TURKANA FARMS, LLC

WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK:Cucumber avalanche. Perfect cooling on a summer day -- cucumber gazpacho, cucumber salad, cucumber sandwiches with your tea. Or put some away for winter, cucumber pickles or cucumber ketchup.. $2 a pound. Beets ($4/lb) are also abundant  Wax beans and haricots verts, limited quantities $2.50/lb.  Unbelievably, we are temporarily out of zucchini, and the season of elder flowers has now passed.

Anxious to replace this modest structure Photo by Mark Scherzer

Anxious for a Barn Hi all, Mark here.Perhaps it was the discomfort of the intense heat dome of last week, which had me looking forward to when the heat would break. Or maybe it was the imminent turning of the calendar page from July to August, which signals to me the beginning of the end of summer, before I've even tasted the first vine ripened Brandywine. For whatever reason, my thoughts have been on the coming of fall.In particular, because my thoughts tend to run in streams, nay, torrents, of anxiety, I have been thinking about whether we will be ready with a new barn constructed to replace our burnt one by the time grazing season is over and the cold weather sets in.Being without the barn this summer has been inconvenient, but not fatal, to our operations. As Victoria described last week, we were able to use makeshift substitutes for the barn's amenities to accomplish sheep shearing in a shaded corral outside. The sheep are thriving in their current totally outdoor life. But come November, makeshift substitutes just won't do. We need to store hay in a secure dry place to feed the sheep through winter. By that time the sheep too will need shelter from the elements. As I was once instructed, the sheep can be cold OR they can be wet and will get by just fine. But being simultaneously cold and wet is a recipe for disaster. Averting that requires a roofed, walled structure. A barn.We know what in an ideal world we want from a barn -- its size, the functions it will serve. Yet still there are decisions we haven't finalized. Do we want to replace the current unsalvageable concrete floor with a new one, or use a cheaper alternative like compacted crushed stone? Should the barn be made of wood, in aesthetic harmony with the traditional structures of the rest of the farm, or metal, which is far more fireproof and maintenance free? Wood is cheaper at the outset, but because it requires painting and is subject to rot, may turn out more expensive over time.In our decision making we must be money conscious. The old barn was underinsured -- just a $10,000 limit for the structure itself. We've already spent most of that amount for expenses like debris removal and water pump repair without the first nail in the new structure having been hammered. Our insurance company was quick, efficient and fair in valuing all the personal property, like equipment and tools, that burned. Although it did not cover the turkeys lost in the fire (coverage for animals requires a special rider that I, an insurance maven, didn't think to buy), it did cover our inanimate products. We were fortunate that one of Troy and Victoria's first projects on arrival was sorting through the accumulated bags of sheared wool stored in the hayloft and beginning to sell it through the website Etsy. Because we were able to show a continuous stream of sales at $12 per pound, the 900 pounds of wool stored up there brought our total insurance proceeds close to $30,000.00.If only that were enough. Troy has been busy getting estimates from barn builders. Of those that even deigned to respond with a number, the estimated costs range from just under $50,000 to a mind boggling, to me, $150,000. At the high end, the term "sticker shock" springs to mind.It might seem obvious that one would take the cheapest competent bid, but the eternal variables of time and money are in their usual tension. The highest estimator is a large full-service custom builder with multiple work cr