Hello, good morning. How are you today?
Here in the countryside, there's no respite. Luckily, yesterday, Wednesday, we were able not only to rest but also to enjoy the Fallas of Valencia 🎇🎆.
During Fallas and San José (Saint Joseph's Day, the patron saint of carpenters), the air changes, and every street fills with color.
And since we're still having some issues with humidity here, walking through the streets of Valencia yesterday, listening to a bit of noise, and seeing a different landscape was a much-needed brief respite.
Additionally, we also celebrated Father's Day, and it coincided with being able to rest and stroll through the city streets.
Look, this is what the town hall square looked like this year. Tell me if it's not a true spectacle 😍:
For Valencians, it's a source of pride that the Fallas attract more and more people every year:
But let's go back to the fields; a break is a break, but you always have to go back. Especially when the crops are testing us again...
This season, strawberries 🍓 are in the eye of the storm. After weeks of intense rain and persistent humidity, these small and delicious fruits have had to face their worst enemy: fungi.
If you've ever come across strawberries with brown spots or that rot prematurely, you know what I'm talking about. The high humidity and lack of sunlight have created perfect conditions for fearsome diseases, such as Botrytis and Powdery Mildew, to jeopardize production.
Botrytis, for example, is especially damaging when the environment remains warm between 15 and 20°C. Under these conditions, it rapidly attacks leaves and fruits, leaving us with unusable strawberries...
We know that weather cannot be controlled, but there are strategies to mitigate these problems. First, it is crucial to control humidity. In greenhouses, for example, ensuring good ventilation helps prevent the proliferation of fungi.
It is also important to prevent fruits from touching the ground, because contact with moisture accelerates infection. This time, the strawberries Adrián is holding in his hands are the ones he had to remove due to fungi, but look how he cultivates them far from the ground.
Another fundamental practice is to ensure that crops have good drainage. In the case of diseases like root rot (something that also happens with oranges), very wet soil or simple waterlogging can ruin an entire harvest.
But you see, despite the setbacks, we always find reasons to keep going, and here in Valencia, being in Fallas season helps us clear our minds.
Although the fields keep me busy, enjoying the holidays has been a real breather. Fireworks, ninots, and music filled the streets, and they gave the team and me that push to keep fighting against humidity and fungi.
Because if there's one thing we've learned, it's that in the countryside – just like in life – you always have to adapt and move forward.
See you next week.
A big hug!
