As I write this, we're getting our coldest snap yet, this year... in February! We still have some beautiful winter greens in the garden, and they should all be fine, but some of our sage is still blooming(!), or at least was, until last night... and the borage has definitely bit the dust for the season. Despite these losses, the cold weather is so important for balance on the farm: it helps to keep pest insect numbers down (goodbye, flea beetles who ate up our eggplant leaves last year!), it helps us to keep invasive weeds in check (goodbye, bermuda and johnson grasses!), and helps our fruit trees to keep their dormancy, at least a little longer!
However, in this cold weather we're thinking hard about what's coming: last year was incredibly challenging, even for established farms and farmers, but especially for us newbies! The heat, and the length of the hot season, really did in some of our best-laid plans. We're thinking hard about long term sustainability of the farm under climate conditions, and are trying to plan accordingly.
For example, our root vegetables seem to do pretty well, even when it's hot. Beets, onions, leeks, , parsnips, and daikon radishes are all things that we've had pretty good luck with, even in the heat. That suggests that we might try other roots, such as turnips, rutabagas, and celeriac. These vegetables are healthy for us, with high mineral content and great caloric density, but they're also great for our soil, leaving high levels of organic matter behind, in the soil, when they are picked.
Tomatoes have been terrible producers over the last two years, but peppers have produced quite well, heroically surviving, and even thriving, in the heat! That means that expanding our repertoire of peppers may be a good way to get a wider variety of nutrients from a crop that seems to do well in the extreme heat, and are an equal harbinger of summer in the way that we think of tomatoes.
In addition, we've noticed that our older beds - the ones that we dug in 2013 and 2014 - have hosted some of our hardiest crops. This suggests that growing our own compost, increasing soil tilth through organic matter, and increasing the water holding capacity of our garden beds is an important adaptive action for the coming decades. It also suggests that regular watering is important. We saw this when we left for a few days last September, and a dearth of water on the watermelons - despite our well-meaning farm sitter! - made the aphids move in and the fruit rot on the vine. Note to ourselves: no vacation time in summer!
The FUN part of planning is choosing the vegetables: I'm pulling hard for celeriac this year, though Pedro doesn't always love these "weird" things. We've probably missed the window for fennel, but we might get a few months of cilantro in, yet. I'm also hoping for some new herbs: tarragon, savory, and lavender should do quite well in our hot summers, and I'm hoping that they'll contribute to balancing our pest load in the garden, as well.
We wish you beautiful summer dreams in these cold days!
- Elizabeth