Oats in our neighbor’s field, against a smokey sky. Can you feel the heat?
The kids and I have special songs we sing for different occasions. We have one for welcoming back the rain, another one for saying good-bye and hello to each season, one for anticipating a family member’s birthday … and one for very hot days:
It’s Hot! It’s Hot! Just like a boiling pot!
The sun is shining oh so bright
Beaming heat with all its might!
It’s Hot! It’s Hot! Just like a boiling pot!
My clothes are sticking to my skin,
The sweat is dripping from my chin,
It’s time to go … for a swim!
It’s Hot! Hot! Hot!(Mary Thienes Schunemann)
This week we’re experiencing weather worthy of this song! Most of this summer has been unbelievably pleasant. I’m sure we were all primed to appreciate summer after such a long, cold, wet winter, but still it’s been picture-perfect weather: dry and clear, highs in the 80s, lows in the 50s, plenty of expansive-feeling high pressure systems.
In contrast, right now it is 105° at the McMinnville airport, and the sky is filled with smoke from distant wildfires creating an oppressive feeling haze in the air. This is summer too, and I wouldn’t wish it away and miss summer entirely! But it is a different feel, to hunker down by water, in the shade or in the house while the world feels like its blazing around us (both because of the heat and the smoke!).
Casey started irrigating well in advance of the heat wave. He long ago started thinking of heat waves as “storms,” and makes an effort to prepare for them. We have found that, for our most heat sensitive crops, watering ahead of time is more useful than watering during the intense heat. He also has learned over the years how to weather the storm personally — covering himself head to toe in long clothing and letting himself sweat (and then drinking lots and lots of water!). He even recently bought a sun protection neck scarf so he finally can avoid getting slightly burned on parts of his neck that aren’t always in the shade of his straw hat. And, he ends every work day with a dunk in cold water, which makes everything better.
And, YES, we will be at CSA pick-up as usual tomorrow (Thursday), 2-7 pm. Our storefront space is air conditioned (although I’m sure it will feel warmish even if it is well below the predicted 107° that will be going on outside). However, if a CSA member feels that it will be an actual health hazard for them to come pick up vegetables, please contact us and we can make alternate arrangements of some kind.
Stay hydrated, friends! And, enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
~ ~ ~
Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Yellow plums
- Salad mix — Too hot to cook? Make salad for dinner!
- Tomatoes
- Eggplant — This summer, Dottie has been calling eggplant “egg fruit,” presumably thinking that eggplant refers to the plant, therefore the fruit should be called a fruit. I’m sure that by next summer, she’ll have it figured out (we don’t correct her! But we do use the correct name in her presence), but I’m savoring the last of these little kid-isms in our house.
- Green peppers — These are NOT hot! Just regular old yummy green peppers for eating raw (in salads or sandwiches!) or cooked in just about anything.
- Cucumbers
- Fennel bulbs
- Cabbage — If you run out of salad mix for your salad, make a cole slaw next!
- Carrots
- Zucchini & cousa squash
