Sitting and not swatting!

I am sitting on the front stoop of our little house in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

This is amazing. I mean, really amazing.

I haven't swatted a single mosquito for almost 10 minutes, and there is not even a hint of a sweat mustache on my upper lip. Granted, it is only 8:18 am, but this type of leisurely sitting-out-of-doors has not been possible for months, it seems like.

The farm is in full swing, though Tim and Jan tell us we are on the cusp of beginning to wind down. That is hard to believe as we are harvesting hundreds of pounds of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, sweet peppers, a little cabbage yet, potatoes, green and yellow beans, and the list continues. I'm learning that the amount of daylight dictates growth patterns more than temperature this time of year, so we should start seeing some ebb in vegetable production soon, despite the record temperatures we've had.

Eli and I did market by ourselves yesterday - what a cool feeling. The attendance was, ahem, underwhelming, but it was really fun to get up super early, do some last minute 6 am harvest, get the booth all set up, and then while away the morning chatting with folks. I made some baba ghanouj to take a sample, and we sold out of eggplant. We ate lunch at the only local foods cafe in Mason City and ran into quite a few people we had just talked to at the market. I am still kind of amazed at small town life - anonymity seems to be an unknown condition here.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays this way - one gets acclimated to the heat and humidity to a certain extent, especially when out in it all day, but it is much more pleasant to be out and find lots of energy for work when things are a bit cooler. It also helps the moods of some of the folks who are only here a couple of days a week!

We are off to the state fair for the day - everyone has been saying for weeks we should go, so here we go. I grew up six blocks from the Indiana State Fairgrounds and only ever went to the mid-way for elephant ears and make-you-want-to-puke carnival rides. We'll at least try to squeeze in the Fiddle Championships and a wool packing contest today at the Iowa State Fair.

Much love and cool thoughts out to everyone in the big wide world reading this!

We are still here, and still working hard. Or hardly working? Depends on the time of day, I think. ;)

This week we are harvesting:

Cabbage - red and green
Tomatoes - so many varieties!
Kohlrabi
Onions - red, yellow, and white
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Beans - yellow and green
Kale
Chard
Eggplant
Bok Choy
Maybe some other stuff that isn't coming to mind right away. It is high season on the farm!

The farm's 15th anniversary party is this Sunday, and there is lots of preparation going on. I think I'll try to write an origin story for the place before the week is out. The bugs remain bad in the meantime, and so I shall say hello and goodbye for now!