yeah, it was hot

I considered avoiding any talk of "the heat" today as it is/was surely on everybody's mind. But, really. 96. Feels like 102. 46% humidity...

This by lunch (actually by 10am).



Ok. More on that below.

First, my weekend. Beautiful!

Saturday morning was our second distribution.
On the menu:

Spinach (some of the best ever grown on the farm, says D)
Broccoli Raab
Turnips
Radishes
Head Lettuce
Bok Choi
Tatsoi
Garlic Scapes
Red Mustard Greens
Goldenfrill
Arugula (just a little left)





There seemed to be quite a few more visitors this Saturday. Lots of talking/laughing/socializing. Enjoyable.
The sheep are certainly becoming minor celebrities in these parts. Unfortunately the fast heat of the morning forced E to reconsider keeping them out for the day. I imagine I would feel the same if I had been in a heavy wool jacket. They made it through distribution, but were put in shortly after by me. I've grown quite fond of them. The oldest one had a little sinus congestion, so E fed her some garlic scapes as a "clearing" agent. She seems much better now. Also, fyi, getting them back to the barn is a GREAT deal easier when their harnesses are already on. Believe me.

The rest of the day and most of Sunday was spent with H. We did all of the daily farm chores together (as is the case when she visits) as E was visiting a friend. In short... awesome.

Sunday evening, after closing up for the day, I put some time in on the 3 Sisters field. Basic hand cultivation. The soil which has (very fortunately) had an even rain/sun/rain exposure for the past week is perfect for cultivating. Crumbles with little effort, but doesn't blow away in a dust cloud when worked through.

This, in fact, is a handy segue into today: Perfect (hot) cultivation conditions.

Our intent (I think) was to harvest until lunch for tomorrow's distribution.
At 6:30ish am (after taking inventory of the weeks remains) we were in W1 rounding up the majority of the rest of the spinach. And while the spinach beds were leveled with a degree of ease that's been unseen to date...



I still managed to cut myself twice. That makes 7 this season already. Not quite sure what to make of that number yet. Still thinking...

Onward.

We moved to Bok Choi after weighing and storing all the spinach we gathered.

Bok Choi is a pretty easy harvest. Straightforward cut and gather. Counting the heads aloud as they go in the harvest cart, washing and placing them in containers for cooler storage.
We took a quick bagel/coffee break after harvesting. It was at this time D made the decision to pursue cultivation for the rest of the day. Can't blame him. Save for the oppressive heat, the process was a relative breeze. Speaking of breeze, it does not exist a foot above the soil. Only radiant heat and humidity. Pretty stifling.

We worked (read: basket weeded, wheel hoe'd, hand weeded, raked) through the melon beds in B and the vegetables/herbs in Y. After lunch, I finally got to try my luck at hilling potatoes (note: sidefilling 5:1:1 with the tractor attachment at the same time works well as the hilling plates cover and kick the fertilizer right to the side of the potatoes) with the Farmall.

Why hill potatoes???

1. The plates loosen/aerate the soil and allow for better growth. The soil can also more readily drain/shed water.
2. If the potatoes are exposed to the sun they will green.
3. Hilling covers/kills weeds. Less work for your hands.

D was satisfied with the results. Though I must remember to hill up one side at a time as to avoid a "ridge and valley" effect which kind of defeats the purpose of hilling.

Our day was done shortly after. Aaand shortly after that we were invited to take a dip in the pool that's owned by the farm's governing organization.
What can I say? I went from "brain-dead and over heated" to "full sentences and 98.6" in 30 minutes. Amazing!

Looking forward to tomorrow as I now know what hot days feel like and am prepared for all those ahead.

Big morning harvest and a trip to the city for our remote distribution is on the docket. Good stuff.

Dig.