Rain, Rain

When people ask me how the farm is different this year (compared to last) about the only thing I can definitively say is that we didn't have nearly this much rain last year.  Just to prove my point, it's been raining all last night and into today and isn't showing much sign of stopping.  While on one hand it's great that the plants are getting so much water, the fact is that it's difficult for us humans to get in there and work with those plants to get them other things that they need when it is so wet.

On field tour yesterday, the dark side of so much rain reared its ugly head: huge weeds!  Because if the plants are getting that water, so are weeds.  They are everywhere.  We managed to knock out most of the more pressing weed patches: carrots, cucumbers, basil.  But they still remain in large numbers in the peas, which have started to flower and even in one case, produce pods already!  Yes, the rain has accelerated their growth, and we haven't even had a chance to weed them before they are producing.

Another problem child is going to be the tomatoes.  We just put them in 10 days ago and already they are getting big and strong.  You may think this is good news, but we haven't trellised or mulched them yet.  These are both activities that take many hours, and can't really be done in the rain.  They aren't going to wait for us, so I hope we can get in there and help them out before they start producing, or we are going to have a hot tomato mess on our hands.

It didn't rain yesterday, but the ground was still quite wet from the rain this weekend.  We managed to get in more broccoli and lettuces yesterday.  The farm is really filling up!  Most sections are full or nearly full.  Today we are going to meet all the interns from all the other programs at Troy, and learn some exercises for the strenuous tasks we impose on our bodies.  I can't wait, because my body seems to be slowly falling apart between this job and my kitchen job.

It sounds as if the rain has stopped!  For now...