What do we do in January?

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January is a busy month for planning, planting, harvesting, and clean up for us at Highland Orchards Farm Market. I remember my grandfather walking around the farm, just thinking and looking. He would tell me he was remembering what had grown there and imagining what might grow in that spot the next year. Imagination! A great tool to use. We are fortunate to be able to draw on generations of experience to help guide us as we work.

The end of the year prompts review of crops: what was successful and why, what was not successful and why, what we want to continue growing, what we will discontinue growing.  This results in what seeds are started in flats in the greenhouse, what is planted in the ground in an unheated house (hoop house), and what will be planted later in the spring.  We have over 200 different crops to consider for the farm market and for our CSAs.

Winter care of plants is challenging, even though we are growing the cold-tolerant plants that usually thrive in winter. For 2018, the first week of the year was exceptionally cold, 10-15 degrees BELOW normal. This mean all our baby plants need extra protection. So many plants have had an extra layer of row cover placed over them, even plants in a greenhouse or hoop house. And the heater quit in one of our two heated greenhouses so we lost quite a few plants that night. Working in the greenhouse is great on a sunny day though. Even with an outside temperature of 20 degrees, it can easily be 65-70 in the greenhouse; solar heating is great! 

 Winter harvest consists of lots of leafy greens - lettuce, arugula, mizuna, chard, collards, kale, spinach; root crops - beets, carrots, radishes, potatoes, etc., and herbs - cilantro, parsley, thyme, rosemary, mint, oregano, etc.  Most are in unheated houses. When a crop is completely finished, young plants from the heated greenhouse are then planted in the available space. 

We constantly sort and monitor the crops that were harvested in late fall and stay in storage until we sell out - apples, winter squash, onions, sweet potatoes. As I write this, we are at the end of some of the varieties of apples and pears, so the store display will start shrinking. A temporary farewell to Honey Crisp, Asian pears, Bosc pears, and Jonathons; we will look forward to enjoying them again in the fall.

The animals all need extra bedding and food. To solve the water-freezing-instantly problem, the animals have heated water bowls. They still need water filled at least twice each day. We estimate that the animals consume almost twice their usual rations to be able to maintain body heat. We check all the animal housing to make sure the houses provide shelter from the wind and that there are no water leaks or holes that would allow predators to get in.

 Of course, January would not be complete without snow removal. Driveways, parking lots, animal pen access…and when it snows a lot, we shovel paths from the animal houses to the food and water bowls. We can easily attach the bucket to the front of the Kubota tractor, which we use as a plow. It is great for the driveways and parking lots. We still get to warm up shoveling paths by hand. The most recent snows have been powdery and light, so easy work!

 We always seem to stay busy, but January is a time when we can catch our breath and do some planning. Employees schedule some vacation time, and being able to leave a little early is a treat. We are always working on finding what our customers would love to see here at Highland Orchards Farm Market.  We share books and information, and have lots of discussions about what is good to grow and to eat.

- Ruth

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