Notes from the Field: Fall/Winter Pick Up 2

Notes from the Field: Fall/Winter Pick Up 2

Notes from the Field

This week has been spent harvesting, harvesting, harvesting! We will have a jam-packed farm stand tomorrow and Saturday with Thanksgiving and cozy winter essentials.

This time of year I am glued to the NOAA weather website, even more so than your typical New Englander! There’s a lot to juggle when it gets cold on the farm, between keeping water pipes running, field crops protected from wind and cold, and stored crops above freezing in our insulated cooler. On days like today the cooler is the warmest place on the farm!

This week’s forecast called for very cold temperatures Wednesday night, followed by snow and sleet Thursday night so I started harvesting Monday to make sure everything was snug in our cooler before the deep cold began.

We still have kale, lettuce, scallions, and spinach protected by heavyweight row cover (the white fabric you see in our fields) destined for harvest in December. Generally speaking if we can keep the crops protected from repeated frosts and shielded from wind they can survive cold. It’s so incredible to watch frost melt off the row cover in the mornings, and to harvest perfectly happy greens from under the cover once temperatures rise above freezing. To me, this miracle is only rivaled by the potential in a teeny tiny seed. I hope you enjoy our sweet, fresh greens this week and next with friends and family!

Daylight savings time means a little farming after dark! Headlamps, warm clothes, and a little moonlight make this surprisingly pleasant!
Harvesting leeks for the farm stand this week.
– Elena Colman
Farm Manager