June 6th: Listening & Weaving

Happy June!

Lots happening at the farm this week with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. We have some peppers and our vine tomatoes in the field tunnel, and just finished planting the bush tomatoes and the rest of the peppers into the ground in what we lovingly refer to as Fabricland (ie, landscape fabric with holes). It’s incredibly helpful to suppress weeds as well as capture more heat that tomatoes and peppers love. Justin and Carlos have been working on setting up the trellising system for them, which differs slightly from last year's setup, where we used a “Florida weave” that didn’t quite work as we had hoped. This year, we are making use of cattle fencing, so stay tuned to see that progress!

Above right: Justin planting our vining tomatoes in the field tunnel. Above left: Our cucumbers in the field tunnel have been popping off and are starting to produce some cukes! Every year, the first of every crop is always such a rush. Cucumbers will mean Carlos will be doing new batches of his famous Pickle Relish, just in time for BBQ season.

What’s in our Ears?

In other news, we are bringing back our segment of “What’s in our Ears?” where we share with you what we are listening to around the farm. This week, Carlos is talking about the audiobooks he’s listening to while picking weeds out of the cilantro and dill, or seeding new trays in the nursery or mowing all around the farm!

Carlos has highlighted an autobiography by actor Danny Trejo (Machete, Spy Kids) called “Danny Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood”:

“Danny Trejo’s story was particularly captivating for me. I’ve known of him for years, but I never knew the details of his life before Hollywood. (Why would I?! … He’s always been an ‘actor’ in my books.) Danny Trejo grew up in the 50/60’s in LA, having hard immigrant Mexican gangsters and gangster wannabes as role models.  By the time he was in his early teens, he had already dealt with addiction and incarceration. In his early 20s, he ‘got out’ of the gang life, after doing time in many of California’s most notorious maximum security prisons and began to focus on helping others with addiction and recovery. Danny’s story is inspirational because of the significant changes he has made despite facing such adversity. It’s a great perspective to listen to while I deal with my challenges/setbacks and it helps remind me that my problems are not so big. (Certainly not as big as a maximum security prison!) Importantly, it helps motivate me through days when things feel overwhelming.”

-Carlos

Additionally, Amanda has a musical musing this week:

“I love June and I think about it a lot throughout the year. I’m an ever-hopeful person, but summer isn’t my favourite season. So, the slow warming that happens as summer kicks off is my favourite, before July and August feel worn and dragged out. I used to listen to the band The Decemberists a lot, and they have a song called “June Hymn” that succinctly captures many sentiments of the month. (If you can tell by the name, they are a real “month”-based band, also with a song called January Hymn). It’s a great song and best listened to in the morning, just as you feel the soft warmth of the early June sun. Activities to do while listening to this song? Drinking coffee or, as I did recently, harvest dill and chives (for the market)! Take advantage of the early sun when you can as the soft sun is not long for this month with temperatures climbing to 33 quickly this weekend.”

-Amanda

Hope you are all facing your challenges, finding perspective and taking soft mornings this June. We’ll be back at the market this Saturday, and make sure you get there bright and early for the crispest produce and your pick of the crop.

-OKHP Crew