There are no tomatoes hiding under that snow, and even our cold-hardy crops like kale and collards have succumbed to the fiercest of winter’s frosts and geese.  But — after a gloriously warm and lazy trip to the Gulf Coast — we’re keeping pretty busy around here nonetheless!

For us, winter means seed orders and crop plans.  It’s a really creative time in our year: what crops are our stand-bys, reliable in production and taste?  What didn’t grow well?  What have we always wanted to try?  What varieties do our farming friends recommend?  Should we grow more melons this year?  Fewer turnip greens?  A new kind of tomato?

Winter means repairs and maintenance.  Our hoop house collapsed in that first big snow in December, and we’ll need to repair it before the season begins, since that’s where we put our vegetable seedlings to harden off before transplanting them into the fields.  We started construction on a small tool and repair shed last year, but found ourselves sidetracked by our busy CSA schedule and unexpected irrigation difficulties.  We’re hoping to get that built early in the season this year, before things get too busy.  We wrote a bit about those irrigation issues last year; that’s another big job to finish before the vegetables start growing.

Winter means doing our books, making sure we understand well how the business did last year, and using those lessons to make smart decisions about what directions to go this year.

Winter means finding the new season’s work crew.  Reading applications always fills us with excitement and hope.  Who will we spend our days with this year?  How will the farm change with their energy?  And ain’t it grand, that there are folks out there who want to do what we do, grow delicious food and get to know the people who eat it?

Winter means lots of planning and preparation for market and for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program.  Spots are filling up; have you sent in your registration form yet?

Winter also means lots of hot chocolate, lots of snuggles with Arlo, and lots of time by the wood stove.

We hope these last months have been good to you all, and we can’t wait to see you again.

Until we get our irrigation issues sorted out and until we get a little rain, we’re staying pretty busy watering by hand.  Everyone do their best rain dance for us?

What a strange mistress is the weather!  While our friends in Georgia struggle with flood conditions, and our family in North Carolina say they haven’t seen the sun in over a week, things have been dry as a bone here at the farm.  You can see that from the dust the tractor is kicking up as Shannon mows our early summer squash and cucumber beds so that we can, in the coming weeks, pull up the plastic mulch and plant a cover crop to help nourish the soil over the winter.  The lack of rain is certainly a challenge, especially since we’re still working out lots of kinks with our new irrigation system.

As we do our best to manage a tough situation — hand watering our fall crops, for example — we reflect that this is a life we wouldn’t trade for anything.  We make our living growing vegetables that fill bellies and create moments of connection between family members and friends.  We are reminded every day of the land’s miraculous ability to provide for us.  We wake every morning blessed with work.

Here at Frog Bottom, we irrigate from a springfed creek.  We couldn’t offer consistent or high quality vegetables year after year without irrigation.  It’s also a steady source of headaches brainteasers all season long: Where did this leak come from?  Why can’t we get steady pressure from this hydrant?  Are we out of hose clamps again?  And has anyone seen the nut driver?

So we like to keep people of good cheer around.  If you’ve visited us at market or at the farm, you’ll agree we’re pretty darn lucky.