"We made our evening farm walks through puddles and mud once again this week. After twelve seasons, I know we have a choice when the weather gives us challenges. We can either bemoan the rain, over which we have no control, or marvel at the beauty of the clouds piled on the … [Read more...] about Essex Farm: Puddles & Mud
Rain
Essex Farm: Thankful For Drainage
"Muddy is the big word of the week. We got an astounding 7” of rain in the last 14 days. Every time we hit a stretch of weather like this, we shout thank you to our fifty drained acres. Before drainage, most of the crops out there would be dead, taking all the work we’ve put in … [Read more...] about Essex Farm: Thankful For Drainage
Full and By Farm: More Rain This Week
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but more rain this week has been taking its toll on the vegetable fields and hay crop. We really need a solid week to dry out, and then a second week to get caught up on cultivating and to get a start on this year's haymaking. The kale … [Read more...] about Full and By Farm: More Rain This Week
Full and By Farm: Dogged By Heavy Rains
We continue to be dogged by heavy rains here—delaying our seeding, transplanting, weed control and now hay making. We spent a lot of time at the end of last week scrutinizing the weather report on the computer and staring up at the sky to see what was really going to come down. … [Read more...] about Full and By Farm: Dogged By Heavy Rains
Essex Farm: Reminder from Nature
"We were wishing for rain this week. An inch would have been perfect. The three we got were a reminder that nature doesn’t take orders from us humans. Fine, fine. On a highly diversified farm, something, somewhere is always happy, no matter the weather. The pasture, the hay … [Read more...] about Essex Farm: Reminder from Nature