A proper start to August
I imagine many of you are indoors right now. I sure am! One of the few times I am not rushed on a Thursday night because it's too darn hot to rush anything!
When the summer hits, I am so thankful to have irrigation in place, and a system that is mostly simple to turn on and off. I can't imagine not relying on irrigation, and most small farms couldn't. They don't have the volume to weather a setback from dry weather, and would need to have VERY good soil conditions in place to withstand periods of drought. But luckily, when you're small, it's pretty inexpensive to have permanent irrigation over your entire market garden. We have 2 plots on 2 benches, both set up with sprinkler lines that each have their own ball valve, so we can switch lines on an off easily without turning off the water. They also have segments in drip that can be switched on and off. The best tool in an irrigation system is a timer! Best investment you'll ever make. On hot days like this, we water in shorter bursts a couple times per day, to cool off the leaves of most of the plants. We also use shade cloth on the greens to keep them from getting tough and bitter. That's what's happening over here these days!
Pretty much everything is available from the farm these days: we're just waiting on the lemon cucumbers (picked the first one today!), green beans, eggplant, and tomatoes.
Hope you're all managing to stay cool these days. Going to be a lovely long weekend for you all - enjoy it! See you next week
- Brianna and the Puddle P team
