Farm Happenings at Potomac Vegetable Farms
Back to Farm Happenings at Potomac Vegetable Farms

Week 8: Half Way Through the Summer Season and Tomatoes Are On The Horizon

Posted on July 15th, 2020 by Becky

We have gotten a few questions about substitutions in our pre-packed/delivery shares. We always do our best to fill your orders as planned. Farming is a very fluid life, and so sometimes what is in the fields is not what we expected, or what is in the cooler is not as we planned, or another farmer can't deliver as they expected. When these things happen, we do our best to make a substitute that seems equal to what you were expecting and ask for your understanding. Thank you!

April 25 is the day we usually plant our first tomatoes outside, just to be a little bit daring. The last frost isn't usually until about Mother's Day, but so often it is worth the risk. This year the ground was too soggy for us to get it ready on April 25, so I asked my nephew Michael what he thought about digging some holes in some not-tilled ground. He was up for it. He dug 500 holes and we put the tomatoes in. Then there were several nights of frost in a row, but we were determined not to let those plants freeze after all that digging. The crew put two layers of row cover over the little plants, and even uncovered them during the days so they could feel the sun. And now the plants are just beginning to have ripe fruit, and it was all worth it.  We are probably just a week away from real tomatoes.

Here we are at Week 8 already. We are half way through the Spring/Summer season! Summer weather has arrived with a bang. As of Wednesday, July 15, when we are writing this, there have been 20 consecutive days above 90° and in the running to break the record. It is unprecedented, following in the trend of the 2020 season. The season of leafy vegetables is coming to a close, and we are coming into the all-fruits season! 

The weather has been unforgiving. We try to find the parts of the day where we can work without melting while finding frequent ways to cool off. All the plants in the fields are also surviving this weather. We are patiently waiting for it to cool off so we can start to put fall seeds in the ground while we madly seed our Fall brassicas in the greenhouse.

For more recipe ideas, follow us on Pinterest!