(CSA Newsletter: Week 44)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
After a fall of relatively mild temperatures, we finally received our first hard freeze on the farm last Thursday night. Followed, of course, by a series of extremely cold days and nights that continues through to now. It’s Monday morning as I write this, and last night was the coldest yet: our low in the field was 12° and today the temperature is not expected to rise above freezing in spite of the sun and blue skies.
But, unlike the last couple windy days, it is extremely still outside — creating a calm severe weather event that is hard to hate. Except when the north wind was blowing (brrrrrr!), this extreme cold snap has been rather pleasant to be out in: the roads have stayed dry for driving; the air is clean and clear; and the sun makes everything look happy and gorgeous.
However, it is a severe weather event, bringing with it complications that we farmers have to address. For us, extreme cold brings two immediate difficulties and hazards: the first is the possibility that our carefully planted and tended winter garden will be damaged by the low temperatures. Even though we only plant hardy varieties and types of vegetables for over-wintering, they each still vary in the extremes of their tolerance. Some plants, such as parsnips and leeks, will most likely survive temperatures far below 10°. Others, such as celery root and carrots, can show signs of damage at 25°.
Fortunately, we can help these slightly less hardy plants along by covering them with the white spun cloth we call ‘row cover.’ Row cover is practically translucent, but when laid over the plants and against the ground, it provides just enough buffer from the cold to help things survive. Beginning last Thursday evening, and with our friend Lucy’s help on Saturday, we row covered 37 beds of everything from kale to Brussels sprouts. Even for the crops that won’t technically die, the row cover will help them weather the cold with less damage.
The other difficulty with extreme cold weather is that frozen ground and plants complicates harvest. We learned two winters ago that harvesting can be impossible when the ground is frozen solid (we tried once, with no success, to liberate leeks from frozen ground — we learned our lesson!). Many crops can also be damaged if handled while their greens are frozen. And, since we wash all of the vegetables harvested from the field, we also have to deal with issues of freezing and ice in our wash station. Hoses need to be drained after each use and put in the garage to prevent freezing, or else we’ll never get them thawed until the cold snap ends.
To avoid these difficulties, we did all of this week’s harvest over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, we had brief periods mid-day when temperatures actually rose above freezing, allowing us to dig carrots, cut Brussels sprouts, etc. Even then, however, the ground never fully thawed, so we had to be careful how we kneeled on the hard frozen surface soil (which is extremely hard — like bumpy concrete!).
But, again, with the sun and our friend Lucy’s help, these harvests were actually pleasant and fun, in spite of the extremity of the situation.
We realized this weekend that in all of the four years that we’ve run the CSA, we’ve dealt with some kind of extreme weather event early in December. The first year was a minor snow storm, followed by freezing weather (making the roads treacherous); the second year was the big 2007 wind and rain storm; and the third year was last December’s ‘snow-pocalypse’. All in all (so far!), this year’s event has been the most pleasant for us as people. And, I suppose that with more winters of experience under our belt, we probably feel calmer about how the fields will fare. There very well may still be damage to come, but we have a better sense of perspective about what it means to garden and harvest in the winter.
That’s not to say that this extreme cold hasn’t taken a toll on our farm or others around the region. We lost our rooster on Thursday to a hawk, which is pretty typical for us during very cold spells. We lost two chickens last year during the snow to hawks — I imagine because the cold weather makes it much more difficult for them to hunt their normal rodent prey. And, of course, on the human side of things, anytime temperatures drop this low, I worry about the many people who don’t have adequate shelter: literally homeless individuals as well as people who can’t afford to adequately heat their drafty homes.
Casey and I have certainly been grateful for our wood stove the last week and its ability to keep our little house toasty. In addition to the cold, of course, preparing our nest has been in the forefront of our minds, and the warmth of a good fire helps us feel ready for baby’s arrival anytime.
Baby hasn’t arrived yet though, as you probably gathered by now. We celebrated baby’s ‘due date’ on Sunday by harvesting in the cold wind (yes, including 40 week pregnant Katie). Apparently harvest work doesn’t work as a natural labor induction technique. Oh well.
So, we continue to wait, which in some ways feels appropriate for the season. This is Advent, after all, the period in the Christian calendar in which we symbolically wait for the arrival of another baby. December is also the darkest month of the year (hard to believe with all this week’s sunshine), when we look forward to the solstice and the slow return of waxing daylight.
As we wait, we’re embracing the spirit of the season: decorating our small tree, visiting with friends and family, walking in the beautiful crisp sun, and letting go of this year’s stresses and trials as we begin to turn the corner to a new year, a new decade, and a brand-new experience for our small farm family.
In the very likely case (hopefully) that we don’t see you next week, we want to once again thank you all for a wonderful season. We are tremendously excited for the promises of 2010 and can’t wait to share another year of seasonal eating with you all. We wish you the happiest of holidays. Stay warm, and enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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