As always at this time of year, rainfall brings with it the good and the bad. The good far outweighs the bad in many ways, the most obvious being that we are still in a time of drought and the less irrigating we have to do the better. It helps in other ways as well.

My main task as president of the Central Coast Chapter of California Certified Organic Farmers (a position that sounds way more important than it actually is), is to help organize two meetings each year. Last night was our “Spring” meeting at the Grange hall in nearby Aromas, and it went really well. Part of the function of the local chapters is to connect with other growers and educate ourselves about problems and issues affecting us here in our region.

We recently received a question about what “organic pesticides” we apply to our crops. Certain microbial, botanical, or mineral substances are approved for pest control in organic agriculture and we occasionally use one to address a specific situation on the farm. However, we rarely use even these organic pest control products.

The storm that is expected to roll in tomorrow will bring to a close the short, dry “window” that has allowed us to get in with the tractors and ready some ground for planting into. At our Lewis Road site we have already transplanted lettuces, chards, kales, and collards. Today out there we are direct seeding cilantro, beets, mei quin choi, scallions, red pearl onions and mustard greens.

Last week, my son Lee and I attended the annual Ecofarm Conference in Pacific Grove for a day. As a presenter–I spoke at a session on CSAs in the morning—I was given free admittance for the day along with lunch and dinner. The session I spoke at went well. It was great to see a large, enthusiastic group of people committed to the CSA movement.

Shortly after 5 am this morning, as I sat down in front of the computer to check the weather forecast, the possum that lives under our tub in the adjoining hall bathroom got into a fight with a skunk that wandered into the crawl space looking for shelter from the rain. I heard the whole thing transpire and ran into the bathroom stomping on the floor in an effort to break it up, but it was too late.

Things have played out perfectly here this fall. We’ve had enough rainfall to bring up the cover crops and stabilize the hillsides with breaks in between that have allowed us to get the work done that we’ve needed to.

Yesterday’s rainstorm was a very pleasant surprise. The National Weather service was only calling for a quarter inch or less in our area, and we ended up getting over 1.25 inches. It was mainly the steady, gentle early season type of rain that is perfect for getting cover crops established without doing any damage.

Work on our new well here at our home site has officially begun. Last Friday the drilling company moved all of their equipment over in a caravan. It looked like the fun-zone of a small town carnival had come to set itself up on our farm. After a day of site prep and set up, they will begin to drill in earnest today.

We are entering the final stretch for this season. The seeds I am setting out to be planted in the greenhouse will be the last we plant until we start up again in November and December for next season’s transplants.

The initial spring frenzy has passed and things have calmed down a little around here. The winter squash and pumpkins are up and growing quickly and the heat loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, beans and basil have really taken off. After a very cool spring, it’s finally starting to feel like summer.

Last Tuesday I went to the Elkhorn Slough Water Quality Workshop at the Moss Landing Marine Labs. I had signed up for it months ago when things were less busy, so when I received an e-mail reminder a few days before the event, my first reaction was that I could never afford to take half a day off.

The activity level on the farm has been ratcheted up these last few weeks. This time of year finding time to do anything other than harvesting is difficult. We have three crops—strawberries, blueberries and squash—that have to be picked 2-3 times a week and when you throw in all of the other crops we are harvesting there is very little time left for all of the planting, weeding, pruning and other activities that have to happen to keep the farm going.

Among the very best improvements we have ever made on our farm is building an enclosed workshop in 2007. By most standards it is quite modest—30×30 feet, with unfinished walls and a bare concrete floor. But it does have workbenches, lots of shelf space, good lighting and enough floor space to work on two trucks or tractors at once if need be. And most importantly, it has a place for everything—(although everything isn’t always in its place).

It feels like the end of May around here. The flowers on the Ceanothus in front of our house, which is usually just starting to bloom at this time, have largely faded and been scattered onto our walkways and yard. I can’t remember a winter where I have been in shirt-sleeves more often.

January has been a busy month for us in regards to farm related meetings and social gatherings. As part of my duties as President of the Central Coast Chapter of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) I helped to organize our annual meeting which was held in nearby Aromas on Monday the 12th. Three wonderful presenters agreed to speak on topics that are very relevant to growers here on the Central Coast. Lisa Bunin from The Center for Food Safety spoke about efforts to get the organic strawberry industry to transition to organically produced starter plants.

At the end of the road where we farm in Monterey County, there are two shallow ponds in the shady bottom of a small valley. In the thirty-plus years that he has lived there, our neighbor Keith, the beekeeper, had never seen the ponds dry up. But last year, dry up they did, and with all of the rain we have gotten so far this season, dried up they remain. For me this serves as a useful gauge of just what a serious drought we remain in. The rain so far has been great–but much more is needed.

Thanks to those of you who braved the heat to come out to the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. We enjoyed seeing you, and the goats and cows loved all the food and attention. We donated 100% of the pumpkin sales (over $800) to Linscott Charter School.

The high pressure zone and the heat that accompanied it during the later part of last week made life interesting around here. Normally our proximity to the coast (two miles) takes the edge off of most heat spells,

Some of you will receive “new” potatoes in your box this week. These are simply potatoes that have been dug before the skins have set and the plants have dried down. I remember an English customer at a Farmer’s Market once who asked if my potatoes were “English” new potatoes, as if the name implied a specific variety. In fact, they can be from any variety—this week we are digging Desirees.

We’re enjoying some beautiful August days here on the farm. We’ve cut the water off on our winter squash and pumpkin fields. Over the coming weeks we’ll let the plants dry down and the squash fully cure before we cut the stems and pack them in totes for winter storage. It’s always a bit difficult to see what you have got, in terms of yield and quality, until the plants have died back, but at this stage things look pretty good.

We’ve been busy this last week trying to get caught up with maintenance on our tractors and trucks. It’s always a challenge at this time of year because the trucks are out on the road most days, and the tractors are out in the field. One of the big advantages in having our own shop, as humble as it is, is that, in addition to saving us a lot of money, it is simply quicker and easier to do routine maintenance ourselves rather than having to shuttle a truck to an outside shop and back. And I can have my feline helper with me.

The tomatoes look great and we are right on the cusp of having lots of them, so expect to see them in the web store soon. This year we planted several new varieties including grape and “San Marzano” type sauce tomatoes and they all are loaded with fruit. This is the third year that we have used the single stem method of training the tomato plants in the greenhouses and every year we have gotten a little better at it.

Outside of the early problems we had with red lettuce aphids, we have had very light insect pressure so far this season. The cabbage aphids, which were so bad last year that we had to disc in several plantings before harvest, have only appeared in a few areas and in light numbers. And I have yet to see a single flee beetle this year.

Things have cooled off greatly since the hot spell that we had a couple weeks back, but its effects are still evident around the farm. The two-spotted mites, which are one of the largest pest problems for strawberry growers in this area, reproduce at a much greater rate when temperatures are high. We’ve had to release more of the beneficial, predatory, persimilis mites to combat them than we normally would have.

It looks like things will be dry enough here at our home farm by the end of the week for us to get back in with the tractors and continue to work up more ground to plant into. Before the last series of storms we had mowed and incorporated the cover crop on most of the fields and in the intervening weeks the residue has broken down to the point that we should be able to start planting into it in a week or so. My aim every year is to plant our large blocks of hard squash no later than May 1^st, and it looks like we are on track to meet that goal.

One of the happier things to happen here in the last five years is that the neighboring 400 plus acre property was purchased by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. The three parcels that make up this property are now in agricultural easements which will protect them from development in perpetuity. The previous owners had drawn up elaborate plans for a 1000 plus unit development, complete with shopping center and golf course.

This week’s imminent rains are very welcome indeed. The timing of the first system, late Wednesday morning, should allow us just enough time to get the harvest done for our Thursday deliveries. Things greened up remarkably quickly after the last rounds of rainfall, the bell beans and peas in the cover crops are in bloom, and all is starting to feel right with the world again.