Clagett Farm Notes

On the radio

Your tomatoes, sweet potato greens, and your farmer were featured on WETA 90.9 this morning.  WETA's new show, The Intersection, hosted by Rebecca Roberts, had very nice program about eating and growing local food.      

I was hoping that by hearing Ms. Roberts ooh and ah over your sweet potato greens, you, my dear customers, might be more willing to try them.  (Not many Tuesday shareholders seemed as thrilled as I am that they're in your share.)  So if you haven't been inspired to eat the leaves of a sweet potato plant before now, then you should listen to the show!  Click over to the The Intersection website, from which you can listen to any show from their archives (you want the one from July 28, 2006).

 Before the show, it was fun to chat a bit with the Chef of Restaurant Eve, Cathal Armstrong, who is a surprisingly passionate supporter of his farmers.  Now I'm looking for an excuse to invite my husband to dinner there.  Mid-summer celebration, perhaps?  I also have to admit that it was just fun to sit around in an air-conditioned building for a while.  When it's this hot out, I'm easy to please.

Driest September in over a 120 years

On the farm it's not news that it's still dry out there, but it was interesting to read in the Washington Post that "the Washington area experienced the driest September in more than a century, and the heat and dearth of rain have produced parched lawns, dusty schoolyards and withered gardens." The article goes on to say that according to National Weather Service data this September was drier than the one of 1884, which held the record until a few days ago. To read the whole article, go to A Bone-Dry September's Wilting Toll.

As we mentioned before, August was rather dry, too. The August rainfall at the Reagan National Airport was only 68 percent of normal, but then it was only 3 percent of normal in September. This drought (as it was already officially labeled) is having a negative effect on our crops. You will still be getting yummy veggies in your shares, just not as much as is usual at this time of the year.

Let's hope for rain this week.

State of Chesapeake Agriculture

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report on the state of this region's agriculture. Michael Heller, who has managed Clagett Farm for over twenty years now, was a project leader of the report. To mark its publication there was a news conference at the farm yesterday. To read what the Washington Post wrote about it, click here. To learn what the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says about the report and to download the report itself click on the following link, State of Chesapeake Agriculture 2005.