This Friday is the first day of spring. Though the forecast for this week isn’t what you’d expect for the last week of winter. It’s looking a little toasty potentially with multiple days over 90 degrees. That kind of heat is standard summer weather (and in the height of summer can even seem cool) but not in mid-March when we’re still growing cool season crops! Too much heat too early can cause chaos for these crops, causing plants to flower too early and inviting pests, like aphids. Our flowers can bloom too early and/or all at once instead of in a slower stream. Our CSA flower season starts on April 1 (more information on signing up below) but given how many flowers we have this week, several of us half-joked that we may need to change that date in future years.
We’re all hoping that we get an actual spring. It’s a beautiful time in the Capay Valley. The hills are lush and green and there are flowers everywhere, wild and not. It even smells great, thanks in part to several clusters of blooming lilacs and recently mowed cover crops. New plants, like in the photo at the top, cover crops, and weeds are seemingly growing taller by the hour and trees are visibly different each day, suddenly going from bare, to having small leaves, to full size leaves. The colors are also stunning, from the stems of the chard bunches that went into CSA boxes last week to the ranunculus that are suddenly ready to harvest, a vibrant sight. It all happens so fast, and then it’s gone, replaced by the heat of summer, which has its own smells and colors.
If you’ve never been up to the farm, or even if you have, I highly encourage you to visit this spring to experience this stunning season yourself. We have several open farm days (CSA Day on April 18 or the Cookbook Release Party this Saturday), plus we’re participating in the Rustic Ramble on April 26 and Yolo Fest on March 28 and 29. There’s more information below and on our Events Calendar. Come to one, or to all. This time of year, things are changing by the minute and even if you came to every event, it would look different every time.
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
