Muddy in May

We had a very hot few days that left much of the farm hot, dry and dusty. One of these hot, dry and dusty fields is where we were planting our second set of heirloom tomatoes. I have learned the hard way that you do not put a tender little transplant that is used to being in the cushy life of the greenhouse directly into this harsh desert. When we are done transplanting we put water on, but that means that the tender little plants have to sit in hot dry soil for a few hours which can be very hard on their life. The hot ground burns the stem of the plant and the dry soil sucks all of the moisture out of the little root ball that is sustaining the plants life.

The right way to do this is to put the sprinklers on the ground for a few hours the day before planting. This cools the soil down and puts moisture into the ground that the little plant can take from the soil.

Well, I was in this situation. Frustrated because I was getting behind schedule I elected to hold off planting to put a few hours of water on before planting. As luck would have it that night in rained. To most people rain is water falling from the sky. To me rain is how much mud is created in the fields. Sometimes is “rains” but by 9am in the morning the fields are dusty again. This time it really rained so in addition to my water, there was more put out – making the field a muddy mess. Too muddy to even think about putting a tractor and planting crew into it. So we had to wait yet another day.

The ironic part is that if I had not watered the amount of rain we got would have been perfect and I could have started planting the next morning. That is farming, never quite knowing what is going to happen but predicting the future anyway.

The afternoon after the rain lead to a beautiful afternoon. There is something about a sunny day after the rain that reminds me of heaven – whatever that is. The fresh smell of water, the cool feel of evaporating moisture combined with sunshine and a beautiful set of hills with grass trying to stay green.

Enjoy your box this week; it is beginning to look a bit more like summer. It won’t be long until we are enjoying tomatoes, melons, cucumbers and peaches. - Thaddeus