Growing A Farmer: Winter Work

Plants grow slower in the winter. There are fewer hours of daylight, the sun is less direct and the air and soil are cool. This allows some plants to go dormant which can be an important stage in their development. Our asparagus for example is sleeping sweetly and will awaken with the longer days bringing the first real taste of spring. This doesn't mean there isn't work to do. This is the time of year that farmers get to plan, fix and maintain. We're even starting tomato seeds already.

For those of you wondering what is in season right now I'll tell you what we have been harvesting the last few weeks:

Harvest

arugula, lettuce, salad mix, endive mix, kale mix, braising mix,

swiss chard, collards, pac choi, parsley, green onions, green garlic,

broccoli, romanesco cauliflower, escarole, sugarloaf endive,

radicchio, purple top turnips, scarlet queen turnips, rutabaga,

radishes, fennel, beets, hakurei turnips, parsley, and cilantro

Romanesco Cauliflower at Crystal

So, here is where the hoop houses pay off. We have strawberries in January and they are delicious!

The very last peppers, harvested a few weeks ago

Production and Distribution

Both farms are busy with restaurant orders. Crystal Organic is still going to its year round market at Morningside in Virginia Highlands.

Almost finished

At Burge our owner decided to build a produce stand a few weeks later here it is. How awesome to be able to make a decision one day and put it into action the next. I know Sandy has worked hard to be able to do these things and I'm glad he does them.

Opening Day, that's Ricky, he built it

Price Card Craft Project

Maintenance

The hoop houses at Burge have had some water flow issues. They are built on a slight slope and when we get too much rain (which happens often in GA) the rain water rushes in from the sides and ends. In an attempt to control this we dug trenches around the problem houses. So far so good. It remains to be seen how much upkeep the trenches will need to stay affective.

Planting

In the winter green house we lay heating cables under sand. On top of those we have our first seed starts for the year, some hybrid tomatoes that will be planted into the hoop houses. This greenhouse has two layers of plastic and a pump that keeps the space between filled with air for insulation.