touchtheearthfarm.com Blog

December has brought the end of the area’s drought, but it’s brought along some extreme weather as well. Most damaging here at the farm have been the high winds. While the snow fall early in the month collapsed some of the low tunnels, the snow itself is relatively insulating and did little damage. The winds, however are another story.

The winds have been wreaking havoc on the low tunnels, blowing one of the covers clear off into the pig paddock where it sustained some minor damage. Unfortunately, while the cover could be patched, some of the plants that were exposed all night were severely damaged. The more tender lettuces needed to be cut all the way back, hopefully to regrow, albeit slowly in these low-light days. Thankfully, the hardier greens like tatsoi, raab, spinach, and kale came through mostly unscathed, so we’ll be enjoying more of the full-flavored greens and less of the mild.

Thankfully, all the animals fared well in the winds despite some close calls. The truck cap that acts as a goose shelter was lifted out of the paddock and dumped about 40 feet away. Miraculously, the glass popped out of the side with breaking. Boy that must’ve been an interesting flight! All the geese were fine and still inside the paddock, luckily. The goat shelter flipped completely upside down, and this is not a light structure with its 4″ x 4″ skids on the bottom! Thankfully, the goats are already up in the barnyard enjoying a nice warm stall at night.

The new high tunnel has held up to the wind, ice, and snow relatively well, though I had my doubts watching helplessly as it danced wildly in the wind. Inside, the plants were safe and buffered, the tunnel’s biggest job. Unlike a greenhouse, the high tunnel is unheated other than passively by the sun’s rays. The goal isn’t so much to create a warm environment as it is to create a stable environment, allowing the cold-hardy plants to put their energy into root growth and development without having to endure the harsh extremes of the weather outside.

Now, with the return of the sun, our baby plants inside the high tunnel can begin to grow despite what the winter weather has in store outside.