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Local Food Journey

Field Notes: An Unusual Start to Spring

Posted by Kim Tait on 04/12 at 08:32 AM

Early spring greens. Photo Credit Katy Cleary, Tait Farm Foods.

Thank goodness the weather seems to be back to normal for this time of year. The past few weeks of warm weather had us moving around at warp speed trying to get fields prepared and planted.

In all my years at Tait Farm, I have never seen anything quite like this spring. We already have kales, chard, beets, Asian greens, and head lettuce seedlings planted out, as well as peas, carrots, and lettuce mix seeded in the fields.

Another exciting thing is that we were able to get early spring cover crops seeded in several of the fields. Using a mixture of field peas and oats, these plants will help bring additional nitrogen, green matter, and weed suppression to the otherwise bare earth.

And just as Adam finished sowing the seed late in the evening last week, a gentle rain began to fall. We took that to be a good omen.