[CSA Update] Welcome to week 10

I have tears in my eyes as I tell you what I did around the farm today. Today I plowed under another zucchini field. It is the fourth field I have declared a total loss this year so far.

Connecticut's Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 50% of the entire state's vegetable crops were destroyed due to Storm Elsa and the 12 days of no sun with high humidity.

The zucchini field was beautiful, and I planned to pick from it in the next two weeks. Fellow farmers are driving around, bringing coffee and a bit of community as they look on to support me as I turn the rows over for winter. Many of them are heading back to their own fields to cut up their own failed crops.

It is too late to replant long day crops like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers and still make a harvest before the frosts in September and October creep across at night. Many leafy greens, cabbage, arugula, and a few others have shorter planting times, and I'm racing to get a few in the ground for a chance at a late harvest.

Planting for multiple generations on the same land has been a blessing again this year. Many factors of farming are outside of my control, I plan to manage risks as many of you do in your jobs and businesses. Knowing what happens in each field with extreme weather helps me know which crops to split into which sections.

I may have lost a low field of zucchini, but the high field is going to make it through.

Members from 2020 may remember the corn just burnt up, and we had very little corn for the farm shares. The corn in this week's baskets thrives in warm and wet conditions, and I have several good harvests coming.

The zucchini, cukes, and peppers got hit the hardest. This means there will be gaps, not that they are gone for the year.

Thank you all for your commitment to eating locally grown. I provide this insight into what is going on around the farm because you have told me how important our local community is. A lot goes into growing food, and this is one of those tough times.

Lyrics that were sent to me today from a 1972 song by Johnny Nash: