Beginning of Summer at the Farm

            Last week felt like the beginning of summer. The weather was beautiful-cooler mornings but getting up to the 80’s and 90’s in the afternoons. Most days were sunny, but then this weekend we got enough rain to keep the plants alive.

            During this time of stay-at-home advisories, I am appreciating my job more than ever. I get to work outside everyday, interacting with my friends and growing plants that feed people. This week felt especially great-I had some incredible interactions with wildlife and it was the first week of harvesting many summer crops.

            Monday morning started out amazing. On my drive to work, I passed two young deer, one of whom ran across the road while the other hid in the bushes. After waiting to give the other one a chance to cross, I kept driving, hoping they’ll reunite. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic at 6:30 am, so I wasn’t too worried about them getting hit.

            As I drove up the driveway to turn on the water at the farm, I kept seeing more wildlife. A small woodchuck lazily chewed the grass along the driveway. He looked up at me, staring with his mouth full, as if I didn’t concern him at all. As I kept driving, I passed the cows, horses, and chickens that also live at the farm.

            As I was weeding the onions, I was greeted by a true sign of spring; a bird’s nest. This is a killdeer nest, so anytime you go near it the mother will screech at you to scare you away from her eggs. As I got closer, though, she ran away, faking injury so that I would hopefully follow her. Instead, I got to see her nest up close before leaving the area so she could return to her nest without fear.

Killdeer nest with four eggs in the onlions

            Not only were the wildlife a highlight of the week, but it was the first harvest of many summer crops. To me, nothing says summer like fresh snap peas. And this week, after weeks of planting, trellising, and waiting, they were finally ready. After I picked them for hours, I finally got to sample my first one of the season, and was reminded how much a simple food can capture the joy of a season. It was so sweet, yet also felt filling and hydrating, the perfect food for a summer day.

First snap peas of the summer

            Besides snap peas, I also harvested arugula, spinach, mixed greens, mizuna, and many herbs this week. In my backyard, we have so much lemon balm, a delicious perennial herb that spreads every year. After watching it grow faster than anything in our yard for weeks, I finally decided I should try eating it.

            Exhausted after a busy week, I didn’t want to make something too complicated. Instead, I found a recipe from Health Starts in the Kitchen to make lemon balm iced tea. It was extremely simple, I picked stalks of lemon balm, washed them, and put them into a mason jar. Then, I added about a tablespoon of honey and poured in boiling water. You can leave it to brew for 20 mins to 12 hours, so I left it overnight. When I came down in the morning, I filled a glass with ice and poured myself some tea. It was absolutely delicious- it was sweet, citrusy, and refreshing.

Lemon Balm Iced Tea

            Not only did it taste delicious, but I googled it, curious if it had caffeine. In retrospect, that was sort of a silly question because it’s just herbal tea, so it isn’t caffeinated. But I’m glad I did google it, because I learned that lemon balm tea is used to relax people before sleep, to calm anxiety, and relieve depression. It’s even proven to lower blood pressure and solve other health problems (Read more from Organic Facts here ). I will certainly be making this tea into a staple for the summer-so simple to make, yet delicious and healthy.

            All in all, it was a great week on the farm. Beautiful weather, interesting wildlife encounters, summer veggies, and enjoying refreshing herbal tea. Curious about life on the farm? Stay tuned for more updates this summer about life as an organic farmer.