Quotable Sunday 12/22/2013


Winter Solstice

You know when you are sledding down a hill, riding a bike or skiing down a slope; isn't amazing how fast you get to the bottom.  But when you head back up to the top of the hill, it seems so very slow and more difficult than the joy ride down.  The seasons are like that too.  It seems that we get to the shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice, in record time but it is a long, slow time to get to the longest day of the year in June. Maybe it is because of the time of year and the weather.  Here in the Willamette valley, many of the days in winter and early spring are gray, foggy and somewhat gloomy. Time seems to pass so very slowly as we wait for the first wonderful day of spring. Maybe, it is how little we see the sun or how cool and damp it feels.

Nature really doesn't care about this, it just goes about the business of rebirth.  It may not seem like there is anything going on out there in nature but there is.  Seeds, sprouts, shoots and  buds are all watching for the light, the signal, that special moment that tells them to grow.  It is happening out there all around us, no matter the weather.  So today we say  " Happy First Day of Spring!" Maybe not technically but definitely on the road to spring.  

 

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!

 

Quotable Sunday 12/15/2013


A Snow Event!

We live in Oregon, where the old standard joke is: " it rains nine months of the year there!"  Not quite true but some seasons it does feel like that.  We don't get regular snow like many growers so we designed our hoophouse system to protect for the rain with a bit of protection on the beds in the form of Agribon frost blankets.  Every few years we do get an EVENT that makes us all go crazy for fear of snow, driving in snow, freezing temperatures, round the clock newscasts and frozen pipes.  We don't usually get too worked up by the EVENT except for heavy wet snow collapsing our hoophouses and the freezing temperatures for our baby flower plants that went in to the ground in October. This year was an EVENT for us!

We had a snow event which really wasn't too bad, about 6 inches of snow fell. It wasn't the heavy wet variety either and so it wasn't a great deal to remove from the hoophouses.  But the temperatures were really cold and we didn't want the snow frozen on to the plastic.

Dressed in a multitude of layers and armed with a rope pulley system of snow removal plus squeegees, we set out to remove the snow.  In the distance we could hear the neighbor kids having a blast playing in the snow while we worked removing it and all the while it kept snowing.

In my case, I was pulling more snow down on me but I was at least warm but needed ski goggles.  The rope pulley system didn't work and we will need to come up with something for next time.  When we build a couple more hoophouses we will need to be faster with removal.

The squeegee ended up working best but we need a bigger head on the end of our telescoping poles.

Finally everything was cleaned of the snow, we checked all the baby plants to see that they were covered.

                                                           Anemones wrapped up in a couple of blankets.

                                               Ranunculus under a couple of blankets.

We settled in for about 10 days of very very cold temperatures. Nights were in the single digits, one close to zero, the days temperatures in the teens.  We have never tried to grow anemones and ranunculus at these cold of temperatures.  The blankets were buying us a few degrees but we were hoping that the ground in the hoophouses was dry and wouldn't freeze up and killed the babies.  We couldn't remove the blankets to let the light in and so we waited and waited, afraid to look and see the damage.

                      The sun would try and shine and things tried to thaw but mostly just froze up.

Finally the sun came out and the rain came and everything started to melt away. The covers on the beds could be removed and the damage assessed.

Anemones came through like troopers although those ten days will delay them.  So hoping for nicer January temperatures to speed these babies up for blooms on Valentine's Day. Fingers crossed!!

Ranunculus looks a little more ragged but still alive. Some of the outer leaves may be damaged but the crowns still look good. Yay!

The snapdragons and the glads took a beating.  But they were just tests to see if we could get late glads and early snaps.  More snaps are growing in the greenhouse.

                              One busted outdoor pipe, oops forgot that one when winterizing.

   A little snow remained along side the hoophouses for a day or so and then the EVENT was over.  Just hoping that is the last EVENT for this next growing season.  Probably not so but it is nice to think positive thoughts. 


There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's.  ~Clyde Moore

Quotable Sunday 11/10/2013

Before and After the Frost

We had a horrible wet September followed by a beautiful sunny dry October. This gave us hope to have flowers for as long as possible.  While we did not stay in our farmers' market as long as we hope or planned; we were able to provide our designers with flowers through October and November.  Our last deliveries were last week.  We were able to choose perfect flowers from these varieties.

Then we got the warning that our night temperatures would be around 28 degrees, so I walked the fields taking photos of some of the flowers and picked a couple of buckets for me and our home.  Felt like I was saying good bye to the flowers for the season.  It has been a rough season for some of the flowers and I felt I needed to acknowledge the effort that some flowers did just to bloom even this late in the season.  The bugs and the critters were especially bad this year and lots of flowers never made it to bloom. 

                                              A bittersweet walk through the fields.

          As predicted the night temperatures dipped to the high 20's and our flower season was over.

So we begin the new season, our 10th flower season this 2014.  All our ranunculus and anemones are tucked in to the hoophouses,  all snug, warm and greening up.  Our new spring season bulbs are going in even as the tips of some of last years bulbs are poking through. 

                            We are redoing the floor and putting in new pallets for our crate house.

       We took time for a very short notice day trip to see about growing fall  mums at King's Mums!

They were all so wonderful and it will be a challenge to choose which varieties we are going to grow for next fall.

So as the leaves continue to turn their beautiful autumn colors and the work slows down a tiny bit; we continue to dream, scheme and plan for another glorious flower season.  The temptation to hibernate from the cool gray days is huge but the payoff of all this fall work is so much more rewarding and wonderful in the spring, it keeps us moving forward.

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”
― Clyde Watson

Quotable Sunday 10/20/2013

Autumn on the Farm

After a very wet and cool September, October's weather has been beautiful to get work done on the farm.  The mornings are cold and a dense fog encases us in cool dampness but by noon, the sun appears, the day warms and it is a pleasure to work out in.  The colors are changing all around us too.

The tunnels are being prepped for new seedlings with the old refuse being hauled out to a compost pile and the new compost being brought in to improve soil tilth and fertilization. 

The beds are also being re-mineralized with calcium, humates, soft rock phosphate, and gypsum as our soil is lacking enough minerals. It is carefully being weighed and measured for adequate inputs to our soil without being wasteful or skimpy.

In this hoop house we are going to try and overwinter a partial bed of lisianthus which is on the right hand side. The remaining two rows are being planted with our ranunculus corms.  They have been in a pre-sprout bag for a couple of weeks and are raring to grow.  We probably should have brought them out a week ago but there were others commitments.

Drip tape lines have been pulled, netting has been picked up and some of the beds have been cover-cropped for the winter and the seeds have germinated and are growing.

We have also begun tucking in various more spring bulbs around the property for color and spring freshness. Tulips of purples, pinks, and white went in to the barrels along the driveway. 

Lots more projects and work is yet to be done, another compost pile to be moved, more bulbs to be planted, dahlias to dig, anemones to be planted, grass to be mowed, and the general cleaning and removal of foliage around the farm.  Hopefully we can continue to work in the sunshine of a beautiful October day in Oregon.

“Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.”

William Cullen Bryant