The season shifts

The last few years we have been able to harvest from the field right up to Thanksgiving. Then winter gets serious, and we rely on what is in our hoophouses. The hardy greens – arugula, kale, asian greens, can be harvested if they are not frozen. Since the hoophouses warm up nicely with a little sunshine, we usually have a day a week all winter that we can harvest them.

We took down the Route 9 hoophouse over Thanksgiving and re-assembled it over salad greens growing up by the old hoophouse, but we don’t have the plastic and end walls on yet. The forecast is not for open air thawing, so I don’t know if we will have arugula and salad mix this week. I do have spinach in the old hoophouse, and a good supply of kale and chard available for greens.I think I’ll have a good supply of the lettuces.

I am hoping for a 40s and sunny day because there is a lot of good salad mix and arugula still where the Route 9 hoophouse was and where I had a bed protected by row cover (which I took up before the row cover froze to the ground).

At least I am getting the garage cleaned out, organizing my market supplies, etc. But it is amazing the difference sunshine makes. Monday morning was just miserable nasty brrrrrrr, but as soon as the sun came out it was pleasant outside, or in the garage with the door open. We moved the pallet of cover crop seed out to the feed trailer (which is not as full of feed this time of year), took wax off some bee frames and stored them away, etc. More sorting and organizing to do before we bring the golf cart inside for winter (blocking access to shelves to sort), and Sunday afternoon I dug a lot more carrots which need to have the tops snapped off and be washed. It seems a little pointless – I am sure I have more carrots harvested than we will sell, but … And I did get more of the nice white and red carrots that we were short of.

Have a great week.