The days are long and the work is there to be done! And that is one reason why June and July field notes are combined into one. We flew through June, crossing the midsummer line and on into July before we even realised what was happening. It’s that time of the year.

Weather & Climate on Our Minds

As with most farmers, the weather is one of the first things we think about when we reflect on how things are going. June and July have been wildly variable. Starting with persistent rain and cooler nights, then scorching interludes, then cool days with haar rolling in across the fields. We now seem to be settled in a somewhat hot and dry period, but still with relatively cold night time temperatures.  In particular, it seems to have been a tough year for beans (with heat causing flowers to drop before they were pollinated) and roots in general.

These kinds of conditions are challenging for producing quality veg, reliably. For those with livestock it’s also concerning as grazing isn’t productive enough, so colleagues are having to top up with additional feed, which eats into their winter supplies. With hosepipe bans coming into play down south, and areas being in near-drought (euphemistically called “prolonged dry weather”) it seems inevitable that this is going to have significant impact on us too.

Scotland has faced significant water scarcity in recent years, with all areas experiencing some level of drought in 2025 and early 2026 due to the driest period in 60 years. But it’s not only local conditions that affect us. With over 55% of the UK’s veg being imported, as a country, we are reliant on other countries to produce a large amount of the food we consume. In solidarity, and in self-interest, the concerns of farmers around the world struggling with water shortages, the changing climate, El Niño and more, are our concerns too. Wildfires are also a growing issue. Just across town we can see the impact of recent fires on Arthur’s Seat, and our hearts go out to communities in the Cairngorms and across Europe fighting wildfires.

A Local Response to Global Issues

Picking rocket in the market garden

Whilst we hold these concerns at the forefront of our minds, we cannot become overwhelmed. We choose active hope (aka farming!) and to say no to doom. Small-to-medium scale farming has a vital role to play in responding to the climate crisis and in preventing wildfires – for example, this article in The Conversation explains how bringing more foresters and farmers back onto the land in rural Spain would help stop wildfires from starting. Here at Lauriston Agroecology Farm, each week we take great pride in the beautiful abundance of food we’re able to share with our CSA members, community and team. The beauty and tastiness of all the food restores our hope and energy to keep doing our piece of the work to build a fairer food system, and help our communities get stronger and more resilient.

We’re excited by the plans we’re developing to scale up food production to feed even more folk, our work to save more regionally-adapted seed, and we continue to find the rewards in honing our systems to improve our resilience.

10 Weeks of Shares: the Veg Stats

Last week was week 10 of a 29 week Community Supported Agriculture season – our longest season so far. By Thursday 23 July, we had harvested over 2.2 tonnes of veg, and packed 958 veg bags this year.

The CSA membership is currently full, and members commit to staying for the season, but sometimes circumstances mean people need to leave, so you are still welcome to register your interest in joining: click here to see the details and fill in the expression of interest form and we’ll bring you on board when there is a suitable space.

An abundance of radishes

A recent veg share

Get Involved With the Market Garden & Field Crops

We’re about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, with Lughnasadh coming into view and grain harvests getting close. If you’d like to get involved, click here to sign up for the Rye harvest scheduled for 7 and 8 August. And regular market garden volunteering sessions continue on Tuesday mornings – all details on the events page. Hope to see you there.

Thanks for reading – more Field Notes to come as the season turns.