Thinking about Windbreaks

Man is it windy today!  My farm is just a couple miles from the ocean as the crow flies, with a small row of sand dunes and a whole bunch of flat land in between.  It’s generally pretty windy here from winter all the way through June, but today is exceptional.  A good day to test the greenhouses (so far, so good).

It’s tiring to be out working in the wind all day (and colder, too), and it makes me wonder how the plants take it.  Some other farmers in the area have equally windy fields, so I know my crops will grow, but it does make me think about how much their growth is being slowed.  Especially being on the north California coast, where the average summer high temp is just 64 degrees, I wonder about my cucumbers and snap beans.  I grow tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouses, but the other warm-season crops aren’t so lucky.  I’ve seen some really neat looking inexpensive field-hoops on farms in other regions, but I doubt they’d hold up to the wind here.

There are already a couple of windbreaks at the farm, and I’m grateful for them.  They each shelter portions of the farm, but they also create shade.  Right now, I can’t afford to plant new hedgerows or install wind fencing, so it’s really just idle pondering… but maybe someday.

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