Spent the evening planting; trying to take advantage of this cold front (enjoyed the Stanley Cup on the radio of course) We’ll see if these cells make it all the way to the coast. We could use a spot of rain, been back into a summer dry spell. Also checked on the lettuce I planted Thursday evening; which looked a bit wilty midday Saturday. No worries, roots are very much doing their thing. All those are new growth in 72 hours without irrigation. something, something Calcium…

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Charbelle Chard in the running for the most photogenic vegetable. Snuck into today’s blitz harvest as we gear up to cultivate.

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After back to back WHHIP (P) days on the farm, today’s dew point drop is sweet as… When Heat & Humidity Impact Production (& Profitability) - we typically have 5-6 WHHIP days a year on the farm, some summer’s less, last year we had heaps. Basically they’re any day where we need to drastically alter the scope of fieldwork to manage over heating. Thankfully they typically come in batches of 2 or 3, so we can get back on pace easily once the heat or humidity break. We’ll extend shade breaks earlier in the day, push sports drinks and electrolytes, focus on low physical effort tasks during peak heat (yesterday we seeded in the shade by the gh) and take longer lunch breaks. If harvest season is really cranking we’ll sometimes start early, though that is less common, as I can adjust evening work to add harvest hours there. Weekend offers very pleasant if warm conditions for fieldwork. Been a minute since we’ve received a decent rain shower, last one didn’t even push past the zucchini leaves…maybe Sunday evening.

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Someone is gonna get the nicest romaine we’ve grown in maybe a decade this weekend. These are from the block we just started harvesting this morning... One weighed in at 3 pounds after a dip in the wash station. Caesar season on the Southcoast I reckon.

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About a week away from peak Romaine season here on the Southcoast. Green Forest for the W.

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Why have I been casting about the New World Screw Worm for a year? Because I understand and feel the pain of an invasive species that’s an existential threat to your way of life. The Asian Citrus Psyllid has caused billions in damages to California & Florida citrus leaving the Florida industry devastated. We are mandated to spend thousands of dollars a year spraying our trees to try to control the spread of the insect and the disease that it spreads. Keeping pests out is way less expensive and better for everyone but a big logistical challenge in a world where fruit and animals are crossing borders nonstop. I’m sad for Texas and other cattle farmers. I’m sad for all of the beloved pets that will be lost as a result of this evil worm. And I’m sad for the American consumer who will feel the pain of these added costs at the grocery store. And for those of you quick to blame DOGE please read a bit deeper to understand that this situation has been unfolding for multiple years starting with the failure of the quarantine zone in Panama in 2020.

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Deer still be hating on the notion of farm profitability. Guess another deer fence gets added to tonight’s task list. Was hoping to push this section to Monday. Alas

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Okay my phone just keeps playing audio when I hit record on video and I’ve never bothered to change it… Anyways deer on the otherside of the stonewall yesterday was probably confused by Sabrina’s pop melodies. Been putting up fence and need to push one of our hunters to help us out… a couple of small herds currently active on the farm.

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Back in the day we used to send out weekly newsletters to our CSA (subscription customers)... over the years they've shifted to once a month or so as I find the time to write a quick update... and nudge folks toward following along on instagram/facebook. When you work outside and rarely sit at a computer, writing is a task that seems to be enjoyed. Here was the opening to the letter sent last night > Whoa, June crept up on us like a stealth creature on the horizon; a real sense the sixth month was "out there", suddenly its presence was the now. Bodies angled towards the earth for most of our waking hours, spare brief intervals to scope the sky and blessing rains we received to end May. Spring started down a path toward drought, given the coming Super El Nino this would be an unexpected outcome for the Southcoast. Three inches of water this past week has refilled the water column and given our crops an accelerant ahead of summer's longest days. The weeds which have been timid are sprouting with their familiar vigor and hoes are at the ready. Planting season delayed a couple of weeks due to the cool start; yet once we began transplanting on April 14th it's been a downright classic whirlwind... an orchestrated dance of fertilizer, tillage, planting and ever endless rolls of row cover placed upon hoops. The row cover yielding to myriad shades of veggies is still protecting the summer heat lovers and tender brassicas, which flea beetles seek out each season. In fact, there have been weeds sprouting in the dry which preceded our final week of May, and our able crew has been keeping apace. We are about to enter Week 3 of 6 in our "core cultivation" season when weeding is nearly a daily activity, as the weather allows it calls our name. Amidst this joyous hustle, we get to add "the task" which is reason we farm, harvesting.

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Pictures from this morning and yesterday… highlighting the “minerals & metabolites” superhighways. M & M those minerals need to move… those sugars and plant metabolites need to move… Omero red cabbage Winterbor Kale* Starfighter Lettuce Merlin Beets * Kale (and all brassicas) can give you a good sense of how healthy it is, and its potential by examining texture of the main stem and leaves. We find stems with more definition, notable ridges, indicate the system is building structure for high capacity. 3+ inches of rain in the last 7 days - going to make for explosive growth once temps warm back up and sunshine sticks around for more than a day. Weeding will be high priority when soils dry out. Just started harvesting kale a week ago, this is still a month away, Starfighter has been flowing for a few weeks, beets are still a couple away.

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Rainbow while planting this evening. We lease land from the king farm; that’s their “chicken tractor” catching the rainbow.

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Beautiful cultivation day here on the Southcoast; by the afternoon soils were in good shape for weeding. Romain heads for the second week of June pictured here. No herbicides, just human labor and management.

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Nicest rainfall we’ve enjoyed here since March. 1.5”+ inch plus in total. Sun even broke out at the end of the day. Will be an abundance of weeding in the week ahead to stay on top of them. Here’s a section we planted late April/early May, which still has some covers on (after Tues/Wed heat it’s supposed to be chilly again next weekend). Eggplant & peppers will stay on for a while longer, have beets, broccoli, and cabbage that will come off this week. L>R: lettuce mix, tomatoes, lettuce heads, dill, cilantro, and lettuce mix. hidden by the covers are parsley, scallions, and fennel. Our production is small scale, and involves heaps of succession planting, so quite often our blocks will have quite a bit of crop diversity. All the beds except parsley, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes will likely get a second crop later this season as well.

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Just absolute perfect rainfall the last 24 hours. 1 inch plus on the farm, setting us up for big time growth this week. Started harvesting a few heads this morning. In related news, got more sleep yesterday than I have in months, stacking a sleep in til 9, with an afternoon nap. Mother Nature providing a respite from the spring push. A blessing. Spinach and Eggs for Sunday lunch; simple as and delicious.

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Staked and tied out early cherry tomatoes yesterday. They’ve been under row cover since planting on 4.29. Next up - cultivation when the sun returns on Tuesday or Wednesday We typically do three successions of cherry tomatoes so peak harvest conditions extend from earl/mid July into early September. Field cherry tomatoes in late September/October are kinda dicey as they can be prone to splitting when coastal rains return and sugar factory slows down as days get shorter and cooler.

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