November 28, 2022
December Dreams
by Farmer Derek

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast with family and/or friends. Like me, you're probably looking forward to vegetables and salads before the next round of holidays engulfs us. Fortunately there will be a lot of healthy and fresh greens coming your way during the remainder of the season. Tunnel greens survived the serious cold+wind event two weekends ago and may not need additional interior cover for a while (until lows drop below mid-20s again). Field kale took quite a beating from the wind and subfreezing temperature and its fate waits to be seen. It may be harvestable or it may be fertilizer for next year's crops.

We're now within the Persephone Period of cold-season growing when daylength drops below ten hours and crop growth is minimal. For us in this latitude the timeframe is November 15 - January 30. It's essential to have all crops established well before the period begins, but not too early to increase susceptibility to cold injury. There is a 'perfect time' to plant for Dec-Feb harvests. Lucky for us our goal is no longer to grow through the winter and instead wrap up the harvest season when fall departs (the exception being an occasional flash sale). It's nice to know that growing in the dead of winter in this location is possible, however. Us middle-aged farmers (I am now 40!) need some time off to recover, travel, plan, and dream.

Over this next month I will be finalizing most of our 2023 growing plans and securing all materials and supplies to run the farm for another year. On a daily basis this will hopefully be balanced by a walk outside coupled with some physical labor and a good stretch. At least two days each week will be spent harvesting and distributing shares. The Winter Solstice will be here before we know it, real winter will descend, but daylength will slowly increase, then rapidly increase, and spring will be right around the corner. Let's take it slow.