The last morning of the cold spell brought beautiful white frost to every surface on our farm.
Last Friday, the temperature rose — to 35°F! Have we ever been so excited to see those numbers on the thermometer? I’m sure we have, but we felt especially grateful last week to see puddles melt and rain return.
It was with some trepidation that we ventured into the field to see what damage the cold had wrought. Because, in case you don’t know, the damage isn’t visible while things are still frozen. Chard leaves will stand rigid at attention, still colorful and seemingly vibrant, during a cold spell. But, after the thaw, the ones that didn’t make it will melt in place, leaving just a collapsed pile of mushy leaves.
Yes, there is some ooze now in our fields. But, oh, what joy to find that many things survived! Casey and the kids went for a walk this weekend and brought home several handfuls of kale, and I almost wept with relief — both for myself (I am a kale addict) and for the farm and our customers. We have food! In the fields! Hoorah!
Since we are in the season of lowest growth potential and the biggest chance for extreme weather, we can’t exactly count on it all yet. Things could still change. But, we made it through this cold spell with crops. Thank you, universe!
It seems almost laughable after last week’s weather to note this, but winter “officially” starts this upcoming weekend. Or, more accurately, we will be observed the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year. The days certainly are short right now, and the nights are long. We set up our family’s Christmas tree this weekend, and those twinkly white lights have brought some much needed magical brightness into our long evenings.
I am still deep in the mist of a lot of end-of-the-year bookkeeping and planning for 2014. The Affordable Care Act has changed quite a bit for our farm in the coming year, and it has caused me to do some major analysis of our farm’s options. After weighing everything, we’ve decided to make only a relatively modest change — we’ll be registering as an LLC (limited liability company) this week. This will give just a tad more “official” designation to our farm business (which up until now has just been operating as Casey under the name of “Oakhill Organics”).
We pondered other possible changes, including forming an S-corporation, which would have created a lot more work for me this winter. As it is, I have a minor amount of extra work to do between now and the new year. I’m going to try to get it done with as much peace of mind as possible so that I can mostly fully embrace the joyful spirit of the season. I do love my role as farm’s “business manager” of sorts, but too much spent on the computer crunching numbers and I find myself getting foggy and cranky. Hats off to those of you have do such work all day every day! I am thankful for you!
While I have my business hat on, I wanted to provide an important reminder: the 2014 Veggie CSA will begin on Tuesday, January 14! First payments are due by then. I will be mailing out invoices and more info by the end of this week so that you have it.
And, the final news of the week: the cold put off planning our Holiday Harvest (we weren’t sure whether we’d have much to harvest!), but now that it is past, our Christmas Holiday Harvest is on! We’ve posted the list below. Email us your order by Sunday at noon for pick up here on the farm on Monday, December 23, 2 – 4 pm. More details below.
We hope you all are staying warm and cozy during this cold, dark time of year. Blessings to you as we turn the seasons again and start walking together toward that (seemingly impossible) thing called spring!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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2013 Holiday Harvest #2 – Christmas edition
How it will work: You select the veggies you want from the list below. Email (farm at oakhillorganics dot org) us your list of veggies and desired quantities by Sunday noon. We will harvest for you on Monday morning and have everything ready for you to pick up here on the farm on Monday, December 23, between 2 and 4 pm. When you email, let us know if you need directions.
- Kohlrabi ~ $1.50/lb (these are biggish)
- Cabbage ~ $2/lb
- Brussels sprouts — order by the lb ~ $3.50/lb
- Braising mix — a mix of cooking greens ~ $6/lb
- Carrots ~ $2/lb
- Sunchokes ~ $2.50/lb
- Parsnips ~ $2/lb
- Beets ~ $1.50/lb
- Turnips ~ $2/lb
- Corn polenta/meal — a coarser grind for making polenta or corn bread ~ $5/lb
- Corn flour — finer grind for baking cakes or other things ~ $5/lb
- Onions — yellow cooking onions ~ $2.25/lb
- Leeks ~ $3/lb
