April Weather
Wow, the cold, wind, rain, sleet and snow in April has really been a force. We generally plan our production so that we can have our first summer share harvest during the first week in June. We generally can not start much earlier than after the first week in April. We started transplanting cold weather crops on 4/14 this year a few days later than last year. This included heads of lettuce, kale, swiss chard, beets, spinach, parsley, scallions and onions. We have also direct seeded peas, lettuce mix, radishes, carrots, turnips, pak choy. After planting we always cover at this time of year. The row cover keeps the plants warmer, keeps moisture in and prevents any early pest from causing damage on the plants. When the wind is above 20 miles per hour, it becomes a challenge to keep those covers in place. If they blow off, then the plants are in danger of freezing when the temps go below 32.
This past weekend we had snow, the good news is that the covers did not blow off, but the snow was so heavy, it weighed the covers down, bent the hoops and mushed the plants. We tried to get the snow off, but our covers were ripping, so we waited for the snow to melt and the covers to dry out. We definitely had some plant losses, but about 80% of the plants survived. As the snow melted and the covers dried out, the hoops underneath popped back up.
Posted in Uncategorized by Laura
