Tag Archives: rain

Peregrine Farm News Vol. 17 #19, 5/27/20

What’s been going on! 

Another damn rainy week!  There is a great stress reducing factor when you can look back over four decades of farming and know that it can always be worse.  In our first season farming we had just planted four acres of blackberries and raspberries, 20,000 feet of row.  We were living in the tent next to the 20’X20’ tractor shed when after a March and April dry period it started to rain in May and didn’t stop the whole month, 15 inches of rain fell in those thirty one days.  Nearly every afternoon there would be a thunderstorm with great downpours.

The result was a biblical scourge of weeds that germinated in the berry rows.  We had turned over soil that hadn’t been farmed in years and unleashed millions of weed seeds that had lain dormant.  We had no equipment to deal with it and had not yet been able to mulch the rows.  After mowing the six foot tall growth in the aisles between the plants, standing on the tractor so I could see down into the mass so as to not mow the young berry bushes, I spent the month of June hand weeding circles around each of the 10,000 plants so as not to lose them followed by weed eating the remaining growth.

We were humbled by the power of nature and only by the shear dent of our stubbornness did we save those plantings and continue on to be successful.  We vowed never again to be caught that way.  So this seven or eight days of rain this month is just another blip in the long history of weather events here at the farm.  Needless to say it has slowed crop growth and nearly decimated the blueberry season but it is what it is.

Picture of the week

img055 - CopyIn this old grainy picture you can see the river that formed every afternoon that May, you can also see the weeds growing in the background

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 17 #18, 5/20/20

What’s been going on! 

This is certainly a capper for a couple of weeks of dramatic weather turns.  We are looking at 4-5 inches of rain over this four day stretch and it is really throwing a wrench into the farm works.  It is one thing to cut lettuce in the rain (a task I have done, unfortunately more times than I wish to count) but to pick fussy crops like blueberries and sugar snap peas is untenable.

We picked blueberries as hard as we could on Monday, it also appears to be the peak week for this year which makes it doubly frustrating.  No picking yesterday, today or probably tomorrow which loads the work onto Friday, already busy with the normal market harvest.  We do have a few people lined up to help but we will never get to all of the berries.  We did sneak out yesterday, in between showers, to pick damp peas which is never a good practice as it will spread the pea enation virus up and down the rows but the pea crop never lasts more than two weeks anyway.  80 pounds of beautiful peas and we will try do the same tomorrow if the rain will let us, you have to pick them at just the right size so they cannot wait.

Everything else looks good in the fields and tunnels, we appear to be past the production gap we have had the last few weeks.  We actually needed some rain but not this much for this many days.  Our last planting for the year went into the ground Monday and we are now in the count down to the end of our season with just six more markets.  Hard to believe it is Memorial Day weekend!

Picture of the week

IMG_20200519_143107865_HDRNot sure what is scarier, the rain or the Scare Eye balloon?

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 15 #25, 8/22/18

What’s been going on!

OK the rain can stop now!  Fortunately it looks like it will cooperate starting tomorrow.  I have lost track but we are somewhere north of ten inches of rain in the last month.  Luckily we have had enough short dry periods to keep on track with fall planting and in general, while wet, the other crops, especially the peppers are looking pretty good.

Everyone has returned from the August break rested and ready to go for the fall.  Lacee made a few short trips including a run to Knoxville and back.  Jacob made a big loop up to Ohio, over to New York and back.  Jennie made it up to Indiana, Chicago and back.  Betsy and I worked our usual staycation and relaxed quite a bit.

The upcoming weather looks amazing including mid 80’s for Saturday the first day of pepper roasting!  I always dread the first few Saturdays with the roaster as they can be brutally hot but this looks to be maybe the best weather for a first day, ever, in the eleven years we have been doing it.  Remember to come to the stand first to get your peppers into the queue and then when you are finished shopping your roasted peppers will be waiting for you.  If you want a large amount roasted let us know and we will make sure to have them ready for you, they freeze great!

Picture of the Week

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Early morning in the pepper patch, waiting for things to dry out

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 15 #14, 5/25/18

What’s been going on!

Wow!  Memorial Day weekend already, how did that happen?  One of those weeks with lots going on and further complicated by all the rain, as we knew it would. Nearly 5 inches for us but we did manage to get all the peppers in the ground on Wednesday and Thursday so we are now ready for the next tropical depression coming our way for the weekend, at least Saturday doesn’t look too bad but Sunday and Monday wet.

Past the peppers the blueberries came on much faster than we had anticipated with this cool spring and we had to start picking on Wednesday.  The one good thing about the rain is that it came just at the right time to make the berries nice and big.  Beautiful crop and we will try and get as many picked for market as we can.

It didn’t help that months ago I had agreed to two events one on Wednesday and another on Thursday, the only dry day in the past seven.  Wednesday morning, very early, I was again in Raleigh speaking on behalf of farmers and other self-employed people who fall into the health insurance gap for the expansion of Medicaid.

Yesterday I was up early to do the required tractor work so we could plant the last of the peppers and then had to drive to the other side of Raleigh to talk about pastured turkey production at an Extension conference.  No we are not raising turkeys again but there are relatively few who do and I was an easy target.  Then I rushed home to get back on the tractor to cultivate the winter squash before we lose them to the sea of crab grass that has sprouted from the rains.  Glad all I have to do today is pick blueberries!

Picture of the Week

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Peppers happy to be in the ground, heavy mulch of rye and vetch

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 14 #15, 5/26/17

What’s been going on!

Rain, rain, rain.  We are somewhere north of 4 inches this week and things are just soaked but no flooding.  We did push really hard on Monday, seeing the potential for too much water, and got all the peppers in the ground!

It is always a big job but with four of us we were on a roll and the soil was not so wet from the half inch of rain the night before that we couldn’t easily plant.  Even the no-till section was friable enough to tuck them in.  At one point every time I stuck the trowel in the ground I turned up an earthworm, always a good sign!  In the end 2800 plants that are now well watered in and already greening up nicely.

For the most part we have been able to work at least every morning this week and pick berries.  The sad result of the really heavy rain on Wednesday night was that it knocked a huge number of blueberries off the bushes that we just couldn’t get picked earlier in the week.  I do think this is the last week of blueberries for this year, only two weeks.

Picture of the Week

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No-till peppers happy to be in the ground

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 13 #12, 5/6/16

What’s been going on!

Forty days and nights, at least it feels that way but not quite Ark worthy.  We can’t really complain too much as many of our farmers friends have had it much worse than us over the last week with really high rainfall amounts and very damaging hail and winds but we will be happy to see it all end for a while.

We have had over three inches of rain this last week and a very short period of small hail that you all may notice on some of the lettuce leaves.  You will also notice an extraordinary amount of soil on the lettuce from the intense down pours, we have rinsed as best we can but will leave it to you for the full cleaning once you pull the heads apart.

Late newsletter as the only decent day this week was Wednesday which we used to cover the last of the Big Tops over the flowers.  Already a week later than we wanted but there was just not a day suitable to get it done.  Some of Betsy’s flower crops took some hits from the storms that would have been protected under the Big Tops but most of them will come out just fine.

Big weekend with Mother’s Day and all of the university graduations going on.  The good news is despite the weather we still have a lot of beautiful produce and flowers for the celebrations and for all of our restaurants to make flavorful spring dishes.  Even better tomorrow looks to be a really beautiful day!

Picture of the Week

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With rain gear on, Tricia harvesting Broccoli Raab in a wet field

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #28, 10/1/15

What’s been going on!

Storm preparation mode.  Haven’t had a stretch like this since 2008, at least that we can remember.  That late summer, early fall we were coming off of a dry period just like this year when several tropical storms hit us in about a week and we had over 13 inches of rain over a two week period.  During the September 6th Saturday market, tropical storm Hannah arrived with high winds and 4 inches of rain.  It shouldn’t be that bad this Saturday but it does look to be wet.

Our first concern this weekend is the potential of the Haw River flooding our bottom field where the peppers are this year and part of the fall vegetables.  With 4 inches of rain this past week the river is already up some and if we get hit with the high end of the 5-9 inches forecast it could be a problem.  Fortunately we will be able know it is coming and will at least be able to pick a bunch of peppers and pull the irrigation pump if it gets that high.

Our second concern is obviously the track of hurricane Joaquin, which yesterday looked like it was potentially on a Fran track but today looks to be trending further out to sea.  As the last dryish day to get things done, we went ahead this morning and uncovered the last of the Big Tops and battened down other things in case the wind does really get up, better safe than sorry.

Tomorrow looks to be a really wet day but we are hoping some of the forecasts are correct about less rain on Saturday.  Of course you all will come on to market because it is the market’s Pepper Festival with lots of good things to eat.  Like last week, we will bring the roaster to market but we will just have to see how windy it is.

Picture of the Week

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This is what the well-dressed market shopper looked like in the middle of a tropical storm in 2008

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 12 #7, 4/17/15

What’s been going on!

A week of rain, at least that is what it feels like, really just two days this week and just over an inch of precipitation but the psychological effect is the same.  The laser focus this week has been to get the big planting of tomatoes in the ground, by the end of today the job will be done.

Sunday we got the last of the structural components on the Big Tops so that Monday we could get the plastic pulled on before the forecasted rain arrived on Tuesday.  The covering went beautifully with hardly any wind and our crack four person crew worked together like we had done it for years.  Late on Monday I tilled the beds for the final time, ready to be covered with fabric.

Tuesday morning we tested the irrigation, put down the landscape fabric and laid out the 144 metal T-posts for the trellis.  Wednesday Jennie and Lacey did the yeowoman’s task of driving all those T-posts and hanging the 1600 feet of field fence we use for tomato trellis.  Done, ready to plant.  Thursday was so wet and cool that we decided to pause a day and plant this afternoon.

Interwoven into the week we had two classes to teach, Wednesday farmers’ market and two board meetings.  One of the meetings was the Farm to Fork Picnic planning group where the pairings of farms and chefs was done.  This year we are working with our friends from ACME for the first time, it will be a fun time for sure!  Check out the Farm to Fork website for all the details on the expanded 3 day event.  The Picnic itself is still on Sunday June 7th but this year we have added a special dinner on Friday night and the CEFS Sustainable Ag. Lecture on Saturday night with fisheries expert Paul Greenberg and a fish dinner.  You can buy tickets for the whole weekend or pick and choose which event you want to attend.  All for the good cause of raising money to train new farmers.

Picture of the Week

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Another grey day but everything is ready for tomato planting

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 11 #28, 10/15/14

What’s been going on!

Arghhh!!!!  Damn this rain.  Some of you may know that I am somewhat of a perfectionist, really more of “elegantist”, I know not a real word.  I always want to see beautifully crafted activities on the farm, a smooth flow of operations from one to the next, no matter how small or trivial I want things to feel like an efficient dance, elegant.  It is all about timing.

I have been pacing around for a week frustrated knowing that if I could have had one more dry day last week I would have had all the cover crops seeded and with this long rainy period they would be flying up in no time, perfect.  Normally we are lamenting that it is too dry to get soil worked or to germinate seeds uniformly but not so this fall.

Slowed down by a few too many off farm activities and a pulled back muscle I ran out of time.  The yearly soil preparation cannot be rushed, it takes a certain amount of time and passes over the fields to do it right.  Now it will take at least a week for things to dry out enough to finish up.  The later up into October we go the harder it is to insure good establishment of the all important cover crops.  Betsy says to get over it and I will but it will not be elegant, more like a foxtrot than a tango.

Picture of the Week

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After 6 days and over 2” of rain, hope on the horizon

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Peregrine Farm News Vol. 11 #3, 3/7/14

What’s been going on!

Closely watching the creek and river levels, so far so good.  Who knows how much rain we have had over the last 24 hours but fortunately almost no ice.  Like everyone else we have really been looking forward to the warm and sunny weather starting tomorrow, particularly so we could get caught up on planting but now are not sure when we will be able to get back into the fields.  As it is we have delayed planting many of the direct seeded crops like spinach and beets because the soil temperatures have been so cold that we would potentially have really poor germination especially in wet soil and now we will have to hope the winds pick up some early in the week to help dry the soil out.

We did manage to get the first beds of lettuce in the ground as well as 7000 out of the roughly 13,000 onion and leek transplants.  Otherwise we have been pretty successful in whiling away the time on indoor pursuits and various travels while we wait for the weather.  January was really busy starting with our annual Southern Foodways Alliance Fellows event in Tennessee.  Betsy had to fly out of Knoxville to be able to attend the Gathering of Agrarian Elders in California, a really unique opportunity to meet with a number of the leaders of the local/organic food movement.  You may have seen the article in the NY Times.

I barely got home and had to turn around and go to Mobile, Alabama to give several talks at the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups conference.  A few weeks home and then February started off in West Texas with a long walking trip in Big Bend National Park (it was cold there too).  Back just in time for the big snow storm and off again to the Georgia Organics conference to teach some more.  In between all of this have been lots of meetings, teaching the community college class and other workshops around the area.  So you don’t think we just have Jennie out here taking care of things, she also slipped off to visit a friend in Hawaii for ten days.  But we are all here now, pacing the floor waiting to get rolling.

Picture of the Week

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The creek behind our house, roaring by

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