Hello again, friends of Rivendale.
Well it's happened again. The seasons have changed, and frost has arrived. We spent a good bit of this past week harvesting as much as we could from the frost-sensitive plants. And after that we spent time tearing irrigation lines, trellising, and other supplies out of the field before we mowed the frost-killed plants down. While it's a bit sad, it's also exciting to now have a window to sow cover crops in the fields. A chance to feed the soil and regroup before winter hits in earnest.
The truth is that the Fall was a challenging one for our crops. Our fields were saturated with water for weeks at a time. As a result our carrots, beets, potatoes, and sweet potatoes (among other crops) failed to thrive.
But that's a big reason why we grow so many different crops. We know that our resilience is tied to our diversity. Not all crops will do well in a given year, but we are confident that the majority of them will. So we can live with a few of them not growing as planned--even when they are favorites like tomatoes, potatoes, beets, and carrots.
The good news is that we can harvest at least a little bit of most of them. And we are excited to share them with you as much as we can. Plus there are a few other exciting items still coming this season like tumeric, brussels sprouts, arugula, and more salad mix among others.
On behalf of the crew,
Neil
ps--This week's pic shows the vegetable fields this week after they've been mowed down. We are glad for the sun to help dry out the soil, but you can also see the thick frost in the shadows.
