We’re in the middle of a wind and rain storm that is battering the trees and crops. The farm team spent a lot of time this last week preparing for the storm, in addition to their weekly harvesting, cover cropping, trellising, soil preparation, and planting. On the positive side, Olivia and Hilary are busy growing babies and are both due in October. We had a surprise baby shower for them. A welcome time for hugs, laughs, a game, and some ice cream cake! We also welcomed Jen Burt back to the farm team. She brought some great energy when we were feeling a little discouraged by the summer of extreme chaotic weather.

We were also encouraged by the crops after a week of sunny weather at the beginning of September! What a difference that made. I’m not sure why, but the eggplants and peppers have started producing again. The basil has recovered from its pests and diseases, and is producing prolific crops. We have beautiful arugula and other greens growing in beds that are not waterlogged. Things were starting to feel normal again.

David and I went to visit Jamie and Sarah at Off Beet Farm in Cole Harbour. Their farm is close to the ocean and their use of seaweed convinced us that we should use it too. They had two squash patches. One grown in landscape fabric, and one grown in thick seaweed mulch. The squash in seaweed mulch looked super healthy and had no pests. The squash planted with landscape fabric mulch looked about as stressed as our crop back home. After Lee has passed through our region, we are planning to go collect storm cast seaweed from the shore and use it to mulch crops.