I heard the weatherman state this morning that this has been the coldest March we've seen in the area in over 30 years.  It feels like an even greater shock after several very mild winters.  It's left us holed up in the house far too often this month, pacing from wall to wall, obsessively checking long-range forecasts twenty times a day, and wondering if it's all ever going to grow.  January was warmer.

We have managed to get most of our spring planting done - the bulk of the cool-season crops are in, and next up on our calendar would be to begin getting summer's seedlings out.  The weather just won't allow for it.  Temperatures that consistently run 20 degrees below normal just won't allow our spring crops to grow, either.  Transplants we set out weeks ago, seeds we sowed a month or more ago, are stalled.  Just hanging out, waiting for warmer weather.  Just like us.  I've been poking around in the ground, checking to make sure the plants are at least rooting well.  They are, and  I imagine once this month-long cold snap breaks, we'll see quite a growth spurt.

Even so, we are expecting late spring harvests.  Much later than the last few years.  The farmers' market season begins in a little over two weeks (not a great year to open earlier than usual!), which admittedly has me a little nervous.  The cold looks like it might break by the weekend, and if it does, we're going to be busier than a whole hive of bees trying to get caught up.  As a result, we will probably take next week off from any pick-up or deliveries; I'll let you know for sure next Monday. 

But hey - eggs are on sale (buy 2 get 1 free) again this week if you'd care to stock up!  And have a happy - though chilly - Easter or Passover.

The past few years, my greenhouse has looked a bit like this in March.

A diverse offering every week is wonderful, but I've found that trying to keep both late-winter lettuce and early-season tomatoes going in the same house gets to be a pain in the neck.  It ends up never being warm enough for the tomatoes, and usually too warm for lettuces' liking.  Not to mention it gets a bit crowded in there.

So this March, it's all tomatoes.  Twice as many tomatoes.  Both Sungold cherry tomatoes (because I think some of you might hurt me if I ever stopped growing those), and 'Early Girl' slicing tomatoes.  If all goes well, in about two months we'll be feasting on early 'maters.  "Early" being a relative term.  I can usually plant the greenhouse tomatoes out about two weeks earlier than this, but it's been a cloudy, chilly month, and no sun means no warmth in a passive solar greenhouse.  It's still a good month or more earlier than field tomatoes, though.  In the meantime, we'll be lettuce-less here for a few weeks until the first outdoor plantings are ready to cut, but I think it's a small price to pay for a sooner summer!

In other news, it's driving me crazy that our harvests are getting so slim.  Trust me, we're working like dogs to fill out every available inch of the place with good things to eat.  Nature is not cooperating.  As I mentioned, it's been a cloudy, chilly month.  Our average temperatures by now should be around a high of 60, with nights bottoming out around 40.  Most days we're lucky to see 50's by late afternoon, and it is still freezing almost every night.  Most plant growth actually happens at night, in the dark, and when it freezes every night, the plants don't grow - they just maintain.   I can count the number of sunny days in the past few weeks on one hand.  As a result, all plant growth, in the greenhouse and in the field, is moving at a snail's pace.  Even the asparagus, one of the earliest spring treats, still hasn't popped up.  It'll warm up eventually...one of these weeks...and in the meantime, let's all keep our fingers crossed for some much-needed sunshine!

We're getting busier here every week getting spring's crops in the ground!  A slew of potatoes went in the ground this morning, along with still more greens, roots, cabbage and broccoli, and more.  The plan is to set out early tomatoes in the greenhouse this weekend (yeah 'maters!), but the greenhouse is still thick with quite a bit of lettuce and spinach.  The new laying hens I bought last year are turning out eggs by the hundreds every week - even though we bought a second refrigerator to store them all, we're still running out of room, and not moving enough eggs.  Early spring may seem like a slim season, but what there is, it's there in spades!

I hate to see anything go to waste, and so eggs, lettuce, and spinach are on sale this week.  Sometimes we just grow too much - lucky for you!  Buy 2 dozen eggs, you'll get one free.  Buy any 2 bags of either lettuce or spinach, you'll get one free.  Eggs will keep for up to three months under refrigeration: if you look at the end of your egg carton, you'll notice that there we scribbled the date that box of eggs were picked up (and we pick up eggs at least once per day).  Add three months to that date, and you have your eggs' expiration date.  Spinach and lettuce will keep up to two weeks in your refrigerator.  We always cut greens the same day they are delivered (you won't find 'em fresher unless you grow your own).  We wash and dry the greens as best we can for the longest possible shelf life.  If you tuck a paper towel in your bag of greens to help absorb moisture, they may keep even longer.  We do have more spinach growing outside in the field that's ready to cut now, but this will be your last chance at lettuce for a few weeks.

Hey egg fans: it's your season!  The vegetable selection tends to dwindle a bit over the next month.  We're picking through the last of the overwintered crops.  We'll cut salad greens out of the greenhouse for just another week or two before we need to turn it all under, and plant the greenhouse out with early tomatoes.  Still waiting on new tender spring crops.  Recent weeks have been much colder than average - and so the asparagus will probably run late this year.  March can be a bare, muddy, bitter month. 

Your feathered friends here are working their tails off to make up the difference.  We have eggs, eggs, and still more eggs!  Eggs are a seasonal item, just as seasonal as tomatoes.  The best tomatoes are harvested in June and July.  The best-quality eggs are laid in March and April.  You can scramble and freeze eggs to use later in any dish where you'd use a beaten egg - including plain old scrambled eggs.  Also check out fellow chicken farmer Jessie's seven favorite egg recipes over here.  (Personally, I'll pass on the Aussie Burger, though I love Shakshuka made with home-canned tomatoes!)

In other news, I'm sad to share that both my grandmother (and last living grandparent) and an uncle passed away this weekend.  March can be a bitter month.  I have my grandmother in particular to thank for my current occupation.  She was the toughest little lady I've ever known.  She lost both parents in a house fire when she was just eight years old, grew up on an Ohio dairy farm through the Great Depression, brought herself up growing truck vegetables to sell on the side, raised three children, buried her own husband far too early 25 years ago, and fought on by herself until she was 92 years old.  She never gave up, she never sat down, she never caved in.  Those precious summers I spent on her childhood farm and home are most of the reason I'm here today, doing what I do. 

I will be in Ohio most of this week, but my husband Andrew will still be here to mind the farm to cut and pack your orders, and I'll have email access all week regardless of where I am.  We'll get your orders - no change to our usual schedule.  (It's nice to finally have some help!)

Eat more eggs, and I'll see you all soon!