We are in high summer now; the end of July is fast approaching and August, the hottest time of year, is coming at us. Everyone is working hard, despite the heat, and the livestock is doing its best to stay out of the sun.
Andrea makes it easy for the pigs to keep cool by creating mud wallows in their pastures. Pigs love it because it not only cools them off, but the mud on their bodies also acts as protection from the sun and as an insect repellant.
Patty has set up a sprinkler in one of the chicken yards to cool off an area that is open to the south. Chickens don’t like getting wet, but they do like poking around in wet soil because insects come up closer to the surface for chicken snacking, and as the water evaporates, it cools things off a bit.
The irrigation crew is working extra hard right now, keeping young plants moist and cool. These guys are the unsung heroes of the farm, and they are constantly moving pipe to places where the transplanting is going on. They start early in the morning, so they can do some of their work in the cooler hours of the day.
For the harvest crew, broad-brimmed hats and lots of water bottles are the order of the day!
We know we are not as hot as many places in the country, and that thankfully, the marine breezes come in the evenings to make things comfortable again. But everything is relative, and this is still pretty warm for us. We will try our best to remember this when we are freezing in the fields in January!