Letter from John May 21, 2007

Hello Everyone,Well, the dry conditions continue, with less than 1” of rain during the past 6 weeks. Many passing storms that promised some much needed rain have not produced enough to register on the rain gauge. Everything that I sow directly into the field must be irrigated to germinate. Much time is being spent setting up and moving sprinklers and this delays us from planting and other pressing tasks. We have finished planting the potatoes and the eggplant. About 800 tomatoes have been set out and another 1600 will be transplanted out in the next few days. We will also be planting the peppers, ground cherries, celery root, and the last of the onions this week. Last night I rode the tractor planting beans until dark, ahead of some thunderstorms, which again delivered an inconsequential amount of rain. I am having a lot of trouble with a pest of the cabbage family called the flea beetle. This is a consequence of the late planting since normally the plants have 2-3 weeks to grow before the over wintering adults emerge from the soil. We are doing our best to control this plague with the various organic treatments that are available. The problem is that these agents have a short period of effectiveness and frequent spraying is required. I have also lost several hundred broccoli and cabbage plants to animal predation-turkeys, geese and ground hogs. The peas are growing nicely and the earliest varieties have just begun to flower. This means we will start picking peas in about 3 weeks, possibly in time for the first delivery. The potatoes have sprouted and the onions and the garlic are also growing nicely. It has been a very difficult start to the season, and will probably only get worse, but we are forging ahead and dealing with each new challenge that arises. Hope to see many of you at the Farm Visit in 2 weeks! Farmer John