A Potential November Watermelon?

I last wrote about some of the innovations that we are steadily making based upon our compiled observations.  All these ideas and this information goes into a kind of living document that I have that is a detailed calendar charting the perfect growing season.  So far in 15 years of farming this is my most refined approach to the predictive guesswork of managing crops.  There is something very hopeful and expressive about a plan that assumes everything going well.  Best laid plans… I hope that I have also learned to not become too expectant of some trend or pattern because it will probably change. 

I don't think that we adequately described to you all the effect of the rains that we had in early October.  I heard from many long time locals that those were the earliest, most substantial rains they had ever seen in this area.  Suddenly with little warning we had November in early October.  Water on the fruit and vines together with the cold night time temperatures brought about splitting of tomatoes and a loss of probably 20% of our crop.  We have late successions of sweet corn and watermelon that two weeks ago I had all but given up upon.  It looked like we would watch all of our sweet peppers continue to sit chilly and unripened on the plants.  Our summer squash is all but inundated in powdery mildew since the rains.  While things were looking very bleak a couple of weeks ago it would have been easy to assume that most things were lost.  If the cold weather and rains had stayed we would have lost a lot more but over the course of the last week and a half we have had steadily warming and dry weather that has dried out the ailing tomatoes, accelerated the ripening of peppers, matured the corn, and gone a long way towards a potential November watermelon! 

Underlying diversity is security for changing conditions.  I have never seen any kind of weather spike or pest problem or wholly unpredicted event on the farm that did not have an upside or strengthening learning growth that came with it.  I don't think that I am expressing some kind of delusional optimism or self-help poster brand positive thinking but something more deeply ecological.  While aberrant these early October rains brought much needed moisture to the soil and accelerated the growth and vigor of all of our fall cooking and salad greens.  They germinated a flush of winter weeds that we will undermine when we harrow the ground to plant our cover crops.  The rains also improved the texture and biology of all the soils that were lying unplanted and drying before the next plantings.  Modeling diversity on a small farm offers a faster and more efficient means of adapting to changing conditions.  In all of our education about ecological farming practice we use the model of "mirroring natural process"  Considering changes over time my greatest hope for mirroring nature is to emulate natural resiliency.  

-Jason