If November has been any indication, we are in for a heck of a winter. And this is a good thing. Last year’s non-winter meant major insect pest proliferation. Everybody had a tough time with the bugs this year. There is a down side to a wicked winter, however. We have a bunch of overwintering crops in the ground and exposed to the elements – carrots, broccoli and cabbage, chard, spinach and scallions. I guess we’ll be learning what kind of weather they can handle.
We had anticipated being awarded a high tunnel grant through NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) and having one up by now. States have been giving them out like candy. This year it seems the well went dry, so no high tunnel for us. Our winter crops will just have to do their best outside. Next year we’ll have to bite the bullet and put one up – grant or no grant – to stay competitive with other market growers.
Wet ground, cold mornings, and early sunsets meant plenty of time for farm 
planning this week. The seed potatoes are ordered, the field layout is mapped, our varieties are (mostly) selected, the greenhouse schedule is written, and I am oscillating between “sure, we can totally handle growing twice as much next year” and “oh my god this is insane”. I feel a distinct transition into the “off-season”. We have plenty on the to-do list, but none of it needed to be done by yesterday. Time to soak it up! Going through our meticulously kept records (ha!) from last year, Randy remarked on how busy we were in January and February. Spring sneaks up on you.
Going through our farm diary is eye opening. We actually did all of this stuff. All this planting and weeding and building and growing. We have almost been on the farm a whole year. It has been full. We have much to be thankful for.
