What do we do in February?

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“As the day begins to lengthen, so the cold begins to strengthen.” (From The Old Farmers Almanac) February is traditionally the snowiest month for us. Of course, this year, the weather has not been typical. 70 degrees in February! Good Ol' Mother Nature. If she decided that winter is over, we'll be fine. It's the 70 degrees back to freezing swings that we worry about. 

 It is also the month when we get very excited for spring to come. Why? February 2 (also known as Candlemas or Groundhog Day) marks the midway point between winter and spring, and every day after that means we are closer to spring! It marks the point when we have 10 hours of daylight--and that is a key factor for plants to grow.

First on the list is pruning. Most trees and vines fare best when pruned in complete dormancy. Every sunny day when the temperature is above freezing, we are out pruning. This means apple, peach, and plum trees; kiwi vines; and gooseberry and currant bushes. The trees and vines put on tremendous growth each year. Kiwi vines can grow over 12 feet each year! We use pruning to maintain plant health, proper air flow, ease of picking, and to maximize harvest. It often looks as if half the tree is on the ground!


 Next on the list is starting lots (and lots!) of vegetable and annual flower seeds. January saw hundreds of perennials started, but February belongs to the annual crops—in the thousands!.  Lettuce, spinach, arugula, peas, mizuna, kale, fava beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, snapdragons, geraniums, nonstop begonias, daisies, and the list goes on! By the end of the month, the heated greenhouses are filled to the brim with flats of seedlings waiting to be planted, and the unheated houses are re-planted with the early spring crops. Scallions, radishes, beets, carrots, Swiss chard and kale are everywhere!

Also on the list is finalizing the plans for - drum roll please - spring workshops (!!!!)—from starting seeds indoors (come see how we do it) to working with native plants in your garden. Not only do we have to work out the topic of what will interest our wonderful customers, but we have to figure out timing, parking, and how many can come to each event. We hope you like what we have come up with. If so, we will have some fall workshops, also. Look for the workshops to be announced on facebook. 

All the usual work keeps on—harvesting, taking care of animals, packing for CSAs, staffing the store, sorting through stored vegetables (the pigs and chickens enjoy any winter squashes that don’t make it!), packing for our farmers market at Fitler Square (protecting the vegetables with extra layers of packing for those days when it does not get above freezing!).  February always feels like our last chance to work on behind-the-scenes-projects. March is fast approaching and that means the rush of spring work will completely be upon us!

- Ruth

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