February and early March, can be and often are tough times of year for grower and consumer alike. We have been harvesting off of plantings since November and December. Growth is negligible at best and combined with a cold snap like we had a week or so ago, can leave one feeling a bit helpless. Yes it is true that many of the plantings were only damaged by the cold and will regrow. However, the damage must be cut away, and those cuttings now lost, did have a place in our harvest plan. Needless to say harvesting last Thursday was tough on both spirits and egos alike. Humbling and painful as it might be, still a good lesson to remember many things are out of our control. The future as far as weather is concerned is more than likely going to be even more unpredictable. We would do best to take any and all lessons we can from this.
As tough as Thursday was, Friday was a beautiful day that lifted spirits and reminded us of the coming months. As hopeless as this time of year can feel it is juxtaposed by the return of growth and longer days. The hope and joy that comes with the Spring, is strong and rejuvenating. More than likely it has a lot to do with why many of us grow.
On the subject of growth(or lack there of) and regrowth. Unfortunately, one thing that will not be growing is the amount of products available this week. You will find claytonia, and salad greens out of stock this week. We do apologize for this and hope you understand. In general the next few weeks will be slower than we want them to be. We appreciate your understanding on this and before you know, we’ll have too much.
This week as many of you can guess we will be transplanting, seeding and prepping, to ensure as much early bounty as possible for the coming season. The next few days of temps look favorable for direct seeding and transplanting alike. Direct seeding in the cold can be a challenge. We look for longer periods of warmer temps, not only to water, but to speed up germination.
We will also be setting up a second germination chamber this week. Some things like peppers, tomatoes, and cukes like to germinate at really high temps. While many other things need temps much cooler and will not germinate well if temps are too high. With two germination chambers we can we can have the best of both of these temperature ranges. Enabling us to start more plants at the perfect time this spring for both your at home gardening needs and our own plantings. After all that exciting time of year is just around the corner and we hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are.
Have a great week!