March 2, 2017

Good morning, first off a date for your calendar! I would like to mention that The YT ranch with their grass fed beef will be to market on March 11. Rob told me he would be bringing extra brisket too.

This winter has been exceptionally warm. Since I have all my transplants ready to go into the garden, they have been hardened off and for the last couple of weeks I have been planting them into the garden. For a lot of the plants I am over a month ahead of last year. My first toms went out the 23^rd of January. Well protected but have already been through an 18 degree morning. A thermometer in this bed has constantly staid 45 or higher.

Last year I saved a lot of okra seeds so “just because” I germinated enough seed to plant my first okra bed. I have placed a temporary greenhouse over this bed and I noticed the first seedlings raising their heads. I really think this is a very long shot but if I can keep them warm, who knows!! For the okra lovers, May okra? Cucumbers and beans are also up.

It never ceases to amaze me how irregular all of our weather thingies are: rain, hail, frosts.... This past Saturday we “enjoyed” a 26 degree morning. The day before was a very windy day and this made adding extra covers a real challenge to say the least. I knew there were potatoes emerging, along with the cukes and beans. By time I got the toms, eggplants, okra and chilies extra carefully tucked in, the gusts were picking up. The potatoes had no covers, the cukes and beans had 2 layers of 19. I did not think I could get a piece of fabric 45 feet long and 10 feet wide into place over the potatoes without first recovering it from Terrel County. Raising the fabric on the other two beds seemed a challenge I did not want to take. Potatoes easily resprout and there was plenty of seed to replant the cukes and beans. So I just crossed my fingers.

I felt a distinct chill to the air on Friday afternoon while I was checking to make sure there was enough rocks on the fabric. NOAA and Underground were predicting a low of 33? Our humidity is very low and a clear calm morning was predicted. They got that right and this ushered in a convection freeze of 26 degrees.

As I mentioned above the oddities of our weather thingies keep me in awe. Most all the potatoes got burnt but 3 or 4 had no signs of freezing, the cuke bed came through unscathed, and the beans there were a handful that got froze. I think the difference between the beans and cukes is that the beans that got froze were touching the fabric. As for the potatoes who knows. This freeze seemed to be only at ground level because both mulberry trees have no freeze damage. I have a thermometer in the garden at ground level, I wish I had one at 4.5 feet (the recommended height for thermometers) It may not have registered a freeze.

On Sunday when removing some of the covers on the toms, eggplants... there was distinctly frozen fabric that clung together scattered around the garden. My thermometer registered 43 degrees. Crazy stuff, just like it will be raining cats and dogs on Ave I and be bone dry on Mountainside. Never a dull moment!!

Need less to say I will be finished with planting most of my veggies real soon. I feel pretty confident that this will be pulled off. That is as long as I do not do anything stupid. By the by the covers have been raised on the cukes and beans, along with covers over the potatoes. Ground thermometer is registering nearly 60 so there is plenty of warmth in the ground. This will be interesting!!!

This week I harvested chard, kale, Spinach, Asian greens, lettuce, carrots, green onions and turnips. Please email for availability.

 I can be reached at markdirtfarmer@gmail.com or go to http://redwagonfarm.blogspot.com/ Happy gardening!!!