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| | | Hutten Family Farm Newsletter for Monday Sep 22, 2025 |
It has been four months since I sent a basic newsletter . I try to keep the general tone of my newsletters positive. Anyone who watches the news gets lots of negative information about the farming scene (as well as a host of other topics. I figured that I would wait until we had substantial rain and then send an update on things. That rain however has not materialized in our area yet. Maybe it will come as snow.
I can say without question that 2025 was the most challenging season I have had in about forty years of farming. We have not had anything that I would call \"rain\" for well over three months. We have had a few showers and thundershowers come through over the summer but not significant at all. As with most thundershowers, they tend to be very localized. They might be very heavy a ten minute drive from a community that receives basically nothing. Many irrigation ponds have dried up long ago and the streams and creeks are very low if anything. The small creek in the gulley near our house is completely dry which is a first in my life that I\'m aware of. The effects of this drought are across all agricultural sectors.
The majority of vegetable crops did get watered some but not enough to produce good yields. Anything that did not get watered is done. My apple and pear crops look surprisingly good considering everything. Most of my fruit trees are old trees with well established root systems and they are planted on the heaviest clay soil at the base of the North mountain. I think they are slightly smaller than usual but ok. There is a lot of discussion about whether the apples will store well because of the nutrient uptake reduced by the drought. Since this is such an extrenely dry season I doubt that anyone knows for sure but we will find out. Another likely impact on the fruit trees will be a very poor crop next year. The stress level on the trees is expected to impact fruit bud development for next year. Again time will tell.
There actually are a few positives with the drought. We had a great cherry crop and most other stone fruit did well. Many of the peaches were smaller this season but the taste has been fantastic. Less water must give more concentrated sugars. My melon crop was quite small this year but the quality again was very good. Lots of positive comments about the fruit this year. I would also say that peppers, eggplants, and basils were very successful this season. These plants just love the heat and we managed to water them enough to get a good crop.
As we move into the fall season there will be a reduction in vegetable options from past years. I am hopeful that some of the late planted fall crops will still make it but I\'m not sure. Some of the fall plantings were seeded three or four times before I could get them to germinate. I really hope that the fall season continues relatively mild and that we get substantial rain very soon.
Have a good week.
t
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