Every year, in mid-October or early November, we start developing a list of things that need to get done before it snows. It’s usually a familiar list that we could probably just pick up from the year before, and includes getting all the carrots harvested, getting the caterpillar tunnels moved, getting the barn ready for cows, and the hoophouse ready for chickens. Depending on the season, it can be a long hard slog to get it all done, or it can be like bringing the farm season in for a gentle landing. But it seems like no matter what kind of season we have, there is always a little bit of a scramble to get it done when that first snowstorm actually looms up in the forecast. This year, we were in pretty good shape until last week, when our last field project, stretching giant piece of plastic over two field sections to form a mini-greenhouse for overwintering onions, carrots, strawberries, and salad greens, was delayed by the stubborn refusal of the soil to thaw out. We looked at the forecast and saw that Sunday was going to be the day when the ground was warm enough, so we asked everyone to come in and get the job done. It’s a big job; a one-third acre piece of plastic is HEAVY, so we wanted all of the help we could get. We got some of our teenager crew from the summer to come in, and got it all done, even harvesting the last of the leeks, which was our fallback “it would sure be nice to get those leeks, but let’s just see how it goes.”
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we spent moving cows into barns, chickens into hoophouses (it’s alot easier to move chickens after dark, which is a lot earlier this time of year than it is in June,) and picking up all of the things that would get run over when we start trying to push snow around.
So, we got it all done, and everyone is safe inside, except the bigger cows, who just don’t feel like going in! Enjoy the snow, everyone!
