Rain, Farmer joke, What’s new in farming?, Do I really want to keep farming through the winter?

The rain just keeps on coming. However much it feels like it some years, rain every day is unusual winter weather here. Although the sky is overcast most winter days, we usually see rain only every third day or so. This leaves time for the rain to percolate away through the soil. We’re not getting time for drainage to occur, so we are seeing more and more standing water on the farm.

I’m realizing that I am writing about the weather a lot in these entries. Like most of us living in the Puget Sound area, I can remember not so long ago in my pre-farming days when the only time I noticed the rain was when my shirt finally soaked through. Now, of course, the weather has direct influence on my ability to succeed as a farmer.

This brings up one of my favorite farmer jokes: What are the four seasons of farming? Too hot, Too cold, Too wet, Too dry. As jokes go, it’s not particularly funny, but farmers and those who know farmers find it spot on. It does seem that farmers are never willing to say that everything is just perfect.

I have started building my seed list. Last year I set up a spreadsheet so I can sort the list. I list each entry by plant (Jack O’ Lantern, tomato) and then by variety. Once I decide on the varieties and which supplier to use for each variety I can sort the list by supplier. It also helps keep track of what I ordered last year and how much I may have left over for this year’s use.

Wednesday and Thursday Rob and I went to the Western Washington Horticultural Association convention. A few items of general interest from the meeting:

The first morning was dedicated to precision agriculture. Our farming style and scale don’t lend to GPS-controlled fertilizer or seed distribution, but my research background definitely pushes me to appreciate the goal of having a detailed spatial record and analysis of crop inputs and yield throughout the farm. Of course spending the time and money to collect data only makes sense if it pays in decreased cost or increased productivity. One area I’d like to start is to set up a recording weather station. I rely on the local weather reports and records. However, I do know that our local weather is different from that recorded at SeaTac airport. I think we get less rain, and I’m sure our frosts come earlier and end later. Once you have better detail on condition at your farm you can make better predictions. The hatchings of various insect pests are very predictable if you have a record of the temperature swings each day. Knowing the total amount of heat accumulated throughout the season would allow me to predict our ability grow certain crops at our farm. As one speaker said, the information doesn’t reduce the risk, but knowing it allows informed decisions. My wish list is already pretty long. We’ll see if the weather station idea beats out enough of the other ideas to get into this year’s budget.

The head of organic seed production from a seed company said that one goal of their new organic seed program is to focus on flavor, a feature that has been lacking in most commercial seed development. He also said that a successful organic farmer would be an excellent conventional farmer, but that only excellent conventional farmers would succeed farming organically.

I met a bit with the Osborne Seed  folks and picked up a catalog. Osborne is a commercial seed house, so they deal in pounds and thousand-seed quantities. We have ordered quite a number of different varieties from Osborne. Last year my favorite new variety was the New Queen watermelon. New Queen is tasty and sweet. This 5-pound orange-flesh watermelon won over many watermelon traditionalists who had only ever had red watermelon.

A farmstand favorite, the New Queen watermelon.

At a session on new seed varieties there was a discussion of over-winter crops to extend the market season through November into February. Possible crops included leeks, Savoy cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, carrots, Swiss chard, kale, Brussels sprouts, & parsnips. Not all these crops would last until February. Of course, a number our winter squash varieties would still be excellent that long. Other things could be grown under protection in our hoophouses. If people are interested in these vegetables over the winter then we are interested in growing and providing them. Please let me know.

As I was taking in the winter crop discussion, I was thinking about all the rain and soggy ground at the farm. I need to put on my rubber boots and hike around the farm to try to find places we could get into to gather a harvest this time of year.

What’s playing in the Jeep CD player today? Pink Martini – Hang on Little Tomato