The weather network says it feels like 39 degrees today, and I agree. Despite that, our farm crew is cheerful, focused, and dedicated. We have amazing people working with us this season, and we all care about the work we are doing here, we care about bringing really healthy delicious vegetables to you all. Thanks for supporting us in doing that, without you, the nearly 40 degree days wouldn't be worth it.
If you follow us on social media you may have seen me post about this but I think it's worth sharing here too:
On Thursday I was harvesting some bok choi and noticed a bunch of aphids. As I kept going through the bed I noticed a number of lady bugs, which eat aphids. Looking closer I saw many lady bug larvae, and even got to observe as one rushed to an aphid, gripped it, and I can only assume dug in.
It was lovely moment for me. Some farmers would use pesticides to treat a pest infestation like aphids, but in doing so they typically also kill the predator species, and innumerable other beneficial insects. I recently read Barbara Kingsolver's book 'Prodigal Summer', in which one of the characters explained the "Volterra equation". In a nutshell she said that prey species reproduce much more quickly then predators. If you wipe out prey and predators, the prey rebound faster then the predators and leave you with a imbalance, and an explosion in the unchecked prey population. I like the way we farm, it feels right to us, and seeing those little lady bugs felt like an affirmation.
That's all for now, happy eating until next time!
Tamara
