Mid Summer Farm Update from Farmer Joe Evans

The greenhouse is starting to fill back up again, with the first of the fall crops germinating nicely. From now until September we’ll be seeding successions in the greenhouse. August 15th-20th is pretty much the cut off for planting brassicas (kale, cabbage, collard, broccoli, cauliflower) into the field and having them mature in time in the fall. So that gives us until July 20th to seed these crops because it’s 4-5 weeks from seeding until they’re ready to go in the ground. As the day length shortens moving towards the winter solstice, the days to maturity for a crop actually extends taking longer to reach harvest. Fall is tricky to time because we’re losing light and it becomes gradually colder; both slow the growth of field crops.    The fields are slowly transitioning back to a blank canvas where we get the opportunity to do it all over again for the fall. It feels good to reset and reconfigure the fields. It also brings peaceful ease to mind during the time of year where everything feels so chaotic. July is the time of year where seasons collide and we just hang on the best we can because it’s a wild ride of picking and planting, seeding and weeding, marketing and mending. But the thrill of it all makes it worthwhile…  ~Joe Evans