This time of year, late January and early February, usually ends up involving a lot of watching, waiting, and then suddenly springing into action on several fronts.
Sheep:
This time of year is lambing season. Our first lambs were born last week, a set of twins followed by a set of triplets and as of Monday morning (February 5) we’re now up to at least 50 cute, fuzzy lambs. The hope is that each birth goes smoothly but that’s not always the case. Either way, we make several trips a day up to our sheep to check on them, and assist if necessary.
Flowers:
Then there are the tulips and the other spring flowers. We planted all those bulbs back in November and many of them have started to come up. It’s always a bit of guesswork as to when we’ll have enough to offer them to our CSA members and stores. It’s nice if we can have them for Valentine’s Day but it doesn’t always work out that way. The process is very sensitive to variable weather conditions. The earlier planted field of tulips has barely come up while a later planted field is much further along, and the different varieties also are at different stages.
Soil:
Even before Sunday’s drenching (about 3 inches, plus a lot of wind), we’ve gotten enough rain that the ground has consistently been too damp to plant, and just when things are starting to dry out, we’ll get more rain. On Tuesday, it dried out just enough to hand transplant a few rows of flowers and a few rows of brassicas and lettuce, and direct seed a few more crops. If we don’t take advantage of those small windows of time to plant, who knows when we’ll have another opportunity!
Almonds:
The first almonds have started to bloom! This is a photo from an old almond tree on the edge of a hedgerow between fields, not a tree we’ll be harvesting. But it’s a sign of more to come and soon enough, the Capay Valley and Yolo County will be awash in pink blooms. Which also means it’s almost time for the annual Capay Valley Almond Festival! Mark your calendars for February 25. Like always, we’ll be at the Rumsey Town Hall with a market stand and food, along with many of our neighbors and friends.
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
