On Monday morning the farm was completely transformed. The juniper trees awoke to mass amounts of snow weighing down their strong limbs, causing some of the branches to break under 30 inches of snowfall, which had accumulated overnight.
All of us on the farm threw on our snow pants and warmest jackets and trudged through the deep white powder to dig out the chickens, cows, horses, and pigs. When the snow piles this high, most people have the luxury of working from home or taking the day off school, but on the farm, on days like this, action ensues.
All of Monday was spent moving snow. We cleared out the pig pens, pushed snow off roofs, and plowed the farm roads.
Our bodies went to sleep that night, tired and sore, only to wake up to another eight inches covering the ground. The juniper branches plunged further towards the ground and the pigs were once again snowed in.
We whipped out our hats and shovels and once again began moving snow, persevering and working to keep the farm in a happy state.
Our fields and gardens are now sleeping under this thick, white blanket. Our hoop houses are surrounded by waist deep snow, but the plants inside are still alive and active under the protection of their roofs.
All this snow has changed the trajectory of the next couple weeks. As we wait until the sun brings warmth back to the farm, we will be closed on Saturday, March 2nd and 9th.
Our winter CSA March delivery is in less than a week and we are using the next few days to prepare all our winter bounty for our members! We will be digging out our hoop houses and crawling through the snow to harvest our lush asian greens which stayed protected from the winter storm, nestled in the hoops.
We look forward to warmer weather which will melt the snow. This will provide our farm with lots of water for the upcoming planting season. All this moisture, built up in the soil, will nourish our seedlings to help our summer season be bountiful!