That cold snap last week after the copious rain has certainly changed the look of the landscape. It's starting to feel like winter around here. We got to 16 degrees the other night here at the farm, which was enough to kill almost everything outside that we hadn't managed to cover.
Thanks to good forecasting, we saw the cold coming and took precautions where we could. We covered frost hardy crops and abandoned all of the warm season crops to their certain doom. It's amazing what the row covers can do. We have huge sheets that we use to cover multiple beds at a time. Leading up to the cold we filled hundreds of sandbags to help hold them down in the wind. The urgent work in the cold muddy conditions has paid off with continued outdoor harvests into November.
Due to the placement of the kohlrabi bed and lack of extra covers, we weren't able to cover the kohlrabi. I thought they would probably be ok at these temps, but we harvested a few tubs for storage just in case. Unfortunately, I was wrong. So, a bit of a misjudgment on my part lead the the destruction of hundreds of beautiful kohlrabi. If I had known, we might have reallocated our time to harvesting more of those in advance, but honestly we just didn't have much time to work between the rains and before the freezing temps. I feel a little regret over the lost crop, knowing we will run out of kohlrabi for the winter CSA far earlier than we should have. Chalk that one up to not enough time or storage space to get it done.
But we're still looking good as we slip into the winter-feeling time of year as the tunnel crops look amazing and we're working to get root crops harvested before they can be damaged by further low temperatures. We're glad to see a nice warm up this week, so it will be pleasant work outside (a rarity in November).
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Rosemary Olive Oil Artisan Loaf
Hemme Brothers Quark
Thanks for letting us help feed you this winter,
Dave and Sheri
