February 14, 2010
Hi Folks,
As I am writing this we are bracing for yet another winter weather event for tonight and tomorrow (our 5th I think? I’ve lost count!). We’ve had record rains, record winds, more snow than folks have seen in these parts for at least 10 years - and we still have 5 more weeks of winter to go! The snow and ice eliminated much needed weekend winery and restaurant traffic. (Even if it didn’t snow, just the forecast of a chance is enough to keep people from venturing this far into the boonies…) and it really creamed our big greenhouse’s roof.
On the bright side, the weather brought some pretty landscapes - AND helped me to catch up on some sorely needed office, house, and farm - keeping projects. Spent one whole snowy day out in the farm’s tool shed sorting dozens of trays of nuts, bolts, staples, and screws that the baby chicks tipped over and scattered all over creation… We had put up all 25 of the new little pullets in the shed with a heat lamp in an effort to protect them from those frigid days and nights - and they got bored! There isn’t an inch of that shed that they haven’t explored - (and pooped on!)
Like I mentioned, the weather has been - well, uh really something hasn’t it!?
Neil says that the heavy snows are not so unusual - (he can remember MANY days in years past when it would be straddle deep and he had to plow a track with “ol Blue” (his farm truck) just to get feed to the cattle) but, he says - the constant pattern rain (here at the farm its been every week since May!) and the amount of rain per event - are definitely not typical and has created some very serious problems. Although the rain helped to produce some of the prettiest stands of soybeans Yadkin county has seen in many years - the saturated soil has kept the farmers from being able to get into the fields to harvest them. They waited weeks past the usual harvest window for the fields to dry out enough for the heavy equipment to get in and out - but it didn’t happen until just after NEW YEARS - and only because the soaked ground had frozen hard enough to support the weight of the combines and tractor-trailers! It was so weird to see lights of the combines running way into the night - in the DEAD of winter!
The kicker though was the 5 inch rain event on the 24th of January. The temperatures went from the low 20s to the 60’s (it was 60 when we went to bed at midnight!) I personally have never seen rain come out of the sky so fast. It was very destructive. The Yadkin River flooded its bank in many places - and all of the creeks in the area over flowed and blocked roads. The worst damage however was the field erosion. There isn’t a field in the county that doesn’t have a spider web of deep gullies and washed out places, even fields that had been seeded in grain with a good stand of bean or corn stubble. (The most important component in farming - particularly organic farming - is our soil. We work hard to keep it viable, rich, loamy - and most of all - in place. Healthy soil produces healthy plants - and that means less bug and disease pressure - and THAT means better yields… )
This morning, I took a long walk through our farm - as the snow finally melted enough to see and assess the soil… I am so sad to report that we too have lost a lot of our precious topsoil - in just about every garden bed on the farm. In the fall we always put the gardens “to bed” by adding composted manure & lime to them, and then planting a cover crop (crimson clover, hairy vetch, and winter rye) to both protect the soil from the elements, as well as add nitrogen and lots of rich organic matter back into the soil come spring. Well, this past fall it stayed way too wet to do any of these things and so I opted to simply leave ALL of the weed and fall vegetable plant refuse right where they were in hopes that they would provide the needed protection until things dried enough for us to get back out there and fix things… It was apparent this morning that it wasn’t enough hold back the wash. I am very sad but - hey, that’s farming… (and no matter what - there is always a bright side… For one thing - we have an abundance of even longer aged compost to add back to the beds when it gets dry enough. It might be a little later in the spring before the first harvests but there will be harvests!
Another thing we will need to contend with is the Big Greenhouse. One of the snow events included a lot of sleet on top of snow followed by freezing rain. We had to run the heater in the big grenhouse in order to keep it from piling up on the roof. It took the whole tank ($550) that night - and although it succeeded in forcing the snow to slide off the roof - the process of the sliding snow and ice pinched hard against the frame and ripped the inner layer of poly (the clear plastic that covers the greenhouse) down the entire length of the house. We may be able to repair it - but won’t be able to until we can dry out the inner layer (hard to do until the temps outside warm up). So now the roof of the house will no longer inflate making it even more vulnerable to the elements. (A little fan blower runs 24/7 year-round to pump up the space between the two layers of poly film. This acts as an insulating layer but most importantly - keeps the roof taunt so that it sheds and reflects rain, snow, and wind. Without the inflation, rain and snow will pool and that spells disaster as the weight of the water or snow can collapse the metal structure. Winds can flap the plastic now like a sail - which is also potentially destructive) So, we are all out of LP gas - but not out of winter! So now what do we do? The choices are: do nothing and gamble that we won't have anymore bad weather, spend another $600 for gas (that will only last 24 hours in below freezing temps), or take the roof off now to protect the structure, and spend $800 to recover it!? With the damage already incurred to the cover (plus its age of 5 years) it might be more prudent to buy a new cover… Spring is the worst timing budget-wise and for scheduling the installation!
Not to worry though. Things have a way of workign themselves out if you keep an eye on the good side of things - and one worth mentioning is that when the weather HAS been nice enough for folks to venture up here - the winery and restaurant have been filled to capacity. As I write this, we re Sunday serving brunch - and the aromas coming from Chef Starr’s kitchen - Waffles, Applewood smoked bacon omelettes with roasted roma tomatoes, freshly harvested roasted carrots & fennel, yeast rolls... mmmmm.... are making it a little easier to accept the winter storm mixture that they say is heading this way tomorrow (AGAIN!)…
More (good) news:
As of today’s mail, all but 7 of the “Boxed Share” Memberships, and 3/4 of the ”Farmer’s Market Share” Memberships have been filled.
All of my seed orders have been placed (I’m ahead of myself compared to years past - weeee!) and so most have already been delivered without backorders! (Double weee!)
I have just about 90% of our event calendar posted up on-line already. There is a lot going on at the winery, and the farm in 2010! Have a look! http://www.sandersridge.com/eventcalendar/2010_calendar.html
February Event Highlights include our foot-stompin' Thursday Night dinner specials - and a fun “experiencial” wine workshop given by our Winemaker Sara (Feb 20),
Other events scheduled for the year include a monthly morning birding and nature walk with optional lunch (Ron Morris past curator of the NC Zoo is our trail guide!), Saturday morning farm tours, a once a month Saturday morning organic gardening and cooking demo with lunch included, and a series of monthly “mini” wine festivals at 5 beautiful vineyards within a 10 minute drive from Sanders Ridge.