Texas’ absurd weather

Our early spring crops have nearly all been planted in the past 6 weeks in preparation for the start of the Spring CSA season.  All have been growing steadily with the surprisingly warm weather we’ve had throughout February. We’ve been so lucky. We’ve lovingly covered the more delicate plants with row cover each time a frost is forecast, and uncovered them when the weather is lovely, and they’ve been doing great. So great, in fact, that we were beginning to think the CSA might start on our hoped for date of March 27th.  Now we’re not so sure.

In our farming experience not all freezes are created equal.  When temperatures are unseasonably warm immediately preceding a frost, it causes more stress to the plants and sometimes even your most hearty crops (broccoli, kale) can be laid waste.

On Saturday afternoon it was so lovely that I walked barefooted into the pasture and read in the sunshine.  By evening on Sunday it was totally crazy!

Today the ice should all melt and Justin will spend some time in the garden seeing how everyone is doing.  Our hopeful start date of the Spring CSA season was projected as the last week of March, which is a week earlier than we’ve been able to start in the past.  All along we’ve known that if we got a stroke of late winter bad luck, we’d be pushed back into sometime April.  It looks like that’s exactly the cards we’ve been dealt.  We’ve enjoyed the beauty of this late winter storm and snapped a few pictures for you, but after this craziness thaws out it will be time to assess the situation, adjust our plans, and get back to work in preparation for the CSA.

We can’t wait for the season’s beginning and we sure hope it’s soon!  As always, we will communicate with our members by email as the season start date draws nearer to make sure you’re all in the loop.

All the best!

Jessica and Justin (and Olga)