45°
What do gardening and the U.S. Open tennis tournament have in common? What can ruin a day at the beach or a hike in the mountains? If you answered "the weather" to both questions, you've got it right. Weather is one of the few things we can't control.
Sun, warmth and rain are three key factors when it comes to gardening and growing food. But what happens when you get too much of any one of them?
Maureen Judge, a Wilton resident, is a member of a community supported agriculture (CSA) program. The farm that supplies her with vegetables once a week, from May through Thanksgiving, lost all its crops when its fields flooded. Stonledge Farm in Cairo, N.Y. sent photos of the flooded fields to its CSA members with the bad news that there would be no more vegetables this year. The farmers explained that even though some vegetables had survived the flood, the farm wasn't allowed to deliver them. The vegetables had been submerged beneath the water and they could be contaminated.
Members of a CSA typically pay an annual, non-refundable fee in advance for a season's worth of produce, delivered weekly. Some members say it's like buying shares in the farm. They receive locally grown, seasonal, organic vegetables. However, they also share the farmer's risk. Two years ago, blight wiped out the tomato and zucchini crop. This year, many farms located in the Hudson River Valley lost everything. "It's very disappointing as we look forward to our fresh veggies every week," Maureen says."But I understand that it's not the farm's fault."
Do you belong to a CSA? Was your farm impacted by Irene's adverse weather?
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
