08/28/2026
From Farmer Todd: an honest look at our August in the fields.
August is often a hard month for farming. The summer heat is peaking, still humid days are broken up by gusty evening thunderstorms, and stressed plants struggle to stay healthy and productive.
With a bit of creative problem solving and good planning, small vegetable farms can still produce diverse and full harvests through these long days. But, not all plans go off without a hitch.
At Crown Town Farm, August harvests have been unexpectedly light so far. Our Tomatoes and Eggplants suffered from the intense sunlight combined with pressure from leaf-footed beetles. As a result, they stopped setting fruit for three weeks, and are only now filling out again. Our bell peppers experienced substantial issues with Sunscald - where the darkening surface of fruit turning ripe absorbed enough heat from the ambient air and direct sunlight that it “cooked” areas of the fruit that would later rot on the stem. As much as 2/3 of ripening fruit were lost each week during the worst of this phase.
Then there was our summer transplants — warm weather crops like Zucchini and Cucumbers would normally be expected to do well from July-September. But establishing transplants in 95° weather, with very little cloud cover and at least minor pressure from insects, can be a tall ask of young plants. And it took three tries for our fields to finally fill in with healthy starts; setting the crop back most of a month. Our attempts at an early crop of fall Broccoli, Kale, and Collard greens did not fare any better.
All this combined for half the farm struggling, being delayed, or needing full pivots. And the additional labor in the heat to play catch up is no easier on the farmers.
Nonetheless, we persevere. The fields are as full of green as they’ve been in weeks. Tomatoes and Peppers are filling with buds. Eggplants are loaded down with fresh fruits. And Cucumbers and Squash are giving the first signs of a strong harvest to come.
With many new notes for planning and field management improvements in hand, we look forward to a strong remainder of the season, and the chance to do it all a little better in seasons to come.
