Most people realize that farming is the inspiration for many songs. From “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” to “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy“. But one song most people don’t realize was inspired by farming is the Chumbawamba song “Tubthumping“. No really it was. It was written during a summer much like we are having this season when the band was hanging out at a Midwest, organic CSA farm. They noticed that summer that with all the strong storms, with their fierce winds, the sweet corn kept getting knocked down — but it would get up again. It was never gonna to keep it down. It’d get knocked down, but get up again. It was never gonna to keep it down. Over and over again until the whiskey drinks, the vodka drinks, the cider drinks and the lager drinks reminded them of the good times. (Of course if you haven’t listened to music since the ’80s or didn’t start listening to music until this century none of this will make any sense).
This week I was reminded of this rock history as the sweet corn got knocked down not once but twice this week — and the third time this season! We typically see it knocked down at most once during the season but with the especially wet ground and the strong winds coming from the right direction our sweet corn seems to be directly in the path of destruction. Surprisingly the popcorn has stood tall even though it is 30 feet away, though it is in the bottom of the valley which may account for its success.
So with the corn down I noticed the raccoons or deer or other creatures have found it far easier to eat. There has been a lot more corn feasting going on than I’ve ever seen in the past. I can only surmise it is due to being more accessible to the creatures who eat it. Which is surprising to me. I find walking through blown down corn fields to be quite frustrating and laborious. The wind doesn’t blow it over in nice, neat rows like we plant it. No. There are a lot of stalks to trip over as you are carrying a 60 lb field crate full of corn. But I suppose if I was only going there for lunch or a late night snack — and with the corns being so tasty — I would put up with a bit of corn stalk trippage to get my fill of the delicious sweet corn.
And of course the reason for my garrulousness is to let you know that the sweet corn season is coming to an end. It was one of the worst corn seasons from a yield/production standpoint in recent memory (though it has been very tasty). On the bright side I haven’t found any earworms! Hopefully you enjoyed the few weeks Mother Nature was willing to part with this season.
Conversely the tomatoes are still going strong. The wet weather is giving the diseases a great opportunity to kill them but they keep growing — with many popping out of the top of their cages. Hopefully we will get a few weeks of dry weather to slow down the diseases.
Speaking of dry weather. If we get a few days of dry weather we will dig another row or two of potatoes on Tuesday. If anyone wants to join us let me know. It is a great way to get dirty!
What will we have this week? Well I thought we solved the eggplant problem but they still keep producing. Hopefully it will slow down soon. We’ll also have tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet peppers, hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic (if we get time to process another variety), beets (we seem to have a lot of beets!), beans, maybe some cabbage and hopefully a few watermelons!
We are open our usual hours on Labor Day. If you pick-up at the farm on Mondays and want to switch to a different day please let me know soon. We will deliver to St. Paul’s Monastery on Tuesday September 6th. The delivery schedule for other drops sites may be effected; please stay tuned for more info.
The only extra items this week are BreadShare and FlowerShare.
Let’s end this newsletter with one of the bright spots of our recent weather!