Well, we've had the second hottest summer in Texas history! We're also under extreme drought. It's been rough to grow anything this summer. This is the first summer since I've been here that we're not picking tomatoes in August. Luckily, we planted another 1400 tomato plants in July but only about have of those made it. It's been so hot and dry that even with watering every day, we had trees die. This has been an expensive summer just in watering everything. Our average water bill has been about $400 a month. This is not counting the $500 a month for the land rent and that water. I clearly understand why they do not have many vegetable farms in this area. To be honest it's not cost effective here. I guess I'm just trying to make enough to plant again next year. I'm always hoping and praying each season will be better. We've been blessed to have as much crops as we did harvest. It can always be worse. So for that, I'm thankful.
On the bright side, we're having some rain and cooler temps. In August at that!
School has started and about to start in many areas. That means families are busy shopping and getting clothes and supplies. Most are so busy running around that they stop cooking at home and eat out more. This is good for the restaurants but bad for people in the produce business or local farms. We've seen our weekly box sales go way down. I know it happens every year but it still hurts. We've set a goal of trying to sell between 75 and 100 boxes per week. Of course that depends on how much we harvest. The last few weeks have been about have of that. We're grateful for everyone that has continued to purchase the boxes. We will just continue to hang in and hope for the best.
We have been very busy in between the rain and the hot hot days before the rain. Lot's of planting and working ground. We're about half way through that and hope to be done by the first of September. I love the fall season very much. As the weather stays cooler, the crops and myself seem to get an extra bounce. Fall is the best time to grow veggies. I love seeing all the dark green foliage on the plants such as cabbage, all the cole crops and greens. However the fall season can be over pretty quick for some crops such as the cucumbers and tomatoes. But a lot other can really take off on cold weather. So I'm looking forward to a great fall season.
We can not do this without the support of y'all. We appreciate y'all for buying the farm box and hope you continue. Please help us spread the word.