Rain

The farm on a cloudy, wet day, though not raining at the moment.

Rain, rain, rain. It looks like our weather patterns are back to normal after a beautiful, warm and dry first half of spring. Accuweather shows the rainfall for May is just above average and we may still get a little more (it is sprinkling right now here). Not that the rain is a bad thing; the crops (and weeds) are doing fine in the rain, though a little warmer would be nice. I just got a little spoiled by the sun. Most of the work on the farm is easier when it is drier; weeding, especially. I did a little wheel hoeing on Sunday. It was working alright, as it wasn’t too wet, but I did have to stop and clean the dirt off the blade several times. I don’t have to do that much, if at all, when it is dry. I can still plant in the rain, if the beds are ready, though I am cautious about compacting the soil around the plants. If it is too wet, I’d rather wait. I did get some more onions out this past week, as well as the summer squash ( a few weeks later than I planned…I am still behind in planting).

The summer squash are in.

The inside work on the farm is a lot easier to do when it is raining, especially the computer work. I like to work in the hoop houses in the rain, as it is warm and dry, but not too hot. Those hoop houses can really heat up in the sun. I took advantage of that this past week, and worked on preparing the beds for the peppers, as they are about ready to be planted now. The clouds and rain were perfect for the first two harvests, as most of my crops were inside one hoop house and in the other hoop house, the packing area didn’t get too hot. I think a little rain on Wednesday, for this week’s harvest, would be just fine.

The Swiss chard is just about ready