Fall has arrived and not too soon. This last summer was hot and dry. We had two of the hottest days yet on record at the farm. In mid-August we had two days of 118 degrees with days of 117 and 116 on either side. The rest of the week was hovering around 110 degrees. We also had swarms of grasshoppers that wiped out a third of our lavender and gophers that took out three 6 year old trees. There was so little water, the insects were drilling our pumpkins and melons for moisture. The picture is of wasps sucking prickly pear dry.
We did have some great crops that made it through though. The corn was sweet and plentiful, the garlic and onions had a bumper harvest, the kale, carrots and basil were wonderful and the tomatoes and peppers were prolific. We also did manage to harvest some rather large pumpkins that have made wonderful pies and soups.
We also made great progress on the root cellar and we finished building our raised beds that now number 12. All with gopher proof bottoms and all thanks to our many wonderful Wwoofers that came and shared their time and energy.
All in all it was a mixed bag filled with multiple learning opportunities and a new year on the horizon to put them to the test.
