Farm Friday

It's now summer - and hot, hot, hot.  Unfortunately, the unusual weather earlier in the season - lots of rain, little sun - has combined with tomato blight to make for a poor harvest.  We weren't able to to go the farmers' market Tuesday night - not much to sell - and we won't be there tomorrow, either.  The good news is that we do have enough for our CSA members and a little left over for us to make a few good dishes.  This situation shows how in past times, and in the developing world, a poor harvest could mean death because of lack of infrastructure to ship and preserve fresh produce.  When you have to depend on what you grow to survive (i.e., no supermarkets to fall back on), this kind of season is deadly.  So we had an extended spring season and very bad summer season.  We expect the fall season to be bountiful.

Our intern, Lydia,  started with us on Monday.  She has farm experience and jumped right in to the work:

Her life-long dream is to be a farmer and we hope she achieves it.  Lydia will be with us for 3 weeks.  We had two other interns scheduled to work, as well, but one got a full-time job and the other couldn't come due to a family emergency.

Our goat Rhiannon kidded this week and had a cute boy - almost all white with brown freckled ears:

Last night we went to the weekly dinner at Grace + Main, the ministry that partners with people who are homeless, near-homeless, and formerly homeless.  This dinner was at an apartment building that we've adopted and supported over the years.  It was a celebration of "tenant's rights."  This building is in deplorable condition - ceilings falling down, no running water in some of the bathtubs, walls so rotten that birds nest inside apartments, roaches everywhere - and many of the tenants are essentially prisoners there.  Many of them suffer from mental illness and the state made them wards of an organization that handles their finances.  Funny thing, the woman who runs that organization is married to the building owner.  As finances are out of the tenants hands, they are unable to make their own housing arrangements.  Of course, since many have been homeless, they are afraid to complain, fearing they will again find themselves on the street.  Last night one resident told us that he hadn't eaten in three days - and that his "guardian" gives him $25 a week for food, in the form of a check that he has to walk several blocks to cash at his bank.  He could cash it at a local convenience store, but we've heard horror stories about others doing that, plus they charge outrageous check cashing fees.  Up until now, it has been a case of the voiceless of society being abused by the people entrusted with their care.  However, now that the tenants have asserted themselves - and are supported by the ministry - we expect some positive changes will be made. 

I'll leave you with a photo of one of my volunteer sunflowers and the Dominique hens (and roosters) taking a break from the midday sun:

Have a great weekend!