Farmer John Writes . . .                                                                                   

Greetings from Angelic Organics

Weather Last Week

Really hot, then hot. And a storm flattened a field of sweet corn and knocked out the power.

When there’s no Power, there’s Farm Team Power

A windstorm knocked our power out early Tuesday morning. Commonwealth Edison said it would take at least 2 days to restore power. Power company estimates of when the power will come back on are often inaccurate, so I realized we might be without power for 4 or 5 days: no refrigeration, no water for irrigation or washing vegetables.

Margaret Nelson, our manager of distribution and marketing, called far and wide to no avail to rent a large generator. She finally jumped into her truck and drove down to the rental company and made them rent us a generator. Go, Margaret!

The generator was delivered. Our electrician came to hook it up, and the generator threw many problems at us. Light bulbs flickered dimly. The electrician adjusted the unit. Then light bulbs flickered brightly. One exploded. In the mean time, the crew had to pack the boxes with your vegetables. The boxes are usually conveyed down the pack line on conveyor belts powered by motors. On Tuesday, the crew’s biceps bulged and their brows gleamed with sweat as they pushed the boxes down the line, the boxes becoming heavier and heavier with melons, then corn, then eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini… Temperature and humidity rose throughout the afternoon. Every so often the power from the generator came on and teased the crew with a motorized bit of relief. Then it was back to pushing boxes down the line. Go, Farm Team!

By the time the crew finished packing, the generator was working and the power from the electric company was back on.

Crop Report

We lifted the onions. They are now curing in the field, awaiting harvest. They’re small. We added four inches of irrigation water per week to the onions; it was still not possible to keep up with their needs. Two days after a two-inch soaker from our overhead irrigation, the shallow rooted onions would sit in dust several inches deep.

Tomatoes, eggplant, corn, melons and soon, peppers will leap into your boxes! Likely there is no room for carrots.

From Shareholders:

Thank all of you for all your hard work — even in this summer’s extreme heat. And thanks for the extra care on the lettuce and corn. I just want to say there are some of us out here who don’t know anyone who ever died from seeing an earworm or having to revive their greens. We see every box as a gift. 🙂 

 …just got my box today and read the newsletter. Thank you, farmer john, for sizing it right when putting in the irrigation system!! 

Warmly,

Farmer John

Please Note: this summary is written before you receive your box—please be aware that some guesswork is involved. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.

Fruiting Crops – zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, sweet corn, bagged tomatillos & tomatoes, watermelon, muskmelon and maybe peppers
Cooking Greens – bunched Chard
Salad Greens – lettuce

Adam Spaulding, (Son of Tom & Neddy Spaulding) July 27, 2005