It's tough year for farming all over the world this year. Floods and tornados in the mid-west, cool weather and water wars in California, drought and political conflict throughout the world. (Wow...gloomy...shake it off)
Last year the weather was great in Nevada...we actually had an abundant fruit crop. This year it has been far too cold for far too long. The growth in my vegetable garden has come to a complete stop. The greens have gone milky and bitter because the daytime temps are higher, but the warm weather crops are dormant because the air temps have been abnormally low well into the traditional growing season so the soil temps remain too low. This is a picture of summer squash. The weather stayed warm long enough to encourage the plant to set blossoms, then a mid-June freeze killed the foliage.
I look into my backyard and get cranky because my hobby isn't going well and the lack of growth is messing with my dreams of donating huge quantities of fresh food this year. Then I remember that farmers deal with the same issues but on a huge scale....and their livelihoods rely on it. This year I feel really good about being a CSA member because I know that our family's support will help our farmers work through what looks to be a tough year for food. Not just in Nevada, but everywhere.