From The Back Fence
Barbee Farms' Newsletter
Volume I, Issue 3 March 2010
Think Spring!
Spring is just around the corner, or at least I hope so! If you have listened to any of the meteorologist lately they have been talking about how cold and wet we have been this winter. They are blaming it on El Nino again which really scares me. El Nino usually means cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers. I remember the summer of 1978 as being a drought year. Corn yields were at an all time low. I remember one field that would normally produce over 100 bushels/acre on an average year make less than 10 bushels/acre! Not a real good year to be a farmer!
Most people whose profession depends on the outdoors watch the weather if no other part of a news broadcast and the Barbee household is no different. I have been known to watch The Weather Channel, the local cable news station, the major news networks, then, go to the computer to check out two or three sites just to compare predicted highs, lows and precipitation forecast. There’s no doubt about it, we live by the weather. This time is year, weather is the governor! As soon as ground starts to dry, the vigil begins. The conversations turn to “When ground dries out enough…” and “As soon as we can get in the field…” Which is usually followed by, “We need to get ‘this’ or ‘that’ in the ground before the next rain” or “We really need to get ground worked before dark.” The prediction of rain, and lately, snow, can change the plans for any given day so quickly it will make your head spin!
The groundhog said six more weeks of winter but for me it is time to look forward to spring, to planting and to playing in the dirt. Some of our early crop plants have already been seeded in the greenhouse and some already transplanted. First crop greenhouse tomatoes are blooming, so there are signs of life around here. Last year, according to my records, we had peach blooms open on March 7. No chance this year and that is a good thing. Spring will come as always, we just have to be patient with our plans.
Sincerely,
Tommy, Anna, and Brent Barbee
Some things have changed
Since our last newsletter, some things have changed at the farm. Kevin has found and started a new job in his chosen profession as an engineer. We will miss him a bunch, but wish him the best of luck in this endeavor. This may also affect the number of newsletters that we do, as less time will be devoted to the computer and more in the field for Tommy, Anna and Brent. We have also changed some physical things at the farm stand. We hope our customers will see the differences when they come to visit in the spring. Our seed cabinet runneth over with most of the same things that we had last year plus a few surprises for the coming season. We are trying some new things that have come from customer request, so we will see how they go.
Tommy’s view
This time of year is always a favorite for us as we start a new spring. As we have been preparing all winter long for the season to come, we wonder if we have made good decisions about which crops to increase, which crops to drop, which crops to add, what equipment to rebuild, what to replace and so on. For the ones that have followed us during the winter markets, you already know about our ability to produce food and have storage crops available year round. We have been very pleased with decisions made in this department. Everyone wants to know when the first outside tomatoes will be ripe. It will be around the last of June, as it has been for as long as I can remember. We will have a lot of good eating between now and then. Watch the website or give us a call to see what is available. We still have openings in our spring CSA, with the deadline approaching. Let us know if you have questions or would like to sign up.
Know where your food comes from!
Tommy
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