08/23/2026
August 22. Two weeks passed of floundering, neck deep in August. A month of exhaustion and bounty, of course layered on top of each other in a challenging melee. š«
I was on the tractor in the evening again this week and was thinking about how August is a selfish creature.
It takes everything you can give and wishes there was more.
Have you ever stooped in an eggplant patch that grows up to your armpits, shoulders weighed down painfully by picking bags overflowing with fruit? Make note of the spacing and varieties and planting and irrigation scheduleārepeat again next year.
How is it possibly almost time to harvest the winter squash? September is around the corner, we are ready and not ready.
Have you planted 16 beds of winter chicories in one long day so you have food to sell in December and January, the shortest days of year? Remind yourself that cash flow is crucial, and those cold winter harvests will feel like a treasure hunt even though they numb your fingers and make them ache.
Have you stared, hands on hips at the tomato tunnel that is falling short this year and you just donāt know why but have about five hunches? Take notes, hope it goes better next year. Make a better plan. Donāt cut it so close, plan for a poor year not a bumper crop.
We try our hardest, but it is also late enough in the summer that itās time to start making peace with our successes and mistakes for the year.
Have you hunted for figs in a jungle of fragrant branches, hoping you beat the ants to most of them, feeling like you maybe peaked and should retire? Luscious bounty, here for a few weeks only so surrender to it.
Have you asleep on the couch every night all week? Me too.
August, you hungry creature.
Peaked.
