Hello Farm Girl Farmers--

Season 6 of Farm Girl Farm, just like any good serial, has definitely been its own season—some new characters, some new locations, but very much rooted in the seasons that came before.  In the vein of “last year at this time,” there are many differences—most notably, we’re on our way to what looks like a very healthy crop of ripe tomatoes, where last year of course we were grieving over the lost crop.  This year, the  river is hanging low in its lair, last year, it jumped the banks more than once—at one point flooding the fields so badly that as we harvested vegetables knee deep in water, they actually floated away at one point.  All in all, I’m glad to be living out this season rather than last!

There are similarities, of course—each season right about now, even last season with the absent tomatoes, we look around and there is so much to do, so many veggies to take care of, the battle of priorities is always center stage. We have 3 hours for field work this afternoon—do we keep spraying the tomatoes?  Pull the garlic?  Weed the onions?  Mulch the eggplant pathway? Plant the next succession of lettuce? Fix that really leaky spot in the irrigation?  It is overwhelming but this season, more than any other I can remember, I’m just so grateful to be in this situation, glad to have so much food to take care of, happy to be scared that the tsunami of tomatoes is about to monopolize all of our harvesting time, and acutely aware that in a few way too short months, this will all be over and the cycle will begin again.  I much prefer the problem of too many veggies needing our attention than few or none.

I’m also grateful for all of you, participants in this journey of nature—you are such an important part of the cycle.  Some of you have been around the seasons with Farm Girl Farm for several years running, some of you are just embarking with us this year.  But without you to love and appreciate and prepare and consume the veggies that we care for, there’d be no point in doing what we do.

Go team!

.Enjoy the veggies this week.

--Laura Meister, Farm Girl Farm Farmer