I’m starting to wonder if we embarked on the wrong spring project this year. I was reminded of this when I awoke this morning to yet another round of heavy rain and thunder. As I was listening to all the commotion outside I leaned over to Susan and said, “Looks like I will be gathering vegetables this morning — by twos — one male and one female.”
A pessimist sees the rain gauge as overflowing. An optimist sees all the free fertilizer the atmosphere is producing. I’ve always thought us farmers as pessimistic optimists. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong, but in the end it will turn out alright.
But back to the storm and the free fertilizer. The atmosphere is made up of ~79% nitrogen. Oxygen makes up most of the rest, with other things like smog filling in the gaps. We animals use the ~21% oxygen to survive. We don’t have much need for the nitrogen. Plants, being more evolved than us humans, have adapted to use both the oxygen and nitrogen. They’ve figured out how to use 99+% of the atmosphere. What makes us think we are so special?
Unfortunately plants haven’t figured out how to use nitrogen in the form found in the atmosphere: N2. N2 is a tough molecule. It contains only two atoms, both nitrogen. And each nitrogen atom provides only five electrons in its outer shell. And as we all remember from our chemistry class, nitrogen wants to have eight electrons in its outer shell; must have something to do with computers and the octal system. But I digress. So nitrogen atoms, being the Geminis of the atomic world, like to share their electrons. They figure if two of them can each share three of their outer shell electrons with each other they would both be happy having eight outer shell electrons. And boy is that a marvelous thing if you are an atom!
But they also have a Taurus side to them once they pair up. They are stubborn. They don’t like change. Once they form a team, breaking them up is near impossible. BFFs! Until a greater power comes along.
In the case of the atmosphere that greater power is lightning! Lightning is pretty darn powerful. 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to be exact! Using this immense power, lightning is able to break up the two nitrogen atoms faster than you can say “the Montagues and the Capulets”. Once these two are separated they become desperate to find another partner. “I can’t go out wearing only five outer electrons! Other atoms will laugh at me!” Much like a bar at closing time, they quickly hook-up with any other atom looking to hook-up — any atom willing to share three outer electrons with them. And being the reckless atom they are, they pretty much grab onto the first atom that comes along!
If we farmers are lucky, they latch on to a few oxygen atoms forming nitrates or nitrites and making themselves water soluble. Now here is the really amazing part: The rain is made of water! The nitrogen is now in a form that is water soluble and vuola, we have liquid fertilizer pouring down like rain. Woo-hoo!
And what is the result? Cabbage big enough to swallow a giraffe.
Anyway, if it doesn’t stop raining soon I will have to embark on the ark project. In the mean time I will continue to enjoy the free fertilizer.
What’s coming this week? Glad you asked! We will have snap peas, snow peas, lettuce, garlic scapes, green garlic, green onions, beets, kohlrabi, bok choi, kale, not much broccoli, and very few summer squash.
A Fresh Earth Farms exclusive: Garlic Scape Cream Cheese! It was such a success last year that we are bringing it back this year. Castle Rock Organic Farms, the provider of our CheeseShare product, is making a special run of cream cheese using garlic scapes from Fresh Earth Farms. It is absolutely delicious! Those who have ordered CheeseShare will get this as part of the July 4th week. Anyone else, or CheeseShare customers who want extra, can order some from us. The cost is $5.00 for an 8 oz tub. Just let me know how many you want. You can pick it up at your usual pick-up place during the July 4th week.
If anyone is interested in saving $75 please let me know. We are looking for someone to deliver the boxes to Stillwater. If you would like to help out please let me know.
I have a member who is looking to share a FruitShare. If you are interested in splitting a FruitShare please let me know and I will put the two of you in touch with each other. Since this person picks up at the farm it would work best if both members picked up here.
CheeseShare this week!
This is an even week for EggShare.