We’re a month out from the first day of spring (March 20), but it’s starting to feel spring-like. The hills and fields of cover crops are looking verdant. There’s noticeably more hours of sunlight. At the end of the workday, the sun hasn’t yet dipped below the hills. Almond, plum, apricot, and peach trees are blooming! We’ve got loads of little lambs and tulips!
But it’s not spring yet. The deciduous trees (fruit, nut, and native trees) still don’t have their leaves, so we’re not as green as we could be, and wildflowers are still sparse in the hills. We’re still six weeks from our last frost date, the average date of the last light freeze in spring. A dramatic dip in temperature could wipe out any of those flowering tree crops (almonds and stone fruit)!
At least this week, we’re expecting some fairly warm temperatures. The warmth, plus the increased sun, leads to an awakening of sorts. It means plant growth rapidly increases, and asparagus and other spring crops will be here soon! We can prep fields and then plant and transplant other late spring and early summer crops (like potatoes!). All exciting things!
Unfortunately, this explosion of growth also applies to weeds and aphids. Both can be hard to stay ahead of. For the weeds, we’ll tackle them with a mix of mechanical cultivation (tractors) and hand weeding (with hoes, hands, and knives). For the aphids, we release beneficial insects (learn more here), spray if necessary (with a garlic-clove oil or cedar oil), and avoid picking particularly buggy produce. Despite these measures, you may find some aphids on your produce at some point this spring. Aphids are unappetizing, but produce with aphids is perfectly safe to eat. Swish the produce in cold water that has a drop of soap or pinch of salt added. The salt or soap reduces the surface tension the aphids use to connect to the produce. Leave the item in the cold water for a few minutes, swish it around, use your fingers to rub off the aphids, then drain and rinse.
On a more positive note, we had a GREAT time at Sunday’s Almond Festival! The weather was perfect, the music was excellent, and it was nice seeing everyone, guests, locals, and fellow vendors. The Full Belly squad was split between our market stand, making and selling food, and vending crafts (the kids – they had some amazing hand-forged metal tools and greeting cards)! The pizza team used all 550 balls of pizza dough and had many happy customers, including this year’s Almond Queen and her court. You’ll have to come up and join us next year! There will be other opportunities to join us at the farm this spring, like the Rustic Ramble tour, plus more on our Events Calendar.
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
