Here’s the news from Kristin Kimball at Essex Farm in Essex, New York:
“June ended the same way it started. Rain, rain, rain. We stopped counting inches on our rain gauge a while ago, but Mark told me this morning that the official tally across the lake was a whopping 15” for June. (For reference, 4” would have been ideal.) Let’s hope a new month means a new weather pattern, dry days, and some heat for the whole region, because we’re not the only ones who are soggy. The girls and I were in Vermont yesterday, and drove past a lot of very sorry looking crops – stunted, yellowing corn, and hay fields with coarse-looking, headed-out grasses.
The only mortality here so far has been the melons – watermelon and cantaloupe – which succumbed to a one-two punch of wet feet and insect pressure. Dry beans still look poor, but they are growing. Everything else looks fair to excellent. The weeds took advantage of the field conditions to get a jump on us, but we have two weeks before they have an unstoppable advantage, and if good weather holds, we should be able to catch up, especially if we can get our new 4-row cultivator in working order.
Meanwhile, the team took advantage of a break in the rain last Saturday to get most of the fall brassicas transplanted, using the new waterwheel transplanter. Those plants look strong and healthy.I shudder to think where we would be without drainage. Not to sound like a broken record on that front, but it really has saved us this year…” Continue reading this Essex Farm Note.
Related articles
- Essex Farm: Puddles & Mud (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Essex Farm: Thankful For Drainage (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Essex Farm: Reminder from Nature (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
- Notices From Town Hall: Holiday Observance Closings (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
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