Originally published December 2023 in the Napa Valley Register
By: Carine Hines
At the close of this year, California is graced with its most auspicious gift. Rain, sweeping through our golden hills and setting the course for a new season and a new year. For farmers, it is a time of rest, reflection, and anticipation. In many ways, the rain over the next several months determines the battles for the rest of the year.
Will this be a year we scramble to find water? Will the hills surrounding our fields be consumed in flame? Will the heat and dryness of summer come before spring has a chance to bloom?
Alternatively, will too much rain come spilling over the levies? Will ancient lakes make themselves known for the first time in centuries? Will the rivers come washing through our crops?
Perhaps none of these things will happen, and we will find ourselves in the peaceful equilibrium between drought and flood where everything is perfect. At this moment, our fates are yet to be determined and we can instead look back on the last year and hope for the future.
The start of 2023 brought many challenges to farmers within the California community. Many farmers lost their farms, homes, and incomes to flood waters and wind. In this destruction, we saw moments of hope here in the Napa Farmers Market community where people donated to our afflicted farmers such as Picoso Farm and Orozco Farm. There is so much more we can do to protect farmers from the vulnerabilities caused by climate change, but at least we know Napa will rise up to care for their farmers in need.
For other farmers, the heavy rain brought abundant crops to laden our tables for customers. After the soggy and slow start to the year, summer came galloping in, trying to make up for lost time. Luckily temperatures stayed warm and mild, allowing tomatoes to thrive and yield the most abundant tomato season in our books.
Despite a few heat waves, this summer was overall a moderate and easy season. We never saw more than a few isolated days with 110 plus degree temperatures, which made for perfectly sweet melons that ripened slow and steady.
One of the biggest reliefs for all Californians was the lack of a fire season, and all the stress and trauma that comes with smokey skies and evacuation orders. But let us not be too complacent, for our forests are still packed with centuries of unburned plant fuel that only build during these large swings of the pendulum between drought and flood.
To make a successful farmers market, you need good farmers, reliable shoppers, a good climate, and of course, a good farmers market staff. Behind the scenes of all the beautiful farm stands and your morning bun and coffee are the people who set up the market each morning with stall spaces, tables, chairs, and more. The market managers, Mimi Adams and Martin Torres, orchestrate this whole symphony of vendors so we all succeed, all get along, and we all bring you, the shoppers, everything you need or want. 2023 was the best performance yet, and we thank them for all their hard work.
And beyond that, there is our executive director, Cara Mae Wooledge, and the Napa Farmers Market’s board of directors. Cara Mae guides our market to excellence with her vision and commitment to creating a financially stable non-profit that provides an essential service to all of Napa’s community, regardless of their salaries. And the board of directors has her back, volunteering their time to make sure the market is a successful, equitable, and safe space to bring food and joy to the homes of all.
For Sun Tracker Farm, it was our most profitable year to date, a feeling I am sure other farmers share. It was worth all the late night hustles to prepare for the farmers market knowing we could count on customers to come and buy their groceries. For this we thank you, the shoppers. Without your dedication to the Napa Farmers Market, the livelihoods of many would be at risk. Thank you Napa for turning to farmers to feed your families.