Quail Hill Farm: Field Report #7
July 9, 2026
By Madison Aldrich
The past week was long and tough. A big shout out goes to the farm team dealing with the extreme weather – three 90+ degree days followed by three days of often-heavy rain.
The unbearable heat last Wednesday through Friday is uncommon – not just at this time of year, but even in general (late July and August). To make working conditions bearable, farmers chose one of two shifts. For the indoor shift, farmers arrived at 5 am and worked until 11 am, took a break, and then returned in the afternoon to sow seeds for autumn crops in trays. For the outdoor “dawn & dusk” shift, farmers arrived at 5 am and worked until 11 am, took a longer break, and then returned at 5 pm, working until 7 or 8. It was unconventional, but it worked even if farmers had to change around their schedules. But all agree they also had a lot of fun, especially enjoying sunrises and sunsets.
Members of the Solanaceae family – tomatoes (technically a fruit), peppers, eggplant and potatoes which are among our favorite summer vegetables – loved the heat. Alas, not the lettuce which bolted as soon it reached maturity, leading to no limits on harvesting. Many farm members scaled back their harvesting time, leaving much for Quail Hill to glean and give to the Springs Food Pantry (scallions, squash, arugula, lettuce, etc.) as well as its weekly donation to the Bridgehampton Child Care Center. It’s great that nothing goes to waste.
Then came the days of rain – along with more moderate temperatures. Sometimes rain can be too much of a good thing, but we really needed it; the fields had gotten really dry and dusty despite irrigation and occasional showers. Walking the fields today (Wednesday), we see some soil compaction resulting from too much heavy rain all at once, but in general we were grateful for it. Melons and cucumbers don’t like getting their feet wet, but they survived, healthy and looking good. Overall, the farm did okay.
That the ground remains so wet prevents us from needed tractor work and, before it goes to flower, we need to mow the summer buckwheat cover crop and prepare the ground for fall crops. Instead, we will focus on the weeds that seems to sprout up before our eyes and pay attention to what’s happening in the present moment – which is nice too.
Madison Aldrich
Senior Farm Manager, Quail Hill Farm
MAldrich@PeconicLandTrust.org