Market Saturday

Staggered out of the house at 6 am. this morning to start bunching beets and harvesting herbs and lettuce for the farmers' market in Plattsburgh, but I immediately noticed I needed to water seedbeds and germinating carrots and fennel.  That took half an hour, which put me behind schedule to the point Pam from the market called me in the truck to find out what was keeping me.   I wished I had started earlier, but I was almost there by 9 am.  It's a kick to see people  eager to buy the veggies I have slaved so hard to produce.  Started to harvest a few garlic heads, since one variety, a Russian softneck decided to fall over this week.  the heads are fine, just not very large.  Oh well, it wasn't a very good growing season, but next year...Jerusalem!

confidence fairies

I guess the produce business is going to have to wait for the President's confidence fairies to get people to eat their veggies.  That's about the only help the government seems to want to provide.  Less government jobs in a time of high unemployment.  That's the ticket to economic nirvana.  As state governments slash jobs and fight over balancing budgets, the whole sorry spectacle of the US government wrangling over how many people to lop off medicaid and how best to screw the middle class is a commentary on how far America has come from the "can do" optimism of the 60s to the "we can't afford it" (unless it's tax cuts for the rich) ethos of 2011.  Marie Antoinette's admonition "Let them eat cake" seems eerily like the drivel coming out of Washington today.  At least they could say "eat your veggies so you can remain realitively healthy as you slide into poverty".  Now that sound like change I can believe in.

Thunderstorm tease

Standard summer tease.  We needed a decent shower on the garden to keep things growing as well as germinating later plantings, and the weather said we had an 80% chance of rain.  Well, we got it, but less than a tenth of an inch.  The only thing that much rain benefits is weeds, the all time champion scavengers of the plant kingdom.  The lovingly planted carrots will stay underground, but galinsoga and lamb's quarters will jump at even a hint of moisture.  It looks like a long weekend of hose dragging coming up.

Be careful what you wish for

Wanted/needed a little rain to germinate some seedings and water in some fertilizer, but looking at the radar, I think I got more than I bargained for.  A storm capable of producing 1 inch hail and 60 MPH winds just tore through the area.  I only hope I dodged the worst of it.  Otherwise I'll have a new offering at the Sat. farmers' market; pre-shredded veggies.

Ye shall reap what ye have sown and other fallacies

It's getting into the critical time of year when the garden can get away from you without warning and without mercy.  As you concentrate on keeping up your planting schedule so the weeds are infiltrating and choking previous plantings.  If you switch to weeding, you miss planting or spraying and something else gets past you.  I watched a row of snow peas grow from seed to flower to pods with satisfaction, then within a week they are already past peak and I only harvested enough for two dinners.  Meanwhile, the nearly constant rainfall of earlier weeks has abuptly stopped.  I have to water each planting til it comes up, which of course cuts into the time I need to plant, weed, etc.  I need to be reminded why I love this time of year.

After the 4th

Looks like the veg business is taking a not so well deserved vacation, just as the local eastern deals are hitting their strides.  Traditonally, August is the worst month of the summer for produce.  People are on vacation spending time together before school starts and healthy eating is not high on most people's priority lists.  But many shipper are saying the doldrums are here already and could last all summer.  I know I've said this before, but the economy is taking a toll on all sectors, and the fresh veg business is not immune.  It would seem a no brainer for people to spend money on things that make them healthier, and taste good too, but in the real world everyone is running 100 MPH and eating healthy seems to be the first casualty.  If you are unemployed you don't have money and if you have a job, you have no time.  One woman who had business at a local food pantry told my wife it was one of the saddest sights she has seen.  Many people were lined up and filling out forms so they can access the food available there.  Needless to say, almost all of it is boxed or canned.  No luxuries for the slackers among us.  I think as long as fresh produce is considered a luxury item by so many, the state of the economy will determine the state of the industry.

In the Zone

Some days are like that.  No matter what you do or touch, it turns to gold.  After a decent day at the office, I harvested some peas and strawberries for dinner, planted some basil, cilantro and dill, killed several million weeds, and started seedlings of lettuce and cole crops for later transplanting.  And finished before dinner and darkness.  It doesn't get any better than that.