Oh Spring... I thought only March was supposed to enter like a lion. Then today happened. Nature sure does the darndest things.
Every year I am extremely grateful for many things about the land we grow our crops on. In the spring especially, I enjoy being able to work our ground behind the market extremely early. This is because the land is very porous due to the large amount of gravel it contains. Having well drained soil is why I am not worrying too much about our fields getting too wet from the alarming amount of snow that fell today. Our fields are experts at dealing with all this spring precipitation.
Beautiful Spring view of the new Strawberry patch planted last year.
I always find it fascinating when someone says they don't know why strawberries are called strawberries. I suppose not everyone grows them, so not everyone knows that you are supposed to cover them with straw for the winter to help insulate the plant and it's roots from the harsh cold. But low and behold, this is where you get the straw in strawberry! In the late fall after a few hard frosts, we go out and spread straw over all the plants. Then, in the spring, you know its time to rake the straw between the rows (that nice comfy cushion to kneel on when you're picking) when the forsythia is in full bloom. We let nature tell us when it's safe. This will probably be happening within a couple weeks!
Garlic coming up!
Right next to the strawberries you can see our beautiful rows of garlic. Garlic is planted in the fall, and over winters in the ground, similar to tulips and daffodils. The tips of the plants appear to be burned, and we think this is from the cold, cold temperatures. However this happens every year and it doesn't seem to cause any problems. If you look closely, you can notice lots of holes in the black plastic we use to cover the rows. Sometimes severe wind can damage to the plastic, but these appear to be caused by our friends the deer. We have an abundance of them, and last year they ate our corn plants, cucumbers, zucchini, and apple trees. Pretty much anything we planted down there they helped themselves to. Such fun.
Thanks for reading!