Welcome!
Though we are not yet buried in snow, as anyone who lives in a northern climate knows, there is much we have to do to prepare our farm for winter and the associated freezing temperatures. This is how we go about it.
- Our heated greenhouses get TekFoil insulation on the north walls to keep some of the heat in and still allow sunlight to enter from the south.
- The roll up sides of all of the greenhouses are anchored down, though on the unheated tunnels they aren't sealed because a little airflow is very helpful for disease prevention on the crops, even if it is subzero.
- Our outdoor frost free hydrant is shut down and all the hoses are disconnected.
- We still need to spray and wash some crops outside, so we install a hose that connects to our frost free hydrant located inside our heated plant house. We just snake this hose out the door when we need to spray crops clean.
- We make sure the sides of all of our greenhouses are clear of stuff so that we can easily shovel snow away from them when needed.
- We install a heater in our outdoor walk-in cooler to keep the contents above freezing.
- We remove the plastic sheeting on our caterpillar tunnels, as it can't take a snow load.
- All of our outdoor beds are mostly cleared of crop residue get farm-made compost spread on top to act like a blanket that keeps soil from splashing away and provides food for the soil right away in spring.
The list is long, but if we tackle it on dry, snow-free days, we can rest easy all winter! Enjoy the produce this week, and try something new (don't forget to start planning your Thanksgiving menu as well)!
Katherine, Spencer and Crew
