutely love the blue ridge mountains in my peripheral vision most of the day. My favorite part of the day is when we drive the pickup back from the fields to the washroom with harvest. I sit on the lip of the bed and ride with my feet inches about the gravel road. I feel like every kid who has ever worked on a farm. I feel like I am in the exact right place at that time. 

I hope all of you are doing well and imagining your next dreams. Till we meet again!!!!!!