Hi , As July has come to a close, we wanted to share a reflection on what happened this past month. In this heat, our herd is spending a lot of their time under the shade of the trees or tucked away from the sun inside their barn. The dogs sleep the days away. The cats tuck themselves into cool pockets of shade. Even the chickens aren't in the pasture
during the afternoons--they opt for staying under the trees. Everyone around here deals with heat the same way: head for the shade and don't move around much. But then once the fog rolls in, everyone perks up. We are grateful for the fog! The mornings can be grey, but it gives us a chance to get done with farm chores before the heat begins. |
Stomates? What-stomates with you?-- Despite the wilting heat, the grove is
doing well splendidly. The trees are fine when the temperatures get up into the 90s, and so far we have not surpassed that. Fun plant fact: When temperatures reach about 90 degrees, the stomates (kind of like pores that take in sunlight for photosynthesis) on the plant's leaves close. This is to protect themselves from loosing too much water in the heat. But on the other-hand makes it so that the roots can't suck in any more water. This is true for our avocado trees, so we water them in the
mornings, so they can drink it up before it get too hot out. |
We have continued to see how growing crops in Alameda County is a fun adventure. Our asparagus season has finally come to a close, though we were able to harvest asparagus through July, which was way longer than what was expected.
Asparagus is considered a Spring crop, and now we've made it a Summer one as well. We have tried many different fruits and vegetables throughout our time here. This past month we harvested almost 50 pounds of Morello cherries. A number of you got to take some home from the market. These cherries aren't like the typical sweet on varieties
you find at the store. Instead they are quite tart and very flavorful, which makes them great for desserts, jams, and drinks. We have also planted rhubarb and hope to bring that to the market in the next year or so. Here on the farm, we try to grow just about anything to see how well it does. Here's a fun story to illustrate this. Every Thursday night, we (as
in Dave and Anna) have dinner with Anna's parents. Five years ago during these dinners, there was a discussion that lasted about a month about whether or not a certain kind of peach tree, an Elberta peach, would grow at Chetwyn considering the climate. Finally, we all concluded it is just not cold enough here for the tree to grow. However, the next day Dave told Anna he had bought an Elberta peach anyways. After laughing about it, Anna went and shared with her parents how Dave had gotten the
tree despite all of the discussions. They laughed and told her they had ordered a tree as well. And now we have two happily producing Elberta peach trees on the farm. |
We are still brining the classic Hass avocados to the market as we continue into August, and soon the GEM will be joining them. Both of these varieties of delicious avocados have high oil content with a smooth and creamy finish. In late August, we will also
be bringing Reed avocados. Stay up-to-date about which varieties we will be brining to the market by checking out our website calendar. |
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