Future Growth and Challenges

We're grateful for our sandy soil during times like these when it simply will not stop raining. We had a short window or dry last week to catch up on weeding and planting - the extreme heat however made the work slow. There seems to be more rain in the forecast this week and despite our good drainage, we're seeing the impacts of the wet, humid conditions across the farm. Our tomatoes are showing signs of early blight, our peppers on the edge of the tunnel are stunted, our brassicas have yellowing leaves and a few squash plants are developing powdery mildew. In addition to challenges caused by the moisture, we are seeing heavy pest pressure (especially cucumber beetles) and have noticed club root in newly planted fields. Club root is a nasty soil-borne disease that impacts all crops in the brassica family. It attacks the root system and results in swollen roots that force the plant to eventually wilt and die. We are noticing it the most right now in our cabbage patch that started off looking so healthy. Unfortunately, this disease can live in the soil for 20 years and there's no proven way to eliminate it (especially using organic methods). We hope that increasing the pH of our fields will reduce the issue, but we will likely need to grow less brassicas moving forward.

Farming is a constant test of patience and endurance. With so many things happening at once and every crop having it's own unique wants and needs, it can feel like an unsurmountable task to get food from field to table (especially with the humidex persisting at 35 degrees). Despite it all, there is some sick pleasure gained from tackling these challenges because it means that we are forced to learn and become better, more resilient farmers. Even as it seems like so much is going wrong, there is also so much going right and we continue to plan and grow for the future. At the end of last week, we began marking out new field blocks that we plan to starting opening up this year so that we can expand our production area (photo below). We plan to double our field production over the next couple years. The challenges of farming will never go away, but as we continue as we continue to grow and learn in/ with this space, I'm optimistic that the overwhelming sense of chaos felt in these early years will fade.

The club root is certainly impeding our brassica production, but we've still got some lovely little caraflex cabbages coming out of the field. Below are some fun recipe ideas for summer cabbage:

• These little cabbages are the perfect size to cut in half, drizzle with oil and a bit salt and toss in the oven at 350 until golden brown. I love to top my cabbage with a bit of lemon juice and some toasted walnuts. You could also cook your cabbage on the bbq if you're trying to avoid heating up your house with the oven.

• We love a slaw in this house! Get out your mandolin or slice the cabbage into thin strips. Salt the cabbage to allow it to soften while you prepare your dressing. Our favourite slaw of the moment is dressed with a mix of mayo, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger and garlic. Add cilantro, pickled radishes, and top with sesame seeds. So fresh and tasty!

Our lettuce heads are looking gorgeous right now, so I urge you all to get on the caesar salad train. Such a perfect blend of lettuce and anchovies - can't go wrong with that in my opinion.

• Caeser salad dresssing