August 5 Farm Update

Past two weeks…..

A whole lot has happened around the farm since we wrote the last weekly update.  Peak members began picking up their shares, we had a baby, new veggies were starting to ripen everyday, and things have never been busier!  Just when we thought we were in the clear for the season, a massive storm cell formed just north of our farm on Saturday afternoon around 3:30pm.  Unfortunately, we got hit pretty hard with 3 inches of rain, extremely strong wind gusts and golf ball sized hail.

Peak Members Start

We are in full gear now that peak season has begun and all our members are picking up shares.  There were a few mix-ups last week with some folks not getting the correct sized share.  Please make sure to grab your appropriate sized share (half or full).  Also, if someone else is picking up for you please have them fully understand pickup protocol as well.  We are going to label the green bins this week with bigger signage.

New Veggies

Shares had really began to increase in variety with lots of new veggies in you basket.  Edamame, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant were just a few fun ones that were really starting to come on.

Saturday’s Storm

After a busy day at market I got back to the farm Saturday afternoon just in time to get an alert on the phone of a tornado warning advising that we take cover.  Funnel clouds had been spotted in Ault, which is a few miles northeast from our house.  The sky turned really dark and the clouds seemed eerily different than a usual storm.  Our small farm house does not have a basement so we decided to pack up the kids quickly and go to a more secure area.  When we returned to the farm we were saddened by the amount of hail our crops received.  Our tomatoes and peppers are a total loss as are most of the leafy veggies like kale, chard, Asian greens, cabbage, basil, and lettuce.

There are bright sides though…..Only one of our sweet corn patches got hit, our other three are fine.  Also, some of the beans, edamame and okra plants look like they will pull through.  Carrots, beets, potatoes, and other roots should be okay (except for the foliage).  Since everything is defoliated, you can now see how many tomatoes and peppers were just around the corner.  With how great they looked this year, it really makes us optimistic that next year will be even better!

This week we have a lot of clean up to do on the farm, it is a wreck out there.  We will be busy trying to save as much as we can, the next few days are really critical.  This is the first week sweet corn is ready.  In efforts to regroup a bit and see what actually makes it through the next week, CSA shares will ONLY by supplied with sweet corn this week.  We are really sorry that the shares will not look as the would have over the next few weeks.  We would like to say thanks in advance for your patience and hope to get you as much as possible as we recoup, rebuild, and replant.

We will email another update shortly with some pics of the aftermath.