Rain, Rain Go Away!

by Farmer Andy

As most of you know, we are in the midst of what could be one of the rainiest periods in history.  August was the rainiest month on record by 6 inches.  As of this past Thursday, we have received 10 plus inches of rain in the past 14 days and approximately 20 inches of rain in the past 30 days.

Our average annual precipitation is right around 40 inches.  So, in the past month we've received about half of what we typically get in an entire year!  I typically think of August as one of the dryest months of the year but not this one.  All of this moisture has profound effects on the local environment, including the plants in our fields.

Right now we are dealing with a number of challenges brought on by the wet weather:

• Flooding of crops - some of the crops in the lower lying areas have actually been sitting in standing water so long that they've basically drowned.  This includes about 40% of our lettuce, 90% of the parsley
• Fungal diseases - I've never seen anything quite like this.  We've got fungal problems on nearly every crop of every age.  Perhaps one third of the greenhouse starts have been lost to fungal infections.  The blight and bacterial infections are taking down the tomatoes at about twice the normal rate.  Also basil, swiss chard, beets and even peppers are being negatively affected to the extent that it has been severly impacting the harvest volumes.
• Wet fields mean we cant plant.  We have lots of transplants ready to go into the ground, but the muddy conditions are delaying this by a matter of weeks (or possibly more).  Nor can we direct seed anything.
• Previously direct seeded crops do not survive well with too much water.  The seeds will germinate but if they stay immersed in water, their ability to survive diminishes.
• Crops rotting in water - we're doing our best to get the winter squash and potatoes in (the squash is now all in!) but significant amounts have been lost due to rotting.
• Wet fields also mean we cannot cultivate.  Mechanical weeders are our most efficient way to weed crops followed by hoeing and then hand weeding.  We can only hand weed in the mud.
• Most plants that sit in standing water for some time and do not die end up being permanently stunted.
• While the insect pest pressure reamains about the same for the most part during these wet periods, slugs especially love it.  With smaller plants, they can pretty much clear them out in a short period.

In spite of all this - we are doing everything we can to keep the crops coming in.  We're using organic fungicides to the greatest extent possible to control fungal problems, we're harvesting some crops under mature before they become inundated with fungal disease, we're hand weeding as fast as we can and bringing crops in that will continue do ripen (tomatoes) before they are nearly ripe to prevent splitting

So, we'll be doing our best to continue to deliver the vegetables to the harvest house each week for pick up.  Expect some crops to be packaged differently or in smaller unit sizes for a few weeks until the plants can recover and normal growing conditions resume (we hope).

Thank you all very much for your support during this time and please feel to be in touch if you have any questions or comments.