Wednesday, January 7, 2009

inspecting the damage

Yesterday was the first day I've had the gumption to walk the farm to access the damge from the frigid weather. It's ugly out there! Lots of melted piles of slime that just a couple of weeks ago were vibrant fields of winter and spring crops. Even the greenhouse crops were destroyed. The cauliflower and broccoli appear to be gone and for me most sadly, the stately fava beans are definately toast. They were looking great and I was so excited that we would have spring favas for the first time. Oh well, I will try again. Love the fava beans!

There appear to be some survivors. Even though they look awful if you look right into the center of the kale and chard plants, there is some new growth and once February gets here, they'll proabally take right off. Surpisingly, the turnips survived. With their shoulders exposed to the weather I figured they were goners. In fact, the cold appears to have enhanced their flavor. They are the sweetest turnips I've ever tasted! Cabbage was 50/50 Most all of the January King survived, while the Melissa did not. Hence the name I suppose. Brussel's sprouts made it with minimal damage. The verdict is still out on the beets. I'm not sure if they are dead or alive?

So it is what it is. When something like this happens, it's actually a good time to see what types of plants are the hardiest. Basically, anything that can survive 10 degree temps with windchills in the minus category for multible days is a super food in my world.

Lots of planning going on right now. Seed catalogs continue to roll in daily. Here we go, another season begins. Yeah baby, we're gonna farm the shit out of it this year!

Take care,

Farmer John

No comments: