THE HAUL.
Unfortunately, those 20–30% chances of rain over the last few days turned out to be no rain at all, and thus none-to0-helpful. We did get a few drops on Tuesday evening but they promptly evaporated, turning immediately into humidity as the sun came out and the temperature shot back up to 100 degrees. So, this morning we decided to start intervening lightly by adding just enough water to keep our garden chugging along. We waded into the pond, loaded 16 water jugs individually and hauled them up to the garden where they now sit poised to save some plants. Tonight, once the sun relents a bit, we'll spread the water out onto our crops and continue to watch the sky. We don't love the idea of irrigating, but nature seems to be slacking in that department at the moment, and I must say I'm excited to add this pond water––dense with fertility and microbiology––to the garden, even if only in a small dose. The plants will no doubt be excited to feel a bit of fresh moisture against their roots!
- Jesse.
WEEKENDER.
If you are looking for a little entertainment this weekend, our friends The Breedings are playing at the brand new bar in downtown Lexington called Henry Clay's Public House tonight and tomorrow. Shows start at 9pm. We went for the opening yesterday and can tell you for a fact the bar has a great atmosphere, cold libations and, most importantly, solid air-conditioning!Hannah and I wont be able to make it, but please feel free to go in our stead and support our lovely and talented buddies. Have a great weekend, send us your rain!- Jesse.
DUSTY DAYS.
Everything is dry. The gardens, the grass, the humor––our once verdant farm is slowly beginning to brown. It hasn't rained in two weeks, which wouldn't be so bad if there was any rain in the forecast but sadly, it's a bunch of over-zealous, smiling suns and near 100 degree temperatures for the next several days. Of course, weather changes and our food should be fine, but it's an eerie feeling...standing in a dusty garden wondering when the next rain will come. We're not quite in a drought yet, but we could be at the first two dry weeks of what? Three? Five? Ten? Who knows. Last year at Bugtussle we went almost forty days without rain, and it was hard, but it could have been worse. It could be worse this year. The radio is already starting to caution farmers about rotating their livestock to preserve grass, warning that things could get pretty dry this summer.It's funny to think back to when I lived in the city and would hardly notice a drought. When I was a teenager I used to love them––droughts meant I could skateboard on the grass. Now, however, as a farmer intimately linked with the whims of mother nature, I feel very differently about droughts and those smiling suns. I feel less in control, less excited about nice, dry weekends unless there were a few rain drops that week. I feel the need to be prepared.Hannah and I feel ready, though. We don't irrigate, but we've done a considerable amount of mulching to preserve the moisture, and we operate on a small enough scale that if worse came to worse, we could always haul buckets of water from the pond to reinvigorate our poor soil and plants. For now, we're just watching the forecast in awe, hoping for a day soon where rain will fall and we can take a few hours off, sip some tea, and relax.- Jesse.
COMMENCE THE SAVINGS.
The other day while working in the garden, Jesse made a curious discovery….FRUIT on our potatoes! Little green fruit growing above ground! After doing a bit of research, we learned that this is the seed of the potato plant. Since potatoes are generally planted by using….more potatoes….we sort of just assumed that potatoes just come from potatoes that came from other potatoes, and so on. But no! You can start them from seed! So of course we are completely obsessed with this idea and currently have a cup of bubbling, fermenting seeds on our kitchen counter. Each fruit contains multiple seeds... it also looks like a baby tomato (being in the nightshade family, and all) and is quite similar to the process of saving tomato seeds. We are excited about trying this out. Apparently, EACH seed will be its own, specific variety of potato. Amazing!
Along with the potato experiment, we are soon-to-be collecting and saving seeds from the flowering broccoli and overripe, wrinkly peas in the garden. This method not only saves us the money from buying seeds next year, but it helps us to learn more about the entire process of growing, and starts us the path to having our own varieties of vegetables….passed down year after year after year. We are working our way towards having a different kind of family heirloom to share with the future Frost generations.
- Hannah.
