Posts Tagged ‘freezing’

Blinded by the Freeze

April 28th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog

Frost on Drip Irrigation

I didn’t address this, but we had a serious frost here last weekend. I know I touched base about it, but now I am starting to understand just how serious it was.  It didn’t really do much damage here at Wildgrace - 10 or so tomatoes, a few brassicas, etc - but the other farmers in the area got hit big time.

Some of my farmer friends lost all of their brassicas, all of their fruit…everything they had out.  Even down in the valley, in Davis, they had a freeze (which set a record for the latest freeze down there), and lost tomatoes and all the other warm season stuff.

I saw it coming, by looking at the forecast, but I really didn’t believe it was going to get as cold as it did.  I mean, a couple of days prior, it was 85 here, with 52 as the low!

So, that is farming.  We can’t control the weather.  We can’t control the gophers.  I have a tough enough time controlling myself and my own mental state, let alone the forces of our great mother.

Let’s all commiserate with our farmers.  Let’s show them more support than ever, knowing that this job is at once both gratifying and impossibly frustrating and confounding.

By the way, it was 85 again today.


Not Out Of The Woods Yet

April 18th, 2008
Four Frog Farm | Blog
Andrew hauls out more Agribon to cover young tomatoes

We’re not out of the woods yet, according to the forecast.

Temperatures will drop to the low thirties for Saturday and Sunday.  I have to make sure the hatches are batted on the tomato hoophouses.  I knew the low temperatures were coming, thanks to a little thing I like to call “the internet”.  I don’t know how farmers used to do it, but thanks to weather.com I now know that after Sunday I am pretty much in the clear to plant out Peppers, Eggplant and the load of summer veggies.

The last average frost date is probably around the end of April here.  It hasn’t frosted since the middle of March.  Last week it was 88 degrees with an overnight low of 52!  Sunday is supposed to be 52 degrees as the high! With a low of 33.  Is the weather really getting wacky? Or has it always been like this and now I’m just paying attention?

Well, that’s all the news in weather.

Three farms are starting from scratch.

They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.

Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.

The Farm Blogs

Freshman:
New Farms Coming Soon!
Sophomores:
Daily Grace Farms
Crescent City, CA
Freestone Family Farm
Vernal, UT
Wise Moon Farm
Redding, CA
Graduates:
Coyote House Farm
Palermo, CA
DeepSeeded Community Farm
Arcata, CA
Driftwood Farm
Fort Bragg, CA
EarthDance Farm
St. Louis, MO
Ellwood Canyon Farms
Goleta, CA
Four Frog Farm
Penn Valley, CA
Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm
Poulsbo, WA
Home Plate Organic Farm
Orleans, CA
Honey in the Heart Farm
Nevada City, CA
Willow Springs Farm
Penn Valley, CA

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About the Farms

Coyote House Farm
Palermo, CA
Daily Grace Farms
Crescent City, CA
DeepSeeded Community Farm
Arcata, CA
Driftwood Farm
Fort Bragg, CA
EarthDance Farm
St. Louis, MO
Ellwood Canyon Farms
Goleta, CA
Four Frog Farm
Penn Valley, CA
Freestone Family Farm
Vernal, UT
Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm
Poulsbo, WA
Home Plate Organic Farm
Orleans, CA
Honey in the Heart Farm
Nevada City, CA
Willow Springs Farm
Penn Valley, CA
Wise Moon Farm
Redding, CA

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