Vegetables and greens need a lot of tender loving care to grow from seed to dinner plate. They’re rarely “native” plants — they’re foreign to the environment they’re growing in, and must be protected from the established, aggressive, and hostile neighbors surrounding them. They’re usually sweeter and more tender than those seasoned competitors, too, and need to be shielded from the bugs and critters that find them particularly inviting and tasty.

So summer is the busiest season of all for farmers working to bring their crops to maturity. And while they’re busy planting, weeding, fertilizing and irrigating, they’re keeping a wary eye on the weather. They’re not only watching what’s going on in the ground, they’re watching what’s happening in the sky.

In the end, though, the successes, big and small, make a challenging life a rewarding mission.