A Bummer of a Summer, So Far!

Middle of July, literally the 15th of the month, and the daytime high was 15 Celsius (roughly 62F). The nightime low was 6C (about 48F). Not the kind of weather the tomatoes, peppers, melons.....well, most vegetables want or need! Not the kind of weather people want or need, either! We were shutting windows, wearing extra layers and even thinking about turning on the heat! Things are growing very slowly. As a matter of fact, last Saturday was the first day EVER that we went to the Farmers' Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre and did not set up a table. We had almost nothing to sell, and the little bit we had we were saving for our CSA on Tuesday. Then, Tuesday, it poured; we had to cancel the CSA pick-up 'cause it was toooooo mucky to get on the land to harvest. Will it never end? Will we ever make any money this year?

The few bright spots are our animals. The Girls are laying consistently well - about 15 or 16 eggs a day. The little Isa Browns are growing like weeds. The Berks are settling in very well, they appear to love being pastured and are romping throughout the day. They recognize Farmer Boy when he goes to feed them, and they all run up to the fence when he talks to them. Very cute!

Another concern is a white truck we spotted in our alfalfa field Monday night. It had pulled right in and was parked by a camper stored on the edge of the field. The driver must have heard us, and drove away, right through the middle of our alfalfa field! He or she accelerated past us and hid their face by holding up a small dog in the window. Now, if someone was interested in buying the camper, don't you think they would come over to talk, introduce themselves or something like that? The field has no fencing or gate, so it is pretty accessible. We are a little casual about security, so the incident has mobilized us to be a bit more careful and watchful. It's not really how we'd like to live our life, but that's the way it goes!