Water, worms, and where burgers come from...

(hint: not a burger)

NOAA is usually afraid to pass its bright green/yellow crayon over our area. This weekend, though, the radar showed a creative streak. And it rained!! ...And rained! ...and rained.... and... 3.5 inches later, it stopped.

Most of the areas hit by this weekend's slow-mover would probably laugh at that. But here, it was perfect!

Lost some tomatoes when the rains split them, and some pepper branches broke under the water weight. Meanwhile, the salad greens are thriving! The okra is multiplying its spiney-covered, gooey-centered self. The rain also set into the compost, giving us hope that the soil may really be getting there. And nutritious soil means nutritious veggies that resist bugs and disease (which is the way to go when you don't use chemical pesticides).

The rain also brought a few stowaways out of hiding. I was not really one of those kids who dug in mud looking for worms. Cool rocks and broken glass, maybe. But not worms. Somehow, at age 28, I've become a bona fide worm wrangler. Grubs, which live a few inches under the soil, grow up to be pesky beetle-like lovers of squash, eggplant, and so much more. Hornworms, a green, horn-tailed cousin of the adorable caterpillar in "A Bug's Life," have a thing for tomatoes. Luckily, chickens have a thing for them. Throw in a few grubs, and you've got some protein-rich eggs!

It's the eggs that sold fastest at my first farmer's market ever. The rains (and a smokey morning caused by a nearby fire) kept most folks at home. A few onions and peppers, and about half the loaves I brought sold. I left with boxes more. Unlike the foods in stores doused in preservatives, fresh foods have a lifeline. Onions are hearty and will store well. But the peppers and eggplant are only at their best for a couple of weeks. So if we don't find them a good home at the next market, months of tending will not pay off. If they sell, on the other hand, the farm can afford next year's seed crop.

Already, we have gone to nearby grocery stores after market and seen hundreds of families we did not see at the market. Sure, there are things you could find only at a bigger food supplier. Yet, if all those people shopped their farmers' markets first, we might have sold out. This Saturday, give it a go!

And for those who want a little meat with their veggies.... Four goats and one cow did the long walk to your dinner plate. For me, it hasn't really set in. But the farmers here who have fed and cared for these animals for most of their lives were all at least a little affected. It sounds cruel, but if a cow is being raised to become a mother and she can't... Well, that's a pet a farmer's income can't feed. So they make the sacrifice and keep families fed. And maybe one day, those families will farm to feed other families, or at least their own.

Finally, today... some blue sky.