Last year at this time, we opened our produce stand for the first time – around the 6th of June, with an abundance of vegetables. We had squash, cucumbers, potatoes, beets, and carrots. We started selling sweet corn around the 26th of June last year. The weather last year was iffy. We had good rain in the spring and early June – so that everything had a good start. Even tho we had little or no rain during the summer – all the produce had a good showing.

The only items we had no luck with, were blueberries – as a hard frost at the beginning of when the berries were forming, caused us to lose most of that crop last year, and the tomatoes – first year we tried growing them – not much water and weird looking tomatoes – many were growing together instead of separate. But we figured 2008 should be better.

Now we come to 2008. Yes, we opened our produce stand at the beginning of this month, and what a difference the weather has made. In early April, we had good rain, but then it turned cold and many of the crops we planted died from the cold and wet ground. So we replanted. Then it turned extremely hot – temps over 100. That was in early May. Since then, we’ve had maybe an inch of rain – unlike Iowa – so no rain in our area of Virginia.

So what do we have to sell in our produce stand this year? Beets were good, carrots were good, squash is passable, cucumbers are terrible – spaces in the middle, tomatoes are growing but not ripe yet, we have plenty of potatoes – dry weather doesn’t seem to affect them. We have lots of blueberries – that’s great. But no corn. Of course, if we were running true to form for sweet corn, we should be having a lot to sell right now.

My DH plants corn – 3-5 rows every few days, so that we always have an incoming crop of sweet corn to sell. Already he has had to plow under several plantings. Of the first 18 rows of sweet corn that he planted early in the season, we got 9 ears of corn. Everything is just shriveling up and turning brown.

If we get some rain this weekend, as promised, maybe some of the plantings will be passable. But I have to tell you – this income from our produce stand is supposed to supplement our retirement. All we’ve seen this year is outgo and no income.

But while this is heartbreaking for us, we have to say that the farmers around here – who are planting field corn, cotton and soybeans are harder hit. They rely on the income from their crops to live from one year to the next. Add to that the skyrocketing price of fuel and everything else, and a major loss from their crops is going to put many of them out of business. And that’s something I hate to see – as the number of farmers are dwindling. Where will we get our produce – if there are no farmers left…

I don’t want to sound like I’m on a soapbox – but – any hope that the next election will bring us some relief?

Sandi