Preparing for the first frost.... This is where farming gets pretty wild! How much can we save? What might make it through the cold? How cold will it really get? The weather forcast is predicting a low of 27 degrees with possible snow Tuesday night, Sept 8th. For crops, what we are concerned about is a "hard freeze" which is typically designated at 28 degrees. This is quite early for the first frost for our region. Last year the first hard freeze was October 10. The more sensative warm-weather crops will not survive a hard freeze (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumber, beans, basil, dahlias, zinnias, most flowers, etc...). Lots of crops are fine through a hard freeze as the Earth is still quite warm and will stay warm for a few more months. Some crops even improve in flavor from the cold. Carrots become more sweet as carbohydrates turn to sugars as a reaction to the cold temperatures. Greens and other roots also do well with some cold weather. We have already started harvesting as much as we can; our hard working team of farmers are out there working late into the evenings, saturday, and more late evenings and it is remarkable what we can bring in. Now, where to store it all is also a puzzle to face. We have several walkin coolers that we keep set at varying temperatures to accomodate crop needs, but at moments like this it never seems to be enough space. We want to store everything! Sometimes the peppers and tomatoes will get frosted on the tops of the plants only and some good fruits will still remain on the bottom parts of the plants after the freeze, but we shall see what this storm has in store for the farm. It all depends on how quickly the cold moves in and out and how damp the conditions are. Mother Nature keeps us guessing and we remain in awe of how little control we have. Apparently this is the theme of 2020! We will also run extra "row cover" out to keep some crops just a bit warmer and that can be quite effective. Row cover is a white cloth type agricultural material that is air and light permiable and reusable. Here at Aspen Moon, we love working with the cycles of Nature. It's been 12 years now that we have been perfecting this seasonal transition and you can feel confident that we will continue to have vibrant nutritious veggies for you for months to come. We love growing good food for you!
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Week 15 CSA
About the farm
Please see aspenmoonfarm.com for 2022 CSA sign-up! Started in 2009, Aspen Moon Farm consisted of 2.5 acres in Longmont, Colorado with one acre of cultivated vegetables and one Farmer’s Market in Longmont. Now we are amazed by the 99 acres in our care with approximately 25 acres in production! We typically serve seasonal Farmer’s Markets in Longmont and Boulder (and hope to get back to that soon), and offer an abundant Roadside Farm Stand, open as weather permits(and dependent on current staff scheduling). Finally we are most proud of our CSA program and are so grateful for a wonderful group of annual CSA members (over 900) whose kind support keeps the farm open and productive. Aspen Moon Farm is USDA Certified Organic and has been practicing biodynamic agriculture since 2009 so our produce is truly 100% natural and bee friendly. We work hard to provide our own on-farm fertility through biodynamic compost, cover cropping, and crop rotation. All of our crops are carefully tended (many are hand-harvested) so you get the cleanest, freshest, and most nutritious produce possible. Our crops include a wide range of seasonal vegetables, beautiful organic flowers, succulent berries, and starter plants for your spring garden. Led by Jason and Erin (biodynamic gardeners, turned homesteaders, turned farmers), Aspen Moon Farm is managed by a team of inspiring and aspiring farm crew and interns. It is truly this team and the heart & soul they put into this farm (not to mention the 60+ hours of physically demanding work every week) that allows us to maintain and grow.
We are helped along by the dignified (sometimes not so dignified) ministrations of 20 kind-hearted cows, a gaggle of escape-artist chickens, a small herd of Navajo Heritage sheep including their aspiring guard dog, a spunky mini-horse, an elusive band of wandering cats, some very busy bees, and our dog/mascot Zuzu who keeps us all in line and laughing. At Aspen Moon Farm we work together to cultivate sustainable, life-giving, deliciously organic produce for you and your family. We plant, we weed, we tend, we dig, we water, we run, we lift, we clean, we bunch, we clean again, we count, we pack, we ache, we tire, we thank, and we love it all! Simply, we love growing good food for you!
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We are helped along by the dignified (sometimes not so dignified) ministrations of 20 kind-hearted cows, a gaggle of escape-artist chickens, a small herd of Navajo Heritage sheep including their aspiring guard dog, a spunky mini-horse, an elusive band of wandering cats, some very busy bees, and our dog/mascot Zuzu who keeps us all in line and laughing. At Aspen Moon Farm we work together to cultivate sustainable, life-giving, deliciously organic produce for you and your family. We plant, we weed, we tend, we dig, we water, we run, we lift, we clean, we bunch, we clean again, we count, we pack, we ache, we tire, we thank, and we love it all! Simply, we love growing good food for you!