We're praying that it doesn't happen because the forecast for tonight is dangerously close to freezing. Our farm can be up to 10 degrees cooler than the city, so a forecast of 35 could end up being 25 at the farm. We are taking as many precautions as we can to cover outside. The fruit trees are all blossoming and we can't protect those, so we're praying for a breezy night that doesn't let the cold air settle into our valley.
The tomatoes and most of the peppers should be out of danger because most are planted in heated tunnels, but we do have some sweet Italian peppers planted in unheated tunnels. We will close those up tight tonight and cover them with frost blankets to give them extra protection. All of the crops we have planted outdoors are frost tolerant (no peppers or tomatoes outside yet), but even frost tolerant crops could potentially suffer some damage if it gets too cold tonight, so we'll take precautions where we can with them as well.
Our ponds are dug out and starting to fill, which means lots of irrigation water will be available for the summer. We're super excited to be able to be more resilient to drought conditions. This year is supposed to be an El Nino year going on right now which means it's supposed to be extra wet weather, but we have not been experiencing that so far this year. Glad for a little rain the other day but most of it missed us to the north.
The outdoor fields are starting to green up as we successively plant them. We're holding out for a couple more weeks before planting the warm season crops, but it's coming soon.
Summer CSA Starts May 9th
If you've signed up for summer, the first pickups are May 9-11. The final winter pickups are the week before that (May 2-3). We still need more summer members to join up, so please tell you friends there is room. We need 50 more new members by the first week. With your help, we can do it!
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Large Sourdough Sliced Loaf
Hemme Brothers Rubbed and Smoked Cheddar loaf
Thanks for eating with the seasons with us!
Dave and Sheri
