>
THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• “Sweet Mama” Squash
• “Red” Potatoes (or whatever other potatoes are in the walk-in cooler)
• Cabbage or Collard Greens
• Garlic
COMING SOON:
Shallots
Mizuna
Baby Bok Choi
It was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9° or 10° here last night. It’s not really bad to have a freeze here and there through the winter. But when everything stays frozen day and night for several days in a row, we start losing plants.
We’re pretty sure the parsley and celery, and fennel are finished. Maybe the mustard greens and chard too. The winter spinach should be fine once it thaws out, and the kale will be fine. We’ve got plenty of cabbage and brussels sprouts and leeks. The squash is in the garage, and the garlic and shallots are protected inside. The real difficulty is that we can’t harvest much WHILE it is frozen. The ground is frozen solid, so any root crops are out of the question right now. Most leaves will wilt after thawing if we pick them frozen.
It is hard to tell the damage until after things thaw out. The problem isn’t necessarily the cold, but the drying that comes from prolonged cold without moisture. It’s better if we get some snow to help insulate and coat the leaves, but not too much of that either. It’s supposed to finally rise above freezing for a bit tomorrow, so we can get more picked for the weekend, and then rain. Rain would be good after all the cold. The plants will suck it up.
We had planned for next week to be a double harvest week, so that we can all take a break for Christmas week. We’ll have to see what happens after the weekend before we can confirm that plan.
Stay warm and hope for the best!
Whistling Train Farm 