In the midst of the snap

The sunrises have been outstanding on some these cold clear mornings.

We were reminded this week exactly why we shifted the end date of the Vegetable CSA from mid-December to mid-November (we had the change a few years back). This time of year, early December, consistently holds some of the year’s biggest surprises in terms of weather.

I’m sure I shouldn’t say “surprise,” because we know by now to expect something, we just don’t know what. Some years it’s a big snow, others a big wind storm, and even others a flood … but sure enough, this month brings inclement weather events more often than not, and it is nice to have extra time to take care of all the related minor and major emergency preparations inherent in “weathering” such hard weather. And then it’s nice to not worry about harvesting and getting to town either. We can more fully relax into the nature of the season and keep our eyes and ears ready for problems needing immediate attention.

Because there will be some. It’s inevitable, just as much as the weather itself. Even normal little everyday problems become A Much Bigger Deal in the midst of Big Bad Weather. As an example, Saturday morning a pipe broke in our pole barn — the breakage was actually unrelated to the weather, but the sub-freezing temperatures certainly changed the nature of addressing it. On a normal day, we would fix it immediately still, but without the pressure of worrying that in the meantime exposed pipes would freeze. Not to mention all that water that went all over our concrete slab. Casey managed to get it repaired quickly enough to avoid any further damage, but yes we did end up with an ice skating rink in our pole barn. Sigh.

Outside of the pole barn, the weather has been interesting as well. This is our first real cold weather since we added animals to the farm, since last winter was exceptionally mild. Last year, temperatures rarely dropped below freezing. We had hard frosts only a handful of nights. In contrast, temperatures haven’t risen above freezing for several days now. Neither winter scenario is more or less “typical” — our weather in the Willamette Valley is moderate but variable.

Anyhow, on Saturday night, they were predicting lows here of 2°F — which represented a possible new low for our experience on the farm and sent us into a frenzy of activity. We gave the animals extra feed, extra bedding, and refilled their water troughs again before the evening set in (keeping the water thawed has been impossible, so we are just filling them several times per day with fresh water). Casey also built some make-shift wind shelters for the animals in the field. The temps fortunately did not drop that low (but did dip into the single digits), but still Sunday morning, Casey went out first thing and spent several hours delivering more water and checking on everyone.

I hesitate to draw any conclusions while we are still in the midst of this cold pattern, but so far the animals appear to have fared well. Our hens have finally dramatically slowed their egg production, which is not a surprise (I wouldn’t want to lay eggs right now either!), but otherwise the animals seem to be in good spirits. (Yes, animals have moods!) In fact, as a testament to how well they are weathering the cold, the cows and sheep have had layers of frost on their backs that haven’t melted during the day. At first, this may seem very uncomfortable! But consider that this is a sign of insulation. For example, you don’t want to live in a house where the snow melts off the roof quickly — it means the heat from inside is radiating up. Instead, choose the house where the snow stays and only melts away when the external temperature rises again. That’s the situation with the sheep and cows, whose winter coats have provided quite an impressive insulative layer between their skin and the external cold. Cows are an especially “hot” animal (their normal body temperature runs about 101.5°F, several degrees warmer than us humans), so it is lovely to know that they are retaining all of that useful warmth on these cold, cold days.

I wish I could be as optimistic about the plant kingdom on our farm. Temperatures in the teens and single digits pose a very significant challenge to even our hardiest vegetables. As I said last week, we harvested and brought in as much as we could before the cold arrived — our large walk-in cooler is literally packed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with storage crops like cabbage and carrots. But, there is so, so much more still in the fields, and it will certainly be affected by this weather.

It is safe to say that we generally over-plant for the cold season harvests, because we don’t get another shot at planting until spring. Given our variable weather, any given winter may pose challenges to one crop but not another. Some die or are harmed when it is too wet, others when it is too cold. Even a mild year can cause some crops to “bolt” earlier, leaving us potentially without as many crops to harvest in late winter. So, yes, we always plan for risk management with a wide range of crops in terms of types and age. For example, younger kale plants may not be ready to harvest going into fall, but we’ve found them to over-winter better and produce well in the spring — so we try to have both more and less mature kale plants in the fields when fall arrives.

But, these temperatures … it’s cold. We’ve been through something similar once before — four years ago, to be exact, when we weathered a week of cold weather, including single digit temperatures down to 5.5°F. Casey and I can’t help but recall that last significant cold snap regularly these days, both because of the similarity, and because Rusty was born in the middle of that weather and we are two days away from his fourth birthday now. Those four years ago, we were up late two nights in a row as I labored with him, stoking the woodstove continually to keep the cold drafts at bay. In spite of the chilly air, I walked quite a bit around the frozen fields during the day portions of labor. At that time, we had no idea how our crops would fare; we just walked and walked past frozen greens with a suitably distracted focus. Rusty was finally born just past midnight on December 11 here in our bedroom. What joy his birth brought us!

It was only later that we realized the extent of the damage — cabbages melted in spot; our potatoes rotted from cold damage in the ground … we eked through our winter CSA obligations that year with a lot of what seemed like agricultural alchemy (but certainly that year our members “felt” the difference in the quality of all that we had to offer). That year inspired us to build our large walk-in cooler where we now store many vegetables through the winter — another way to manage our risk while improving the quality of certain veggies that just don’t store well in the ground thanks to variable temperatures and rodent pressure.

So, knowing what we know from that cold spell, we just have to wait and see how our fields fare this time. It’s likely that some crops will come through, perhaps a bit worse for the wear but with potential to grow anew later in the winter or spring. But, it’s certain that many will not as well. It is hard to avoid feeling some sadness when we look on certain crops that were beautiful just a week ago and probably will not be again this year. Such is the reality of eating from this place. We do what we can; we bet on warm winters; we eat what there is.

But it is certainly not all doom and gloom out here on the farm. By no means! Every year that we experience another exciting inclement weather event is a year that we have more experience and preparation for the next one! Our walk-in coolers and other storage spaces have provided great peace of mind as we watch temperatures drop quickly in the evenings. Rest assured to all of us, there will be a CSA this winter. We’ve made sure of that with careful planning.

And, there are great wonders to explore on these exceptionally cold days — icicles to break, frost in the mornings, frozen clods of dirt. We’ve gotten out some to explore such things with the kids, but certainly not as much as we normally do. We’ve gone a bit stir crazy at times, but mostly we’re cuddling and reading by the continually roaring fire. We go to bed early because it is so so dark, and then we wake up early because we are all rested. The stars have put on a particular amazing show on these cold clear nights, and we have managed to get out with our sleeping bags before bedtime a few times. Rusty has now seen the milky way, perhaps for the first time in his life.

Also, we are so grateful right now for our cozy home, which has stayed warm and snug through it all. We’re also grateful for all the pipes that haven’t broken (yet — knock on wood) and stores of food all around and electricity to keep it all going.

I don’t know what the rest of the week will bring us — the weather forecast is for some warming but with moisture. Snow, perhaps? We had a dusting of snow last Friday, but otherwise things have mostly been dry, dry, dry around here (I even got to see sparks as I crawled between the bedsheets in the dark, which is a rare winter treat around here although common elsewhere!) As I write this on Monday afternoon, a few snowflakes have just begun to fall outside the window. We had planned to go on a fun outing for Rusty’s birthday tomorrow, but perhaps the fun will be to continue staying home and creating an adventure out of the vagaries of the weather.

Winter is a fascinating time of year to me. There is much to love — the quietness, the long still nights, the cozy house. And, there is much that continues to be hard, even for us modern folk. All the modern conveniences in the world can only do so much to keep the reality of nature’s power at bay.

And, yet, it will all turn again. I walked past a plum tree on my parents’ house this weekend and marveled at how recently it feels like the kids and I were sitting beneath it, actively seeking shade while gorging ourselves on the prolific red fruit. That will come again, even though it is almost impossible to conceive of right now.

We hope you all are staying warm enough and safe this week. Blessings to you!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla