Oh HAIL!

Farmer’s face many challenges. Drought, killing early or late unexpected freezes, critters stealing or stomping the crops, floods, and pests and diseases. It seems that something is always trying to kill our crops. Sometimes, all in one season! 

But probably one of our biggest fears, and most destructive challenges, comes by way of a pretty pink blob on the radar map, usually in the middle of warm weather. 

That pink blob, signifies a four letter word that sends a shiver up the spine of all farmers...  

HAIL 

Well one early afternoon the first week of June as I was looking at the radar to monitor the rain, one of those pink blobs appeared on the radar screen - and it was heading straight for the farm. 

There’s not a thing you can do either. 

 

Once I was able to assess the size of the hail, I reported it to Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground, or mPING. It started out as pea size but very quickly grew heavy and larger. It ended up as half-inch, jagged ice balls falling from the sky, at a rapid rate, pushed sideways by a strong, blustery wind. This was not good. At. All. 

I worried that the old windowpanes on this farmhouse would break. It sure sounded like they would any minute. The cats inside the house must have thought the sky was falling with all of the racket. I'm sure the barn cats were sound asleep somewhere. They're bothered by little. 

 

Badger, our trusty Farm dog, had taken cover in the barn, according to his GPS tracking collar. 

 

The horses, whom I had intentionally kept up front that day to help with the tall grass that the sheep were slacking on eating, were surely under trees or in the barn also. The chickens, well, they're chickens. Eventually, I'm sure they took cover. 

 

It came down heavy and hard and I can only imagine it would have hurt to be out in the open. Especially, a chicken. 

Heavy rains followed the hail storm. This along with lightening and thunder was a storm stronger than we'd had in quite some time. No sign of a tornado, thankfully. But this was no joke. 

 

It was finally clear enough for me to venture outside. I pulled on my galoshes and headed out back to check the damage that I knew had surely been done. 

 

Checking everyone along the way, the animals all seemed none the worse for where, thankfully. Looking up at me from their grazing as if nothing had happened. Horses and sheep are so resilient. 

 

The driveway was littered with bits and pieces of the post oaks and small to medium branches were scattered everywhere. I hadn't seen this many branches down since a tornado ripped through here in 2008. 

 

 

I made my way through the gate towards the road to the gardens only to find it flooded. That’s not uncommon after a heavy rain. But it really hadn't rained all that long, so I was a little surprised. 

 

By the time I made my way around the back of the pond, which sounded like a mini waterfall, I worried that my neighbors homes to the south had flooded, too. I hate to sound like a broken record, but had we received the zoning change, our engineer had been working on a solution to the flooding problem. But that's all water under the bridge now, I guess. Or water in living rooms. 

 

As I rounded the corner to view the gardens, I could tell there was devastation. 

 

Our 3 foot tall tomatoes - were laying flat. 

  

 

As I got closer I could see that many had  broken over the twine that had been supporting them. 

 

 

The beautiful summer squash we had been enjoying a bountiful harvest from, looked like someone had beat them with a rake.

 

The cucumbers seemed to have hidden behind the metal trellis and survived along with the long beans. 

 

The broccoli and cabbage, was on its side. 

 

I hoped by morning some of them would stand back upright. But it looked bad. 

I walked down to check on the poly house, our high tunnel. Thankfully, no rips or holes. Pock marks all along the poly roof, but it seemed to be intact. 

 

All I could do was take a few photos, some video for posterity, and go back inside. 

 

The rows still flooded, more rain coming, it felt like defeat. 

 

I reported our fate to the world via socials. It had been an isolated pocket of hail, so thankfully, most of my colleagues would be spared. 

 

Over the next several days in between yet MORE rain, I'd trim dead branches, re-string rows of tomato plants, and harvest what I could. 

 

The squash plants were a total loss and pulled out right away so as not to attract pests to a damaged plant. (Summer squash emit a type of chemical that attracts pests, and other cucurbit type plants (melons) as well as tomatoes are also on their menu. My colleague and friend Beverly, of Texas Tested Seeds & Plants, does an excellent job here explaining this.) 

 

The weeds of course grew inches overnight. So dragging the weed whacker out there on top of trimming and re-staking, etc., was in order. 

 

 

Then, a few days later, we got a whopping SIX inches+ of rain. I say plus, because the rain gauge over-flowed and my digital weather station has been on the fritz. (I need to put a new one on our wish list, but our signal repeaters only work with the one we have. And a new one is not in my limited budget right now.)

 

We'll hope the melons will re-bloom. The hail knocked off dozens of flowers and some small fruit, but the leaves had only minor damage and plants themselves looked ok. The tomatoes should recover, though our fruit will be late - and some of the tomatoes on the vine now are bruised.  

 

All of that rain needs to drain some more, so the roots can breathe, but I hope to be able to pull a decent summer crop out at some point for my CSA members. And I hope their continued support, loyalty and patience are matched by their ability to risk another season as our fall installment comes due July 1. We're on a skeleton CSA roster these days between me scaling down due to physical limitations, and the economy being tight, (not everyone can afford to share the risk with the farmer, because that's what CSA is.) The farmer doesn't get back their crops or all of those hours of back-breaking work that hail took out in less than 5 minutes. And the members may not get the harvest they hoped for. We live to plant again, and fight another day. 

 

I'm just not as young and strong as I was and most of the work is still done by hand. Yes, the place is still for sale. I'm working towards finding a group with like-minded goals that is mission-aligned to take over one day - so I can retire without the guilt and heartbreak of watching the place bull-dozed over and covered with concrete. Until then, a hard working volunteer has been coming as often as possible and helping coordinate other hands to help keep things growing. A temperamental rear hydraulic system on my John Deere gives me grief as I try to mow or disk, but it's still beats the walk behind tiller I can't start any more, or raking it all out manually like when I started this place back in 2008. It never occurred to me that one day I'd not be capable of doing some of this work. Not before I'd found someone to take over anyway. But I am still doing the best I can, and the food we do get, still tastes as good as ever. 

 

 

Meanwhile, I have say good-bye to one of my beautiful old oak trees. A victim to the constant heavy rains that softened the soil around the troubled root system, and part of the squirrels' above ground -highway system. 

 

Erosion over the years pushed soil up over parts of the surface roots and weakened things, and this last spring's heavy rains proved too much for the old leaning tree. I used to sit in a tree swing off one of those branches sometimes when I'd take a break. I love all of my trees. It'll be strange to look out there and see it missing. Thankfully, there are many others. 

 

The task of cutting it up started today. I'm grateful for the relationship built over the years with my local tree company. Aaron's has been here for me since 2008 - the last time I had major tree damage from that tornado I mentioned earlier. We've used the mulch they bring to mix with our horse barn stall waste for years. Makes the best compost! 

 

So, Life on the Farm goes on. It always seems to find a way.  

 

Do me a favor, next time you go to a farmer's market, or pick up a CSA share, or even buy produce from the supermarket, please remember that there are real people who grew that food for you. Many of them faced any one in a number of challenges to get it from their farm, to you. It's an honor to work the soil, but by golly, sometimes, it's just really hard. 

 

 

Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Farmer Marie 

 

 

Are we "there" yet?

 

 

As I sit here dreading the arrival of yet another Arctic front, I'm skimming through old photos and posts from past winters. We've had our share of freak snow storms, a few ice storms and some late frosts. But it seems these deep freezes that last days on end, are somewhat newer to the N. Texas climate. 

  

 

When we first started out, I ordered plugs for many of our crops. We didn't have a dedicated place in which to start seeds, and especially warm season crops, as they need a warm, sunny/well lit, place. I would "bump" those plugs up into bigger pots and let them root in well, before planting them out in the field - after the risk cold had passed us by. I couldn't risk planting them too early, because it takes another 4-6 weeks to grow out and get new ones if I lost them to a frost. 

Once we built a little make shift "seed house", I used to begin starting my spring seeds as early as the last weekend of January. I used to plan around the annual TOFGA conference so I'd not be gone when they needed to be watered and monitored. 

 

But as our seasons seem to drag on and become more erratic, I've stopped daring ma Nature to be "normal" and have just adjusted the varieties of vegetables I plant instead. I don't rush to start seeds in January any more. I've never planted onion slips before February. 

In order to help compensate for later planting, I choose more heat tolerant tomatoes for my main crop. I don't get in a rush to start peppers, as they require pretty warm bottom heat - consistently - to get a good germination. And they yield  heavier in shorter days anyway, so we consider them more of a late summer crop. 

Plus, my seed/germination house is outside, and it was getting pretty expensive to keep the bed warm enough to germinate them. So we have learned to stop competing with the weather and just work with it. 

Once this latest blast blows out of here, I'll transplant the brassica seedlings in the high tunnel and drop a lightweight cloth over them - to help keep out the nibbling critters. The lettuce, beets, arugula and carrots are already planted, some doing better than others. We'll also direct sow some radishes. The turnips are growing outside and probably loving the cold snap, honestly. Depending on how the tender greens did, we may need to re-seed those and the kale. We did cover some of the still yielding fall crops - we'll find out in a few days if they made it. 

 

Fava beans, peas, more lettuce, more broccoli and fennel, dill, parsley and other cool weather loving crops will grow much easier than trying to force tropical crops like tomatoes to grow when it's barely above freezing and soil is cold. One thing members of Eden's CSA learn is to eat in season. 

I get it, some farmers are trying to beat the guy down the highway at market. And I've been known  to put in a "risk crop" just to see if we can get lucky and a few weeks of early maters for our spring shares before the lion's share in early summer. But when I worked retail, I often re-sold tomato starts to customers who jumped the gun and ended up losing everything they'd planted. 

Farmer Bev's seed company will have us testing several varieties this year as well. It's always a mystery! One year, she brought out boxes and boxes of seeds and let me dig through them! Boy, THAT was fun! 

I do love the heirlooms, and I still have some favorites I save seeds and plant from. But I also like to have a nice and healthy yield for my members. Using hybrids that are bred to sustain heat, defy disease and pests, and yield higher - help assure success. Farmer Bev's seed company, Texas Tested Seed & Plants, carries some of the most reliable varieties I grow. She specializes in varieties that tolerate the high heat and humidity of the South.  

So, while some days it feels like I should be doing something more - I go back to my list, check off a few INside things and wait for a warmer sunny day to get to those outside projects. I've learned not to rush any more. Maybe I'm slowing down, or maybe I'm just learning to savor moments and go with the flow. 

 

Weeks of days of long hours will be here soon enough and I'll be wishing for a break. So, this weekend, I think I'll pop some corn, bake some kale chips, make a hot cocoa and find a movie or two to watch in between tossing out more hay for the sheep and horses, and making sure no one has knocked over their water buckets. 

Bundle up if you have to go outside this weekend. They're promising a cold one! And let's hope winter's grip loosens in February, instead of tightens. We can always hope. Spring's gotta come eventually! 

Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Farmer Marie  

 

PS, if you'd like to join our CSA, we do have room for 2026! Sign up for our info email and watch for the enrollment letter!  

 

Looking Ahead

Dear Farm Friends,

Just thought I'd pop in and give you all an update on the farm. Even though it feels like it's been drama, drama, and more drama, over the past 2 years, lately, it's just been back to farming, and I like the pace of that much better. While I can't control what Nature throws at me, at least I know it's nothing personal. 

 

We're harvesting a nice fall crop every week right now for our CSA members who are making all sorts of delicious meals with it. Soon, we'll be picking a nice little taste of what is normally winter crops, in that this year, I planted some broccoli and cauliflower outside this fall and it's doing well. Normally, I reserve those sometimes finicky crops for the high tunnel, especially cauliflower, where I can control things a little better. But they're both about to be ready to harvest - missing Thanksgiving by about a week - as they're just not full size yet. But we did harvest some green beans, greens, summer squash and fresh herbs.

We're looking for a few new members for the winter and into 2026. 

We're prepping the tunnel for winter shares now and with Tim's BCS the rows should be in great shape this year. I've already dropped our stall waste from the horse barn in there and run the disk over it - now it just needs to be tilled under, get the irrigation run in the rows and planted! 

I've got cauliflower and broccoli transplants started in our little seed house, and radishes, spinach, fennel, cilantro, lettuce, greens and more will all go under cover for our winter season. 

Meanwhile, the seed catalogs are trickling in for spring planting! Now, I'll be honest with you, I really thought I'd be retired by now, but I'm feeling much better about the workload these days with Maleke and Tim here more regularly. Sharing the heavier work with stronger and younger folks is very helpful. I appreciate them both more than I'm sure they realize. Even though my plans to put in an agri-village for folks hasn't worked out, my mission to keep growing good, clean healthy food - with integrity, lives on. 

The other good news is the young lady working with me here at the farm is working diligently to devise a way to turn the farm into a non-profit operation. She's a real go-getter, I tell ya. Bee keeper, grower, volunteer, Veteran, with doing service for others at the center of her heart - she's aspiring to do even more!

Nothing would make me happier than to turn the reins over to her with this vision.

It'd mean the agricultural aspect of the place would live on, the non-profit(s) that owned it would have permanent homes w/o fear of being booted out of their borrowed places, ever again, the community that rallied around the farm and WANTS it to stay a farm, would continue to be served by it, the environment would be spared as it wouldn't end up a giant parking lot or warehouses, and I'm sure services would be expanded.  

 

While I’ve done what I can to support our local food bank and SNAP recipients, a non-profit would have access to grants and resources that I don’t, enabling it to reach further and help more people in need. It could also provide the whole community with a much-desired return of the farmer's market, and perhaps even a pick your own section, a market store, coffee shop, or eatery— just a few possibilities, while continuing and expanding the CSA, and host more farm events again. I honestly see the potential for a well-rounded public-private operation here one day.

My fingers are crossed that a group can pull together, with the philanthropic resources needed, and pull off an even better version of what I envisioned. 

  

Until then, we grow!  

So if you're interested in helping support this "little farm that could", and has since 2008, join our CSA today! You can join for yourself, or, sponsor a family that struggles to afford access to fresh, locally grown farm food. Either gift a share to someone you know, or we'll work with someone we know here locally.

 Enjoy your Thanksgiving - be grateful for the farmers and workers who made it all possible - and  

 Eat Your Food - Naturally! 

 

Farmer Marie