Long days, warm sunshine, and flourishing crops: It must be summer! Freshly picked sweet corn and cukes flood out of the fields along with juicy red tomatoes. The sun sets around 9 p.m. and we’re still in T-shirts. At this point, I put in my 40-hour week by Wednesday and there’s still much more to get done. Six a.m. comes quickly and everyone know it’s go-time to beat the heat. This time of year, the main season crops are planted and growing rapidly, and we are in the swing of planting work in the greenhouse to field, management of crops, irrigation, and many abundant harvests. Because we produce so many summer crops, we are in a constant rotation of just general farming goodness.
HARD WORK YIELDS ABUNDANCE
Our to-do list typically never ends, but this time of the year it is chock full of chores, projects, and constant maintenance of everything from crops to tractors. I have this saying: “If something doesn’t break and/or go wrong each day, you’re just not really farming.” Every day we deal with a breakdown or problem. It’s frustrating at times, but this is part of our day-to-day. Whether the hydraulic hose decides to blow out at 3 p.m. on a Thursday and we need to keep planting, or the irrigation pump decides to lose prime in the middle of watering, we need to take care of the problems and keep going. This is what makes the job fun, motivational, at times stressful, but always a challenge. We work in hard conditions: Equipment and machinery and our bodies are constantly under wear and tear.
With summer comes the battle of the weeds. With abundant heat and long sunny days mixed with loads of humidity, not only do the crops grow with vigor but so do the weeds. As farmers, we have many challenges that cross our daily paths, and if there were none, everyone would do it! We have a dedicated tractor and my very willing father to keep up the battle. Annuals to perennials; broad-leaves to grasses: We need to handle all species of weeds. This takes knowledge of the soil conditions, weed-crop stages, and type of weed we are dealing with. Without this weekly fight, we would have very reduced yields and low-quality crops.
FEEDING THE COMMUNITY
I live for the days we are pulling in loads of broccoli, crisp lettuce, and fragrant bell peppers out of the field. The farm stand and local stores are overflowing with fresh produce. This is when we want to be farmers, keeping the community fed and seeing the hard work of our labor realized to its full potential. As much as I enjoy my time on the on how we grow our food, how the weather affected us this week, and what the next crop coming in will be. People connect in many ways, and I believe food is one of the most important.
I need to shed some light on the importance of understanding the challenge that weather has on our everyday lives during the summer months. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events make everything far less predictable. Weather dictates our every move. Are we getting two weeks of 90-degree temperatures and drought? Or is there a chance of 3-inch rainstorms? We don’t often get nice, steady rains anymore. Instead, we get high humidity that triggers devastating thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rainfall over short periods of time. Imagine wanting to have a picnic in the park but never knowing if you should bring an umbrella. That is the kind of unpredictability we are dealing with as farmers, but the effect is not mere inconvenience—it is our livelihood that’s at stake.
Decision making on any crop work becomes difficult. Over the last few years, we have had to invest in more infrastructure and equipment to cope with these challenges. A good example is more irrigation equipment to keep crops alive during extended periods of drought, or shade cloths for our high tunnels to help with plant stress. That mean higher costs and energy usage, but at least we have the tools and the skills to help cope with unpredictable weather. As my grandfather always said, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
While some days are hotter and longer than others, I still thrive in the heat of the summer. It’s when the land, the people, and the environment are giving their most, showing their brightest colors and strengths. Summer is the time for much work and play, to remember we have work to do, but at the same time relax and have a cold beverage with friends and family on a Friday night. The work will be there in the morning.
