Quail Hill Farm: Field Report # 9
July 23, 2026
By Madison Aldrich
The Julys. Traditionally, the busiest month of the farming season — it’s often the hottest, usually the driest and, this year, the smokiest.
Despite the distance from Canada’s raging wildfires, many of us on the East End were, last week, adversely affected by the smoke. Thursday was the worst day; the Air Quality Index (AQI) hit 160. While that indicates air deemed “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” all of us suffered some form of eye, skin, and throat irritation. Still there were tasks to do, and the farm crew admirably met the challenge, choosing to work indoors, take a sick day or, if working outdoors, wear a N95 mask.
Did the smoke affect our crops? Possibly the ripening of tomatoes was delayed a bit as the sun hardly penetrated the smoky cloud cover. Tomatoes daily need 6-8 hours of direct sun; they convert sunlight into energy to produce fruit and thrive.
And while it was plenty hot, we don’t know if the heat — another thing tomatoes need — offset the lack of sun. Still, walking the tomato rows yesterday (July 22), we saw lots of yellow, purple and red cherry tomatoes almost ready to harvest and, among the slicers, there were a few pink and orange fruit close to ripeness.
Last weekend the smoke began to clear, and we were treated to some cooler weather and enough rain so we didn’t have to irrigate. That allowed us to recover from the garlic harvest and gave us enough time to make weeding almost a pleasant chore.
At Quail Hill Farm, we know Wednesdays as WEED-NESDAYS when we welcome volunteers to join us on Birch Hill for an hour or two or more of weeding. So please, drop by at your convenience any Wednesday from 7:30 AM to Noon.
The cooler weather also made the planting of fall crops — now well underway — much more pleasant. Already in the ground are a first round of broccoli and cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, leeks, purple and white daikon, watermelon radishes, and more beets and carrots (which have already been available to members these past few weeks). Again we are using the corn bioplastic to suppress weeds. This time the material is gray, which conducts less heat, as brassicas don’t like heat and prefer a cooler soil. We’re again planting “living pathways” between the rows. Instead of oats, planted in the cooler spring, we’ve planted teff grass, which germinates in warmer weather, along with clover. When the teff dies back, the clover will dominate and create a mat.
We can wait until September and October for these wonderful fall crops. Now it’s time to enjoy the delicious fruits of full summer — string beans, eggplants, zucchini, red onions and tomatoes!
Dreaming of tomatoes, save Saturday, August 29th for the Quail Hill Farm’s 19th annual GREAT TOMATO TASTE-OFF when you can Taste & Rate all 44 varieties.
See you in the fields!
Madison Aldrich
Senior Farm Manager, Quail Hill Farm
MAldrich@PeconicLandTrust.org