It’s that time of year again- between rain and high temps it seems everything is growing all at once in the garden, including the weeds. We’ve been very busy at High Rocks maintaining our crops, staying on top of the weeds, and prepping for market. That’s where it all feels worth it, getting to meet with other farmers and customers, swapping gardening tips and tales, and building community through food. It makes the hours of weed pulling out in the hot sun feel totally worth it to see such interest in locally grown food.

Some more specific things we’ve been working on are maintaining our tomato plants- all 270 feet of them! Our tomatoes will be one of our main cash crops this year, so we want to make sure we’re taking extra good care of them. Between trellising and pruning, we’re trying to keep our tomatoes growing UP and not OUT, and maintain plenty of airflow between the plants to keep them producing and healthy.

                We’ve also been working diligently on our compost piles. This year we’ve tried to have a more intentional focus on soil health, and good soil management. Compost is a huge part of that, so making our own has been a lot of fun this year. Plant residue, kitchen scraps, hay, and horse manure have all been layered and turned on a strict schedule to keep the black gold flowing. Our piles finally reached maturity, so after a good sifting, it was ready for application into our beds.

Farming can be exhausting work, especially with the heat, but it’s also some of the most rewarding work you can do. Sweaty clothes, achey muscles, and sunburned foreheads are the trophies we take home to celebrate the community building that is possible through this work.