It has been hot. Stinky, stinky hot. As if anyone didn't already know.

Looking forward, the weather will have a significant impact on the farm for the remainder of the summer. The Danville farm has seen about 8 tenths of an inch of rain since mid-May. Despite this, we have been irrigating 24-7 for some weeks. The veggies are getting water, but the 100+ degree weather has presented its own set of challenges.  And many vegetables don't particularly care for 100+ degree weather. Just to emphasize the severity. ... the corn and bean farmer across the street is guessing the corn will yield zero this year-and last year was bad at 100 bushels an acre. Our arugula, beets, squash and cucumbers have all taken a beating. Even with water the greens have burned significantly.

The crops most affected by heat are the solanaceaes. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant will all fail to set fruit with air temperatures above 88 degrees. In 2011, tomatoes set fruit to 2' above the soil line, and then a string of 90+ degree weather set in. The plants dropped blossoms for weeks and just put on vegetative growth. In the end we had a massive wall of tomato plants that yielded very few tomatoes. This year, we have a limited tomato fruit set before this hot weather kicked in. Peppers and eggplant will be limited. Tomatoes will likely be seriously limited, and our fruit quality is likely to be reduced. Cucumbers and melons may well be limited because of both heat and early onset of bacterial wilt that will kill a plant in short order. We are seeing a significant reduction in the diversity of veggies available, and this is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. While some impacts from the severe heat are immediate, other impacts will be felt 4-6 weeks from now.

So, what's going to happen?  We'll continue to fill the shares with what we have available. There will be a lot of potatoes and herbs (cilantro, basil, parsley, dill). Lettuce mix will likely come and go in quantity. The dog days of summer present more of an unknown. What if we don't have many tomatoes? What if we have half the sweet and bell peppers that we have come to expect?There is some potential for a less than pretty picture, but the full picture has yet to reveal itself.

All of this means that we will have to find creative solutions to the current issues. In the slightly longer-term, we can look to the fall for some redemption. The NOAA forecasts and recent history have lent themselves very well to long, warm falls. This is the kind of weather broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and lettuce love. So there may be some potential to extend the CSA season into November. Using the tomato example from 2011, we were short tomatoes during the summer, but held our late planting into November. . . believe it or not.

Whatever happens, we will keep you posted.