Goodbye Spring
May 29th, 2019
Our final spring share has been packed and is about to head down the road. This spring has been consistently cool and sometimes downright cold and nasty. If it wasn’t for our greenhouses, there is no way we would have the bounty we have had. Not only does the cool weather make planting outside more difficult, it also really slows down growth. For instance, this season we started picking asparagus at least two weeks later than we normally do. Last night I was picking watercress for an order and realized this was the seventh week I was able to pick the cress. On a normal year, we maybe pick it for 4 weeks. At some point, our temperatures change, and usually in Wisconsin the change is overnight, one of those 30 plus degree changes in temperature no one is ready for. Not this year, at least yet. We have had a few warm days, but no hot ones. On the up side, all of our greens have done great. They retain their sweet spring flavor which the cooler days enhance. Cooler days make working in those wonderful plant saving greenhouses more bearable. Once the warm days hit, our greenhouses become sweltering, almost impossible to work in during certain times of day. It seems like for this entire season they have been our refuge from the outside. They have been the place we go to harvest and hide from the cold wet rain that seems to fall each harvest day. The transition is happening though, summer is on it’s way. In our greenhouses the spring greens are giving way to the summer tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. We know the heat is coming and as much as it makes me cringe a little to think about those ninety degree days, I know the heat is crucial for some of those tropical plants. So bring on the heat. Joy and I will take the next two weeks to regroup for our summer CSA season. There is always plenty to do, plenty to plant, to weed, to till and to build. We hope you enjoyed this cool spring season. Time keeps marching forward and that is something gardeners know and cherish, the bounty of tomorrow.
~Farmer Rufus