More about this production schedule: This line-up of veggies represents what is in our annual field plan: we allot garden space and purchase seed for it, and we plant it. Still, it's not realistic to imagine a steady supply of EVERY item on these lists.  

So, what should I expect? At the beginning of the season, you can certainly expect everything on this list. As the season progresses, we'll let you know how the weather and our decisions based on those conditions affect the different crop groups. You can think of it like wine: in general, each year will be a "great year" for some crops, and a "not so good" year for others. That said, for most crops, every year is at least a good year, so...not to worry! 

Even more about production: Everything you've heard about farming and the WEATHER is true! Weather affects every stage of production, and no two summers are alike, especially not from one year to the next.

In large-scale, industrialized farming, which produces most of the year round supply of supermarket veggies, every attempt is made to control and mitigate the effects of weather, with irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides, hybrid seed, greenhouses, and so on. Also, long distance shipping means veggies can come from wherever the conditions are good.

In small-scale local farming, as we're doing, planting a diversity of crops, and many varieties of each crop, and being able to react immediately to changes in weather conditions from day to day, largely determines harvest success.

The overall weather pattern also affects each crop group differently. For example, take tomatoes. A warm, sunny summer favours early and abundant tomatoes (but a too hot, dry one, isn't as good), while a cool, cloudy summer (like 2005), can slow down tomatoes by several weeks (but be great for cool weather veggies like spinach). Also, some tomato varieties will do much better in a particular set of conditions than others (which is one reason why knowing and growing different varieties of each crop can be important).