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Dear Farm Friends,
I’m not finished interviewing the farm crew, but this week, in honor of August, I thought I’d introduce another key player at the farm: Heat. In abundance. July broke records (again) (for more on this, click HERE to read one of the weather blogs I closely follow) and June was very hot as well. Everyone who eats Mountain Bounty produce has felt it, because you all live near enough that it’s at your house too. I wanted to acknowledge that this has been a really tough one. When I ask the farm crew how they are doing, I’ve been hearing “Exhausted. The heat.” While some actually enjoy it, I’ve already reached and surpassed my lifetime allotment. Sometimes, by the time the heat mellows out in the fall, I find that I have finally acclimatized and can almost, sort of, handle it. August is interesting because its actually a transition time. In many ways it’s peak summer, but by the end of August the rate of day-length change has accelerated, nights get much longer and coolness seeps further into the days. Late August is almost always less brutal than late July.
Even though many of us might like to do something else at this time of year, the nature of farming requires that the natural growing processes we are harnessing continue uninterrupted. The farm can’t take a weather break. Tomatoes, corn, and all the rest need to be picked. And we are planting and irrigating like mad. Most of your fall vegetables are in the field now, and need to survive summer’s heat in order to be plump in the fall. As far as the humans go, we do our best, saving shady tasks for parts of the afternoons, filling each other’s water bottles, hitting the river after work, and holding on. In August everyone starts a rotation of taking a vacation week. We can do this!
John Tecklin
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