It’s that time of year in the Capay Valley when lush green in the hills begins to give way to golden brown. Grasses are setting seed, days are stretching to their fullest, and the soil is warming. Memorial Day typically marks the passage of seasons. This year, however, a cool spring is extending a late harvest of Durst asparagus in this week’s FarmShares and delaying the onset of warmth-loving crops such as summer squash and green beans. Although summer crops have been planted and growing for months, it’s looking like tomatoes might not come in until well into July this year!

This is also the time of year to anticipate the first of the apricots, particularly the Royal Blenheims grown by several farms in the Valley. Here’s an update from Annie Main of Good Humus Produce:

“The weather continues to be crazy. I realize that my reference to life is basically weather-related. When it is rainy it is winter, when it is warm it is summer—now is that a California girl talking or what. Not too much in-between-fall is an extension of summer, just nicer weather, and spring is the beginning of summer, the desired summer weather if possible please. So when we have rain in May-June I desire soup for dinner and want to curl around the fire and read a good book. Completely confused as to what I really “should” be doing and what month it is. So here we are in June half way through the year already, and I am still mentally in March! When the sun and warmth actually hits, I think we will all melt as if we were from Oregon, unused to the summer double-digit temperatures! And I think it is going to hit—not creep in, ready or not here is summer, bam!

Jeff has all of the summer crops planted; we actually harvested the first of the cherries for the farmers market on Saturday along with the first of the basil too. It feels good not to be behind in the plantings. This spring has been hard for us, as the winter crops just didn’t do very well. The broccoli only grew small heads, with the ups and downs of the weather the greens bolted and we weren’t able to get in and plant more, so we have been out of bunched greens for a while…

So it is nice to be moving on to the next season, which brings new hope, new crops, a feeling of starting all over of possibilities as to what will happen, chances of more production and income too! The Apricots should be about two weeks away, with the weather they don’t seem to have grown much, but again we hope that they will put on some size, and the heat will flavor and ripen them up for the coming fruit boxes.”

Enjoy the transition to summer in the weeks ahead. Soon enough we’ll all be enjoying the fruits of warm days, sunshine, and skillful farmer effort.