Whatever the weather

IT’S BEEN a busy week on the farm, and we are making good progress on the UPick Project. All of the blueberries were planted, we installed the irrigation, and the vegetables are growing well thanks to the beautiful weather we have had.

Today we hope to plant the other portion of the fruit crop on the north side of the field. We are planting thornless blackberries and merlot grapes for wine, then installing the irrigation for those plants.

The weather has been beautiful, but it was a good reminder of how farmers really depend on good weather to get things done. In 2013, even though we might have 300 horse-power tractors, GPS controlled seeders, and understand the dynamics of plant growth and soil composition at the molecular level, we still have the same relationship with weather as Farmer Hittite did plowing his field with an ox in 1180 BC.

Here is an excerpt from his blog, June of 1180 BC: “Hello blog readers! Today I was finally able to get out on the field to plow. It’s been so wet lately we haven’t been able to plant our wheat. Everything was going well until a saber tooth tiger came out of the woods and bit my leg off. Ouch! I’m sure it will heal nicely. If it’s turning green that means its healing, right?”

Minus the saber tooth tiger, we still have the same problem. We really depend on a good combination of rain and sunshine to be able to plant and grow crops. Usually (in BC) we manage it, but sometimes it can go very badly, as it did last growing season in the United States, where drought forced many farmers to abandon their crops.

The great thing about farmers is even though the weather might ruin their crops, they usually accept it for what it is, kind of like humble Job in the Bible. And that’s why farmers are awesome.