Plants Don’t Celebrate Daylight Savings
Anyone else finding it harder during the past few weeks to get your day started? Well, we definitely have! In February we developed some pretty great morning habits that were supportive of a productive day. March then arrived - with it’s bird activity, warmer days and return of the color green. But this month threw us a curve ball with a practice known as daylight savings time. It has been over a week since our clocks were set forward an hour and we are still finding it difficult to adjust. We probably wouldn’t notice so much if it wasn’t also the time of year that our farming activities are ramping up and regardless of time change, the farm is still on the same schedule.
March is also for projects, prepping the farm and getting seedlings started. We need to make sure the beds are ready for planting as we enter April, our “transplanting season”. We have already filled one propagation house and also another 80 ft of tables, double-lined with trays in our second prop house. At Redmond, 1.0 our Tulips have begun to show and oh, is it ever beautiful and sweet-smelling. Perennial flowers just started going into the field. There are gladiolus and carnations in beds in our greenhouse and our Dahlia tubers are set to be planted this week. At Bend, 2.0 we already have spinach, carrots and scallions transplanted and bush beans, sweet peas and lettuces are set to go in next. Although we are not out of the frost season yet (which never really ends) our current varieties in the ground are cold-hardy which should help them survive through a potential frosty evening.
Our gears are set to HIGH and the great momentum of Spring has fostered in us a great hope for the season to come! But wait, we must halt. We have discovered some new and unwelcome, furry company that are ready to take over. FIELD MICE! We were lucky to not really deal with them last year. Sure - we saw some mice damage to our root crops, but we didn’t see any mice pressure in our early season greenhouse propagation. This year we found ourselves under attack! In one single night we lost our first round of tomatoes and peppers. They climbed the legs of our waste-high heated tables and went to work extracting and eating every single seed from the trays. It took us a couple of weeks to realize what had actually happened (when none of those trays produced a damn thing). At this point we have trapped almost 30 mice in the past two weeks and have started a second round of tomatoes and peppers. The effects of this assault will be felt well into the end of the season. They will not ripen as early as we planned. We continue to remain positive and take it as a learning lesson to protect our tiny seedlings as if their lives depend on it, because they actually do. As the adage goes, Its always something….
On a positive note, our Redmond fans will be very excited to hear that we have decided to join the Redmond Farmers Market again this year! The market will now be on Thursday evenings from 3-7; this is a change from past years where the market was on Tuesdays. Also, there is live music scheduled for every week of the market which will be a fun addition to our Thursday evenings. Check out the new market website to see the schedule of musicians.
As the season progresses, we have begun having more volunteer opportunities become available. Just a few weeks ago, we hosted some kind folks to help us remove the corn remnants and put the plastic back on the strawberry tunnel at 2.0. This month, on Saturday, April 30 we are excited to be hosting another WWOLF volunteer event through our friends at Central Oregon Locavore. We have a big day of transplanting and weeding planned including a farm-fresh lunch and beverages. We are still looking for volunteers so check out the event page for more info and to sign up!
Just another month until CSA pickups start and only TWO months until the markets start! We wish you all the very best and hope you get to enjoy the Spring weather. Stay Healthy + Stay Happy.
