It’s been a snowy February thus far! Despite the sub-freezing temperatures, you won’t find too many complaints here. I’m enjoying the chance to pull on my cozy sweaters and insulated overalls and traipse around the frozen fields. After each new snowfall, I’m delighted by all the different animal tracks meandering around the property. The farm is just teeming with critters when no one is watching!
The farm is also starting to teem with baby plants. We tucked the first round of anemones and ranunculus into the ground during the first week of February. At that stage, they didn’t look like much. In fact, it was slightly demoralizing to plant almost 300ft of transplants only to look back at what still appeared to be bare bedtops. It didn’t take long for little green shoots to pop out of the soil though. Just look at them now!
Anemones when they went into the ground…
… and anemones just 3 weeks later!
Baby lettuce on its way!
Last week, we prepared the greenhouse for the impending influx of seedlings. We cleaned and sanitized the surfaces to prevent disease, rearranged the greenhouse tables for maximum space for plants, and dropped the curtain between the “warm side” and “cool side” of the greenhouse. Partitioning the greenhouse with a plastic curtain reduces the space to heat and, thus, propane use. The heater keeps the “warm side” temperate for the new seedlings, and the sun maintains the temperature on the “cool side” above freezing on these cold, winter days. Most seedlings start on the warm side then move to the cool side to harden off in preparation for life out in the real world (a.k.a. the field). For now, it’s just lettuce, fennel, some brassicas, and phlox in the greenhouse. They better make room though… We seeded 60 trays of onions last week. And, of course, there are many more vegetable and flower seedlings to come as we move into March!
60 trays of onions waiting to pop in the germination chamber! As soon as they sprout, they’ll move to the greenhouse tables.
In this weather, the fieldwork is limited. Our compost and leaf mulch is frozen under a few inches of snow and ice, so further bed preparation will need to wait until the materials thaw. Each week, there are more and more seeds to start in the greenhouse. Daily tasks include checking if the seedling trays need water and covering and uncovering the overwintered flowers with row covers. The row covers act like a blanket for the bedtops. We remove them during the day when the sun shining into the high tunnels offers sufficient warmth. We pull them back over the beds when the sun goes down to keep the plants warm in frigid nighttime temperatures.
Speaking of covering, one of the biggest projects on the horizon is recovering two of our high tunnels with new plastic. After wind ripped the plastic off one of the tunnels last fall, we decided to leave it uncovered to allow for rainfall, snowfall, and, hopefully, their associated nutrients to reach the soil. The plastic on this group of tunnels was nearing the end of its useful life anyway, so, in December, we chose to cut the plastic off a second tunnel as well. Now, we need to recover these tunnels soon, so the soil can warm up in time for the first crops of 2025. It’s not a difficult task when one of the farm owners also owns a greenhouse company. It just requires waiting for a sunny and still day. (Strong winds and big sheets of plastic are not a fun combination.)
Personally, I’m relishing these last few weeks of winter. I’m exclusively wearing my thickest wool socks and cooking endless soups and chilis. I’m enjoying the slower pace of February while simultaneously looking forward to getting my hands back in the dirt when the ground thaws. I know this season isn’t everyone’s favorite. (I’m looking at you, Four Root Farm’s face of the markets, David!) So, for those of you dreading more snow in the forecast, don’t worry! Only 3 more weeks until spring!
- Kiersten