Some Random Thoughts-Heat, Fertilizer and Lettuce Seed

We are gearing up for a warm week. The weatherman says it's going to get hot, a little too hot for this farmer.
    When I first got up here people would say things like, 'the heat makes the cotton grow.' Well find find out the cotton plants are kind of like me- they shut down when it gets warmer than 95 degrees. [That's about 36C for those of you who are reading this overseas.] Cotton does like warm weather, but it is the warm nights, not the hot afternoons. The cotton plants physiologically shut down when it gets over 95F. The stoma on the leaves close off to keep moisture in the plants. You can see them drooping in the late afternoon. When it cools back down they open again.

This week we will be starting the second round of water on the cotton. Our petiole samples show the cotton is a little low on nitrogen so we will be applying some more fertilizer.
   Some folks are getting worked up about fertilizer use. I know there are groundwater issues in some areas. There is a simple solution- take a soil or plant sample before applying fertilizer. The cost of fertilizers is so high now that if all I save is one ton of fertilizer I have paid for my sampling for the season. 

Things are moving right along. Bloom in the cotton is about two weeks ahead of normal. Hull split in the almonds is also about two weeks ahead of normal.

The photo above is not from a Rothko painting. It is a lettuce field near Tranquillity. This is actually a lettuce seed field. They will let the plants bolt and produce seed. Lettuce seed is so fine it is almost like dust. Those seeds will be planted to grow lettuce for your salads soon. It is an amazing process.
   The whole food system is amazing. I have long thought someone could create a TV series on how out food is produced. The innovations of the last century have freed so many from the farm. It has also made our work on the farm so much easier.
   Farming is still hard work. But, when I think of complaining I remember a letter one of Sheryl's great grandfathers wrote about riding his horse to w job site, hooking up a Fresno Scraper and leveling land by hand and horse all day. Somehow, my work doesn't seem so hard after all.

Be careful out there. Remember to stay hydrated. It is summer time.

P