Summer arrives softly

(CSA Newsletter: Week 20)

Meet this week’s vegetables:

At a friend’s solstice party this Saturday evening, we found ourselves conversing with others about — what else? — this spring’s weather. Quite a few people (most of them not farmers) commented on how cool it has been.

Cool? That hasn’t been our impression, and nor is that what the weather page has reported. This spring we experienced consistently higher than average temperatures, and I think that the fields are showing it. We picked our first ripe raspberries over a week ago, and this weekend we scavenged for ripe cherries on the tree growing wildly in our slough. Both of these fruits are ready more than a few weeks earlier than the last two years.

But, we do understand where some of the ‘cool’ thought might be coming from. If nothing else, this spring (and now early summer) has been incredibly calm and mild. With the exception of one strong, quick slap in the face (the storm!), we’ve experienced relatively high low temperatures and relatively mild high temperatures. Each day is more or less comfortable — not too cold and definitely not too hot. We’ve had very few sweltering hot days yet, even during the long dry sunny spells.

Compare that to other springs, and I can see where people might be feeling a little bit cool. Even though last June was a record cold one (remember “June-uary”?), May packed a few significant heat punches, including a weekend with above 100° temps. Even the hot days we have had so far can’t compare to that early heat.

Whether the human folk can accurately gauge the nature of the season or not, the plants sure seem to be loving the mildness of this year. Just this last week, we’ve seen phenomenal growth in the fields. For one thing, plants are starting to recover more significantly from the hail damage. But the weather has just been absolutely gracious: warmth without any stinging sun, very little wind, and occasional gentle rains (although I hear Portland got hit with a slamming soaker on Friday evening!). Plants are literally doubling in size in just a few days, and we are feeling as optimistic as ever about the upcoming months.

Although, we’re trying not to get too comfortable, because the hailstorm taught us that there are no guarantees with the weather. A friend called on Friday to let us know there were more storm warnings (which were related to Portland’s drenching I think). I couldn’t easily dismiss the warnings, especially since we were experiencing a relatively rare (for this year) brisk wind on the farm. So, rather than make the same mistake of two weeks ago — when we were literally admiring the beauty of the fields 20 minutes before watching it all be blasted — we walked around the farm and spoke aloud of how “bad” everything looks. Our hope was to trick the hail gods into ignoring our beautiful fields, so we basically said the opposite of how we really felt about each crop: “Ack! Look at those weeds! We’ll never catch up!” “Those summer squash sure are growing slowly.” “Too bad the onions never recovered from the hail.” And so on.

Whether it worked or not, we were spared that day from a second big storm. Thank goodness.

And, today (Monday) is another mild day of early summer: partly sunny, gentle temperatures, and lots and lots of growing plants in the field. Hope you can make it out to see the fields at this weekend’s open house! Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

CSA Open house this Sunday: June 28, 2 – 4 pm

Come out and see your veggies in action! We’ll have light refreshments and be giving tours throughout the open house period. We hope you can stop by!

Directions to farm from McMinnville:

Take HWY-18 south out of town towards Dayton. Take the Dayton exit and drive straight through town on Wallace Rd/HWY-221. Stay on Wallace Rd headed south for approximately six or seven miles. Eventually, you’ll see blue signs for “Heiser Pumpkin Patch” (another farm also on the island). Follow those signs, and turn LEFT onto Grand Island Rd. Stay on Grand Island Rd as it goes over a bridge and drops onto the island. At the first four-way intersection on the island, turn RIGHT onto SE Upper Island Rd. Our driveway is immediately on your LEFT. Please park and stay to the RIGHT side of the driveway (by the greenhouses and red pole barn), because the left side is our next-door neighbor’s property.

If you have any questions, you can email (farm(at)oakhillorganics(dot)org) or call us 503-474-7661.