Farmer Kurt’s Field Notes July 11, 2026

Rain, weeds, sweet corn, and saying goodbye

Well, we sure got our rain this week.

Our farm measured right around three inches, which is enough to make any farmer stop and pay attention. For a day or two, we had standing water in several places around the farm, but thankfully our fields drained remarkably well. The combination of our field tile drainage system underground and years of planting cover crops has really paid off. Healthy soil acts like a sponge, and this week it proved itself once again.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky.

My parents and my brother, Arik, farm closer to Lake Erie, where the storms were even more intense. Some of their fields are still underwater, and many farms across northwest Ohio are dealing with significant flooding. When you see the photo below, you’ll understand why so many farmers are anxious this week.

We’re thankful to have escaped the worst of it.

That said… we’re officially good on rain for a while! Another big storm could start creating real problems for us.

Staking tomatoes is a major upper body workout.

Rain grows vegetables… and weeds.

If there’s one thing farmers know, it’s this:

Every good rain comes with an explosion of weeds.

We had finally started catching up on cultivation when Mother Nature decided to give every weed seed in the county a drink of water.

One of our biggest decisions this week involves our wholesale carrot planting. The weeds have gotten ahead of us enough that we’re honestly debating whether it’s worth trying to save all of the beds. Sometimes the math just doesn’t work. Spending hours hand-weeding carrots that were intended for wholesale can erase any profit the crop would have made.

We may end up keeping one bed and disking the others under to start over.

It’s never fun making that decision, but that’s farming. Sometimes you have to stop investing in one crop so you can spend your time where it will have the greatest return.

Goodbye, High Tunnel #1 carrots!

This week we harvested the last carrots from High Tunnel #1. The tops have been removed, and they should keep us supplied for another week or two. We’ll keep these in storage and pull them out for next week’s CSA boxes.

The good news? High Tunnel #2 is waiting in the wings, so there shouldn’t be any shortage of carrots anytime soon.

One of the jobs this week was cleaning out our spring tunnel. Remember all that lettuce from the Spring Salad Share? The plants we didn’t harvest just kept growing… and growing… and growing.

Many people think lettuce simply “goes bad” if you leave it in the garden. Actually, it does something pretty amazing.

It stretches skyward into a tall flowering stalk that can reach several feet high. Eventually it produces hundreds of tiny flowers that become lettuce seed. After enjoying the show for a while, we finally cleaned everything out so we can prepare the tunnel for its next crop.

Sweet corn season is getting close!

One of my favorite jobs this week was pulling out the sweet corn harvester.

That’s always a milestone around here. We also got all of the trailers, bins, and equipment ready for harvest, because before long, picking sweet corn becomes part of our crew’s morning routine.

If everything stays on schedule, our first sweet corn harvest should happen around July 28. That means you can expect six to seven weeks of sweet corn in your CSA boxes and online store orders before the season wraps up in September.

It’s getting close!

Staking tomatoes is a major upper body workout.

A few other projects filled the week:

• Garlic continues curing in the greenhouse. Give it about another week before we begin cleaning and trimming bulbs.
• We laid drip tape beneath peppers and tomatoes to help keep those thirsty summer crops watered efficiently.
• The late tomatoes were finally staked and tied up, another sure sign that tomato season isn’t far away.

Every week seems to shift us into the next chapter of the season.

A perfect Fourth of July

Last weekend we headed over to our cousins, the Turnows, for our annual Fourth of July gathering.

We’ve been doing this for years, and it’s one of those traditions we always look forward to.

The weather couldn’t have been better. There was swimming in the pond, jumping off the high dive, wiffle ball with cousins, homemade ice cream, a giant potluck… just about everything that makes summer feel like summer.

Watching Jed leave

The biggest event of the week had nothing to do with vegetables. On Tuesday morning, we drove our oldest son, Jed, to the Detroit airport as he began his journey to Air Force Basic Military Training (BMT) in San Antonio.

Before he left, we invited our family to a special Prayer Blessing we hosted for him in the his makeshift “airfield” in the back fields. We did a sending prayer and asked God to bless him and protect him. It was a perfect final act before he packed his bags the next day.

Military families are given something called a Destination Pass, which allowed us to go through security with him and wait together at the gate before he boarded. There were several other young men and women leaving for Basic that morning, each surrounded by family members trying to squeeze in a few more conversations before it was time to say goodbye.

Eventually they boarded. We stood there and watched the plane push back from the gate and taxi away until it disappeared from sight.

It was harder than I expected. The rest of the day was… quiet. You don’t realize how much someone fills a house until they’re gone. Corinna mentioned that evening she instinctively reached for two pounds of hamburger while making spaghetti, before remembering she only needed one now.

It’s funny how those little moments catch you.

Josiah has been unusually quiet this week, too. You can tell he misses his big brother.

The next day we tackled the attic, hauled a trailer full of things to a garage sale, and reorganized parts of the house. I think Corinna would admit there was a little “re-nesting” going on. Sometimes staying busy helps.

The good news is we’ve already heard from Jed. He arrived safely. He’s doing well. And now the adventure begins.

As always, thank you for following along with life here on the farm.

Whether we’re harvesting carrots, preparing for sweet corn, or sending a son off into the world, we’re grateful you’ve chosen to be part of our story.

Until next week,

Farmer Kurt

Farmer Kurt preps the “drip tape laying machine.” Those spools funnel irrigation line down under the roots of the plant, bringing water right to the roots.