Brrrr! I can't believe how cold it has been. For the record, we had a significant amount of snowfall on March 8th, and have been experiencing fairly strong freezing temperatures on both the 9th and 10th. Spring, they say, is about 10 days away. We just switched over to spring daylight savings time on Sunday, too, so the daylight hours appear to be getting longer (which they are, but not because of daylight savings--I am just awake for more of them).
This year seems extraordinarily tight financially. It might be the implosion of our consume-command economy, but I don't remember late winter/early spring being such a stressful time in past years. Indeed, it is generally the calm before the storm. My biggest concern is keeping everyone employed until the we start reeping what we've been sowing. Of course, nothing we've planted is too interested in popping out of frozen soil to enjoy the snow. So, it is likely going to be a late spring, which is a spooky combination when a destroyed economy. Adding to the problem, about 95% of our overwintering crops--those things we plant in fall to and harvest first in spring--have been destroyed by the Christmas blizzards and the early January (the 6th, I think) floods. If it isn't garlic, it is dead.
Out of curiosity I called the Farm Service Agency today to see if we would qualify for an emergency operating loan. I was surprised to learn that we are eligible for all kinds of loans, but also surprised to learn that they are getting an unprecidented amount of loan requests. In fact, they are getting so many that they are "farming" the loans out. This either means 1) that a lot of farmers are in trouble, 2) a lot of farmers were affected by the floods, or 3) a lot of farmers are looking to expand their operations and see this opportunity as a great way to get cheap loan rates. In any event, the FSA says that loans are flying out the door, so it is interesting at the very least, hopeful at best.
We have invested quite a bit into season extension infrastructure. Since farming is such a gamble on the margins, and since organic farming is even more risky, I figure that the best we can do is gamble conservately and play by the book. Although tunnels and greenhouses are expensive, they do offer the ability to generate revenue when everything outside dies. Though an unheated greenhouse, as we learned this winter, can't withstand a week of temperatures in the teens. I have never seen kale and chard and beets just give up like that outside, let alone in a greenhouse. I have also never seen 2 solid inches of ice on the INSIDE of a greenhouse.
Tulips are doing well, though. I think that the winter tulips are so wildly popular because more than anything, they are a symbol of hope. "Spring is on the way," they say. "Don't cry."
The nice thing about spring is that it is a time of renewal. You ever look at a bunch of barron deciduous trees in winter and then go back and look at those same trees mid summer? What a difference! Spring, though testy, is the necessary tool to get us from the doldrums of winter to the shades of summer. In summer I will be complaining about the heat.
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