January  2012

Many people ask if I'm enjoying the 'time off' during the winter months.  The truth of being 'off' can be a matter of perspective. 

There is some irony that while I have more time during this part of the of year, (to do things like my hair and nails), there always seem to be too few hours in the day for me to accomplish the tasks I have.  It is a fact that there are not any full time employees harvesting, planting or performing any crop care practices we normally do during the warmer months, nor is the farm stand open for vegetable sales.  The equipment repairs that were put off during the summer still remain to be done.   Monitoring temperatures and running both heaters and refrigeration units on our winter storage vegetables as well as checking the overwintered plants in the greenhouses as temperatures vary are a few of the things that keep me busy each day.

It may sound like whinning to some of you, but it really isn't.  I not only know better than to do that, but I made it a New Year's resolution a while back to cut that stuff out of my life.  I also just wanted to set the record straight for anyone that may have happened to see me lately, (on some of the colder days below freezing).  It really is the 'extra insulation' under the coveralls that makes it appear that I have been sitting around eatting Bon-Bons waiting for the spring to arrive.  

It was just last year at this time that I had to wear snow shoes to get across the barn yard.  Now it's a matter of deciding whether or not to take my jacket to step outside.  With some days being so mild, I almost forget what month of the year it is.

 

 

November 15, 2011

The last days of our local summer CSA distribution are this week.  I always have mixed feelings about the season's end.   This season being not really different from past ones in this regard.  For this season, I feel relief that the challenges we had weather wise are behind us as is the responsibility of tending the crops in the fields.  The other feeling I've had on my mind is one of gratitude.  With so many weather events over the course of the summer from wind and record rainfalls, I am surprised and thankful that we were able to harvest the produce that we've had over the past many weeks.  

I have seen better and more productive years, and I've experienced much worse seasons, so I can easily say that this is a season to be thankful for.  With many other farms in up state New York experiencing devastating losses from the same weather events that we had locally, I know it was just a matter of how the storm clouds blew over the northeast region that made the difference of having a crop or not.  For us, over the past few months, we were spared the worst of those weather events on not just one, but a number of occassions.  For this, I am most grateful.

What better frame of mind to approach the Holiday upon us.

 

January 2011

I can't remember when the ground was covered by snow consistently for so long a time period, (more than a few weeks).  Perhaps it was during the last Ice Age, or an equal number of years ago.  Usually around this part of Long Island, and this time of year, we are treated to a visual landscape of dull BROWN.  The trees, vegetation, even the vast herds of deer and few rabbits all seem to blend together in the same color scheme. 

I'm still trying to figure out if this is a good thing from the global warming perspective.  Maybe for each week the snow stays on the ground here and the whole northeast, it will translate into a fraction less incremental change in the average global temperature rise expected this year.  Then again, most everyone I know has their oil burner, wood stove and various other heaters cranking so the carbon emissions we are putting back into the atmosphere from burning all this incremental fossil fuel are probably balancing out the heat reflective qualities of the snow cover.

Perhaps it's best that I get back to the equipment maintanence and seed orders I started out this morning doing.  Hope your snow filled days are happy ones.     

 

 

Early Winter 2010

Thankfully the summer season went well with great growing conditions.  I could comment on the dry hot days of July and August that made me 'accidentally' spray my self with cold well water from the irrigation pumps on more than one occassion, but what I am most grateful for was the fact that all the named tropical depressions and hurricanes in the south Atlantic never made landfall in our neck of the woods.  Had that happened, there would have been depressions of a different sort, (and we're not talking about the barametric type), in this neck of the woods, so we're 'not going to go there'.

The mild weather trend that we are currently in has given us a huge jump on our first Winter CSA distribution, with almost every fall cruciferous vegetable representated in the box.  Our late fall bountiful harvest is simply passed on to our CSA members' full boxes, which is just super for all of us. 

We give thanks too, to a wonderful staff and field crew that help make the growing year of 2010 a great one.  We are grateful too, for our wonderful customers both at the farm stand and all of our Farmer's markets, and to all of our CSA members in Brooklyn and out by the farm who have changed our lives for the better in so many ways. 

Wishing everyone a Healthy and fun filled Holiday Season!

Be Well,

Fred & Karen

 

Early Spring 2010     Grower’s Note

With the spring Equinox just around the corner on March 20th, the longer day lengths are more than welcomed by this winter daylight deprived grower.  Our greenhouses are being prepared for our second round of seeding for transplants and plugs.  Some Polyethylene coverings on our high tunnels need to be replaced from the damage of the wind storms of last month. 

We’re on schedule for our plantings of bulb onions, baby Bok Choy and mixed lettuces.  We have many herb cuttings ‘cooking’ on our heating tables.  We don’t really cook the seed & plug trays, but we do use electric heating coils on tables to provide more efficient warming of our germinating plants.  With the warmer temperatures on these heating tables, we can keep the immediate root zones on our cuttings and seedings at an optimum 65+ degree F without having to heat the entire greenhouse.  Much like using an electric blanket on your bed, you can keep nice and toasty at night while the rest of your room and house remain at 57oF through out the evening hours.  Lucky Plants don’t even have to freeze their buns when they get up in the middle of the night and go into the bathroom for ‘a drink of water’.

We’re looking for a dry stretch of weather before we can get our first planting of spring sugar snap peas seeded outdoors.  Hopefully that will happen before the end of the month.

Wishing you a Sunny day,

Fred