This is the letter that Peter wrote and we have been giving out to folks over the past week. Everyone has been super nice and supportive, which we really appreciate!! And things are actually looking better even than when we wrote this, but, in the interest of chronicling the ups and downs of our efforts to get the farm going, I thought I'd post it.

Hello friends, neighbors, CSA members, and regular customers,

On Tuesday, July 18th, a severe storm passed through Peacham and Barnet, Vermont. Apparently, the Karme Choling Buddhist monastery had 80 mph winds, only a few miles from our farm.

The storm brought damaging winds and marble sized hail to our farm. The damage to our crops was substantial. As hard as we try to bring you the freshest and healthiest variety of vegetables, there is little we can do about the weather.

The hail damage means that for the next few weeks, we will probably not have any mesclun, arugula, spinach, head lettuce, or beets. We also suspect that we have lost our onion and leek crops for the season, and we are also expecting a significant reduction in our melon, corn, winter squash, and heirloom tomato crops.

We appreciate your support and wanted to explain in advance why we may trouble serving you in the near future. However, we anticipate getting back on our feet quickly, and we are already looking forward to a great fall.

Maryellen, Peter, Waverly and Henry

Well, now there is something you don't see everyday in Vermont. We had a tornado touch down only a few miles from our farm.

And we had hail at our farm, on our veggies. Mean, veggie wrecking hail. Here are some pics.

Pepper plants loaded with immature fruit, snapped at the base by high winds.

Shredded eggplant leaves.

The onions aren't looking so hot.

The winter squash was blown upside down and shredded.

The melons are pretty ripped up too, and a lot of the corn is kind of blown over. The lima beans are beat up, and so is the current generation of beets and mesclun. Plus, we lost power for about 8 hours, which meant no refrigeration on our harvested crops for market tomorrow.

Needless to say, we are pretty bummed, and in a little shock. I mean, this is a big set back for our season, the question is just how big. I will try to let you know how it looks in the next few days. Hopefully some stuff will bounce back a little, but right now it isn't looking so good . . .

In the meantime, send good vibes. After the back surgery, the wettest VT spring ever, and now a tornado, we are due for something to break our way.

The sun golds have made their jungle out in the greenhouse. Waverly is in heaven.

Wavy's with her pal Kat.

Photos of the Old Shaw Farm Summer's Bounty entry into the Danville Kid's Parade on the Fourth of July. Ethan, Emma and Waverly all wore their Old Shaw finery and straw farmer hats. They gave peas to lucky bystanders. It was awesome. Much thanks to the Kraus Forsters for putting it all together and inviting us to be a part of it!!

While the Old Shaw promotion team was hard at play on the Fourth, the Old Shaw production team was hard at work harvesting for market today. But next year the Fourth is on a Wednesday, and Waverly and Peter are already talking about driving the cub in the Peacham Tractor Parade. I can't wait!!