Be Merciful

We seed and cover, seed and cover, seed and cover every week.

Ori, Daniela and Kelvin show up without fail and we do our (somewhat) groundhogs day routine to bring the greens. It’ll be August soon. One more month of this routine before Autumn prep sets in.

I do have to admit, in general this year, Momma Nature has been merciful.

I was out prepping beds for the fall crops. This week we are trying to get the broccoli, cauliflower, and other such crops transplanted out, and next week we will seed the fall carrots. As I was prepping a storm started rolling in. It was hard to tell which direction it was headed. It was hard to tell too if there would be any lightening. “Well”, I thought, “IF it if it is headed this direction and IF there is lightening and IF I got struck and IF I survive...that would make one heck of a blog post!!” So I kept prepping beds.

The storm was indeed headed this way, and though there was not lightening, there was heavy rain with cold drops the size of Mike and Ikes. It came in fast. I was able to get through the bed I was on and boogie back before things got muddy, but not before getting soaked through.

Maybe I wouldn’t say that Momma Nature is being merciful under other circumstances. After all, it seems that almost every rain we get comes in fast, has the threat of hail, dumps on us super heavy, and then moves on after pummeling the soil. After last years drought however, and after talking with other vendors at the farmers market who are still in serious drought, I’ll take these mini storms over the alternative.  They have come along with just enough frequency these last few weeks that we’ve only had to irrigate the new plantings each week. They come too after a spell of dry air that zaps all the moisture from the ground, right when everything is getting seriously thirsty, and right when my farmer freak-out meter is starting to red line. It’s important to keep the freak out meter in safe working parameters!

We have about 4 precarious weeks remaining in the summer, after which the days become short enough, and the crop water needs lessen enough, that the chance of freak out is greatly diminished. With each week that passes with just enough rain, the sense of relief becomes greater, and the lower the register on the freakout meter.

Be merciful Momma Nature. In the meanwhile, we will keep seeding and covering.