May has been pretty exciting around here. I love farming and working with the seasons, and experiencing how different they can be from one year to the next. Last week we had several storms roll through that dropped a lot of moisture - including a heavy 5” of snow on Monday morning. It was fairly warm and the snowflakes falling from the sky were some of the largest I have ever seen. This round of snow stuck around for 24+ hours and forced us to slow down for a few days.
While the fields were saturated we kept busy inside as much as possible - everything from potting up starts, seeding lettuce trays, transplanting cherry tomatoes in a moveable tunnel to scrubbing down all of our harvest bins and the wash/pack room.
We finished building the frames for two 12’ x 100’ caterpillar tunnels (which we’ve named Thing 1 and Thing 2) and we were able to attach the plastic on Friday with our Farm Crew. The snow and rain last week made the soil dreamy for transplanting in these tunnels yesterday. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are now filled with tomatoes, shishitos, cucumbers and a section of sunflowers. Grow babes grow! My paper calendar says we’re a little late planting these tomatoes, BUT based on the recent weather, I think they’re actually going in right on time. We will shower these beauties with love and tomato harvests will be here before we know it!
I went for a walk two nights ago and took this photo. In the distance you can see our greenhouses/farm. Sure, it’s been snowing and colder than we might prefer in May, but the sunsets have been incredible and everything is so lush and green. Take that drought!
Before the unsettled weather arrived, we spent a day planting out our southern field. We planted and covered the many potatoes that will keep us and hopefully YOU fed for months on end and Mike seeded the rest of the field with a multi-species cover crop mix. We plant cover crops to protect and feed the soil.
Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants = Happy Farmers
The soil was warm and perfect when these potatoes went in the ground. The snow definitely cooled the soil and slowed things down a bit but they should be up in no time. I love potatoes. They’re such a fun crop to watch grow and bloom and equally enjoyable to harvest - until it’s time to lift the 50# sacks onto the trailer. Not my favorite task. At least we have a whole growing season to get our bodies in shape for that!
With a spring like this one, I am grateful for all of the greenhouses and tunnels we have on the farm. They provide a nice layer of protection from the many elements, wind, snow, rain, hail, etc and allows the crops to continue to thrive regardless of what’s happening outside.
The high tunnel is bursting at the seams and ready for us to begin CSA Harvests. We filled this house up with early bunching greens (kale, chard and collards) in April and they’re now huge and gorgeous. We also have two beds of snow peas, which just started to bloom, and a couple beds of carrots in this house. Having a space dedicated to CSA crops under cover takes the stress off getting things seeded early outside, which makes a difference on a year like this.
CSA Harvests start NEXT WEEK. We are excited to harvest and start seeing our CSA Members on a weekly basis. Get ready for sweet roots, tender greens and delicious herbs!
Ok, we need to get a move on here. The planting push continues with the main field block of brassicas going in this morning.
Have a wonderful day and enjoy the sunshine!