Spring in Colorado is a shaky season, testing us growers. Last week was the antithesis between the cold clutches of winter and harkening of warmer days.
Winds approaching 60 mph and lows near the single digits made for perfectly terrible conditions. Not to mention zero precipitation. These forces compounded on the season’s first planting. While I am hopeful our transplanted lettuces and spinach will survive, they are not getting off on the right foot.
We use light-transmissible frost blankets to protect our early season crops from weather and pests. The high winds rendered these layers ineffective as they were ripped across the farm. The wind also tangled our irrigation drip lines like spaghetti, making them a time consuming nuisance to reset.
How do we move forward? Springtime is a battle between being rushed and moving slow. In years past I have succumbed to Spring Fever, or a panic driven frenzy to plant, replant, over-plant, and frantically try to establish crops. This comes with mistakes like double-planting beds, losing control of early weeds, or throwing away extra plants.
Patience has been the lesson this week. We needed to trust our seeds are in the ground. We used a garden sprinkler to water, waited for the lines to reappear before untangling our drip lines. More sand bags were made and added to weigh down our frost blankets. Spring is slow to appear on the Front Range, but then one day you realize it’s everywhere. We cannot get ahead of ourselves as we catch the first wave.
Watering yesterday revealed the first are germinating. Regionally adapted Astro Arugula popped first. I have personally selected and saved seed from this crop 4 times. Its resilience and vigor is noticeable and is now happily growing. This week will give us a complete look to see what other crops succeeded or failed.
The first wave in a marathon of growing. While sometimes it can be hard to stomach lost crops, we persist. A similar planting will happen every two weeks for the next few months! Sometimes we cannot hit them all, but our fingers are crossed for more good germination to come.
As bed preparation and planting continue, we look forward to re-opening our Farm Stand! We are set to open our doors to the public on May 4th. Come by and shop for plant starts, seeds, value-added goods, chicken and duck eggs, and hopefully some of the first greens of the year.
Also come by The Sustainable Living Fair this Saturday and visit with us! We will be set up with seeds, plants, pickles, and more.
Intentions of the Week
Make every step count towards our goal of growing food for the Fort Collins community; if we stumble get back on the trail
Spring is patience, give it time to unfold