We've had almost four inches of rain here so far today, with much more on the way. The fields are flooded again; I almost lost my boots in the mud trying to check on the field crops this afternoon. The forecast is calling for freezing rain Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. We got pummeled with a thunderstorm earlier today - as old folklore tales would have it, winter thunderstorms are a sure bet you'll see snow within the next ten days. Just about all of our crops took quite a beating last week when we got down to 10-15 degrees over several nights. It looks like the daytime high temperatures are barely going to get above the freezing mark over the next three days, which makes harvesting nearly impossible (winter crops can take a lot of cold, but cannot be pulled or cut when they are actually frozen, or they turn to compost within a few hours). The sun may not make an appearance again until the weekend, which coupled with 30-degree temperatures, means no new growth on any of the plants.
I like to be able to say we can harvest 52 weeks out of the year. We can, but sometimes it just makes more sense to let it go for the week: let the crops rest and recover a bit, let the water slowly drain away instead of mucking around out there churning it all into concrete. Let the temperatures do what they will, and not kill ourselves trying to harvest everything in the 45 minutes out of the day it actually climbs above 32 degrees. There will be no deliveries or pick-up at any of our locations this week.
That doesn't mean it's a week off for us entirely. I spent most of the day today filling up flat after flat with soil and seeds for your spring crops. There's still a lot of planning, prepping, and organization that needs to be done for the busy seasons ahead. And I suppose if I get really bored, I could start working on my taxes...or I could sauce up the freezer full of tomatoes I tucked away last summer. The latter option definitely sounds more appealing.
So barring any would-be thunderstorm-induced blizzards, we'll be back at it next week. Stay warm and dry, and hope you all have a good week.
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