The Farm in Winter

The farm undergoes interesting transformations during the winter. And, a recent walk around the farm with a camera yielded a couple of pictures that might give everyone a feel for how things stand at this time.

Yes, we have low tunnels. What is a low tunnel, you ask? Look at the picture below and you will see (sort of). If you can't see at this size, click on the picture and it will open a window with a larger image.



Essentially, a low tunnel is a series of hoops covered by plastic. The plastic is anchored along the edges by ground staples (U shaped heavy gauge wire) and metal stakes. In winters when we don't have snow cover, we often have problems with the plastic blowing loose in the wind. Thus, there will be multiple trips to attempt to re-anchor the low tunnel plastic. So far this year, the snow is keeping things down and insulated. Inside of these covers are lettuce plants. They are probably still only a couple of inches high. I say 'probably' because I am not about to dig in there to check. The target is to have lettuce in March and early April.

The picture below may be too small to see the detail, so you may want to click on this one as well. This is the view into our eastern plots. The tomato cages are nicely corralled and collecting snow. After last year's experience of crushed cages (due to snow weight) we decided to leave them upright this year. The cages were moved with the help of a helpful class from Wartburg taking a day at the farm - thanks to all of you!



You might notice the sunflowers (and maybe some popcorn) still standing. We don't clean everything out of our gardens in the fall. We prefer to have ground cover to catch some snow and to prevent erosion of the soil. If you've ever seen the 'snirt' at the edges of fields that have been fall tilled, you can appreciate how the soil can move with no cover. The birds are still pecking away at the seeds and we can handle a few volunteer sunflowers.