Wednesday, July 16, 2008

not waiting for rain

If I were to run a farm without any irrigation besides the weather, I would plant everything just before the raindrops started falling. Unfortunately, we have lots of seeds & plants to get in the ground, and no rain in sight for a week. And 90 degree days. So we plant anyway.

This old "Planet Jr." is pushed right down the row, following the nice straight lines we marked with the Cub tractor. The seeds fall through a hole & get buried in the soil at the (hopefully) ideal spacing. I am seeding carrots here:
The heat radiating off this dry field at noon is pretty intense.
After lunch I set up drip irrigation on all the seeded beds, as well as the lettuce we planted a few days ago. A few hours should be enough, then we have to start irrigating the other fields. A hot week without rain means more work for us-- the artificial rain-makers. Does anyone know a good rain-dancing method?
At least the garlic has benefited from the dry weather. The bulbs should be fully cured by now.
Every time I walk by the melon field I start imagining in my mind how good that first juicy piece is going to be, eaten in the field after a sweaty day of weeding. We cut one open yesterday, but it was just a pale pink inside. A lesson in patience.

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