I am incredibly thankful that spring seems to have arrived at last! Unfortunately, still waiting for mud season to pass. All the frozen wet stuff over the past few weeks has long since melted, but the soil needs to dry out and warm up a fair bit more before planting can begin out in the fields. Ever impatient, I tried thwacking the mud up into a few beds by hand this morning, but it's still too wet for even that. The soil calls all the cards - try and mess around with it when it's waterlogged, and it turns into an unmanageable block of concrete that won't grow a darn thing when it does finally dry out. So spring's crops are still hanging out in the greenhouse, and I'm potting them up as they outgrow their initial flats to try and keep everything steadily growing on. Keep fanning those rain clouds out of here!
Crop losses from the ridiculously unseasonal deep freezer we've all been living in lately, combined with what's typically a less bountiful time of year anyway means there's not going to be much variety for the next month. I'm sorry about that, but farmers get to work with whatever nature decides to throw at us, and it isn't always beneficial. The main farmers' market season starts in (yikes!) six weeks. This weekend I turned over most of the big greenhouse (the only relatively dry spot I've got on the farm) and replanted it with the fastest-growing goodies I could find. Hopefully we'll have a better selection of produce by mid-April.
For gardeners out there dreaming about their own plans for this summer, our heirloom tomato and pepper plants are growing up nicely, and should be ready by mid-April. You can check out the list of this year's offerings here. As always, some new varieties to try, and some old favorites. I also usually have smaller amounts of other garden plants available as progress is made through the farm plantings; stay tuned!