Whoops, We Blinked

Prior to this week, the highest temperature recorded at the farm for the year was 73 degrees Fahrenheit, and we got there (barely) only once.  Otherwise, conditions have been cooler than normal.  And, if you add a bit more cloud cover and rain, you get soil temperatures that tell the plants it is NOT time yet.

Mix in a LOT of wind, and you have the past couple of months.

You've got to know things are a bit topsy turvy when your Bur Oak trees are budding out at the same time all of the other trees are deciding they can begin to unfurl their leaves.  For those who do not know, oaks are among the slowest to decide it is time to greet the new growing season.

Pasque Flowers at the farm are among the first to bloom, along with the Crocus.  The violets usually aren't too far behind that in the sheltered areas.  And, our Forsythia bushes are also typically anxious to show color earlier than most other woody perennials.

This year, the early bloomers are hesitating and the mid season blooms are looking like they want to get going.  The result is this compressed bloom cycle.  The Virginia Bluebells are just getting themselves going right now.  The Lungwort (first picture) were among the hardy few that managed to adhere to the normal schedule, but that may have to do with its location near the front steps of the house more than anything.

Well, I might have offended the Fernleaf Peonies too.  They also are a fairly stubborn perennial.  Maybe you can relate to the Fernleaf Peony?  Gosh darn it!  The calendar says today is the day that I should emerge from the soil and begin to grow.  So, I'm a gonna do it!  

Actually, the ground has been unfrozen for some time now, which means plants that just need the frost to be out should have been able to get going.  This is, I think, where the cloudy conditions have played a role, because I would think the Pasque Flower would fall into this as well.  But, with the way this year has gone, weather wise and plant growth wise, I am kind of giving up predicting what's next.

In all seriousness (as if I wasn't serious before), we have experienced these conditions at the Genuine Faux Farm in prior growing seasons - and they probably bother all-season growers of diverse crops more than most.  Yes, I get it.  The corn and soybean growers are having trouble getting into the fields to plant.  That's frustrating.  But, consider this:

A diversified vegetable producer will have, among their crops, many cool season crops that they are trying to nurse through cooler weather so they can harvest and provide fresh produce in late April and May.  These things do still need sunshine to grow.  But, when we get temperatures hitting the low 90s all of a sudden, those crops DO NOT LIKE IT.  As a result, many of them bolt (go to seed) and fail to provide much return for the grower.

In the meantime, the diversified grower is ALSO delaying many of their other crops (just like the row croppers) that need the warmer weather.  That puts them into the bind that their early crops terminate too early and their mid-season and late crops are all delayed.

Yep.  It can be frustrating.  Which is why I am glad we are not trying to run a CSA program this year.  Tammy and I have sweated out enough season starts like this in our careers and we're willing to take a different perspective on growing now.  But, it doesn't mean this weather isn't effecting us at all.

The biggest problem for us this year is that the number of hours we have to work on the farm are much more limited than they have been for years prior (except last year, of course - the kidney thing).  When Mother Nature decides to jump us from late Winter to mid-Summer in a couple of days, it is even harder for us to catch up on all of the work that just got compressed into a much smaller period of time.

Well, at least the peonies are coming up now too.  They should be on pace to bloom by Memorial Day - just in time for a rain and wind storm to come along and beat all of the petals off of the full blooms right when they are reaching their full glory.

We'll know then that things are back on track - because it happens nearly every year.