FARM NEWS
There is a thought about the weather report that farmers use - if the forecasted storm is early, it is going to be a good one; if it is late, it will not amount to much. The big storm that was forecasted showed up early and did not disappoint!There is a fall check list of things that we do before the winter to be prepared for a storm like this. To the south of the farm, there is a hill that marks the south end of the Capay Valley. It rolls gently and is speckled with oak trees and grass that is colored with the season. All of the water that falls onto this hill goes down toward our farm; it crosses the highway under a 24-inch culvert and enters our farm. It is here that we start the preparation by making an effort to guide this water effectively through our farm to its northern border where it finds a confluence with Cache Creek.
The ditches we pulled between the fig and apricot orchard worked; the culvert that guided the water down and 10-foot bench did so without eroding the hill away, and all of this murky brown water went down where the pipe under the canal caused a bottleneck. At this bottleneck, the pounding rain and runoff from the hills and farm combined to make a lake that covered half of next year’s first tomato field and the bottom of our events site!
I walked the path of the water from the north of the canal to the creek. The pipe under the canal that was the bottleneck was running at full capacity with rushing brown water following our ditch down to the creek. The creek was the most impressive. Not yet at the top of the levee, it roared with huge waves and full-size trees floating by at a speed faster than I could walk. Normally something I can walk across without getting wet, it was over 15 feet deep and flowing with such force I don’t think a white water master would attempt to navigate it!
When the storm passed, the farm was left wet, but undamaged, and the blue skies that followed were amazing. The “lake” at the event site slowly drained to the creek, which is still roaring, but not as loudly as it was. There is nothing thirsty on the farm, and any rain we get from here on out will run off our saturated soils and head straight for the creek.
With the slow winter on the farm, we are looking at our growing plans for next year and reviewing the cash needed to make it all happen. Several years ago, our farm started a Green Loan Program, an innovative investment program allowing our customers to participate in a mutually beneficial partnership. To learn more about our Green Loan Program, please email greenloan@farmfreshtoyou.com. Thank you for considering our program as a secure way to let your money grow while building a better food system.
This offering is available only to California residents who meet certain suitability requirements. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS OVERSIGHT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DOES NOT RECOMMEND OR ENDORSE THE
PURCHASE OF THESE SECURITIES.
