North meets south, and we're caught in the middle! 75 and sunny, with lows in the 50's, and then highs in the 30's and lows in the 20's two days later! That's hard on plants (and farmers as well). When we talk about farming being a place-specific knowledge base, this is part of what we mean; The Ozarks have uncommonly large temperature swings throughout the winter, as the Canadian Cold Airmass does battle with The Gulf Warm Airmass... and we're caught in the battleground. Not that it's all bad, it's really delightful to get those wonderful warm days in November, December, and even January, to get beds prepped, tunnels worked on, and the thousands of other tasks that are easier when the weather doesn't require gloves and five layers of clothing. And the cold is helpful for keeping insect pest populations down a bit, and are key to having a high organic matter in our soil (tropical soils are notoriously low in organic matter because the plants never die back, and the soil microorganisms continue to eat the dead plant matter all year long). Plus we love to play in the snow, and the winter gives us a time to slow down and relax in front of the fire. As we move into January you'll notice that we transition from our regular weekly CSA deliveries to an Ala Carte online ordering system, which allows us to flex more with the vagaries of our crazy swinging climate... Also, we will run autorenew for the 2022 CSA sometime toward the end of January, so keep your eyes peeled for an email about that in mid-january. In the meantime, enjoy the ice skating, or should it be swimming? Whatever the case, it's a joy to live and farm in the Ozarks.
Thanks,
Farmer Curtis
