GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL! Berries have left the building.

What a week last week was!  I contacted every strawberry grower I knew of (and that list is long) to no avail, trying to find berries for our farm store. Unfortunately, some really hot weather the previous week and earlier last week has growers scrambling.  Several of our favorite suppliers have had nothing available at all and some of them are opting to sell direct instead of to us. One grower I talked to said he is "done for the season" meaning his crop has come and gone in a fraction of the usual time. That is a big loss for a small farm and I feel for him. I have had several growers tell me that they had never experienced a year like this one, trying to second guess weather this year.  It was warm too early, wet and cool for a while and then blistering hot and dry. As a farmer, you do what you can to try do make things work but you are always at the mercy of Mother Nature.  The good news is that this may only apply to the early season berry varieties like the Hoods and when the Albions, Tillamooks and some of the other later season varieties ripen, we could have them again. Plus, blueberry season is coming soon, followed by the bramble fruits, which will not be so affected by high temps.  

Also, this is a transitional time of year…moving from late spring (cool weather) veggies into early summer (warmer weather) veggies.  We are committed to bringing you the best of truly local and seasonal goods.  Here, there are small squash on the plants about 2 inches long, cucumbers, too. Green beans will be coming on soon and there are many green tomatoes that should be turning soon.  The beautiful greens, beets, carrots and kale we have had are on their way out and soon as summer season veggies come in. We will be planting a third succession of snap peas soon which should bring them back early August and into the fall. Growing seasonally means you don't force anything before its time and that is a strong principle here at our farm.  It comes when it comes and your patience will reward you eventually.

I would also like reiterate that we are a local, seasonal organic farm. Our farm store, likewise is local and seasonal, stocking our own organic produce as well as from other farms in the region. It is proving to be a challenging year on all counts. As many of you have likely read, the bees are threatened and honey prices are rising quickly. Avian flu, while not in Oregon (yet and hopefully never), is creating a shortage of eggs across the country and local prices are rising in response to national price increases.  You are likely seeing that this kind of thing affects the price of everything in the supermarket and it affects us in an even greater way.  

Ours is a whole economy based on supply and demand and local food is no exception. In fact, in many ways, it is much more vulnerable than just about any other sector. Our county, Washington, is not presently affected with drought conditions but much of the rest of the state is (Current Drought Conditions Map).  That is affecting availability of many crops across the region.  Supporting your local food growers is more important now that it has been in a long time.