April marks the end of the “slow season” here at Terra Firma. Generally speaking, we go from cold, cloudy, dark and wet to warm, sunny, bright and dry. For the first day of the month, April played a little joke on us and pretended it was still March — all the way up until this morning when we woke to a chilly 38 degrees. But the ground is dry now, the sun is up from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m., and the forecast is for Spring-like warmth. In other words, it’s “Go Time”.
Of course we have already started our summer planting in a big way. We’ve already got two plantings of Tomatoes in the ground and growing, plus Peppers and Zucchini. The seeds of our first planting of Sweet Corn have emerged. But as we go into April, the pace will pick up. This week we’ll be planting our first Watermelons and Cucumbers, plus more corn and the first Green Beans. The crops already in the ground will stop shivering in the cold, and respond to the warm temperatures and long days with a growth spurt that might not slow down for months.
After three wet winters in a row, we’re in great shape for water. The soil just below the surface is saturated, the water tables have risen, and Lake Berryessa is still spilling over. Multi-year wet cycles like the one we are in provide a positive feedback loop: the crops have access to more water in the soil, and even when they do need water, they don’t need as much. And when it does get hot and dry, the trees and plants won’t be as stressed out by it, and we’re likely to have healthier, more abundant crops.
I don’t remember a year when we’ve had a more perfect combination of wet and dry weather. Most wet years we miss an opportunity to plant one or more crops in the rainy season, but this year we got several windows between storms to get into the fields. Yet unlike in the dry winters, we haven’t had to do much irrigation at all. And winter crops always grow better with water from the sky.
Having said all that, even in a year like this, early April is a time of scarcity in our fields. The winter crops are almost gone, but Spring crops have not started yet. We took out our own Asparagus field last year, but we have neighbors who still grow it so you’ll see the first of that traditional spring crop in your boxes today. We’ve also brought in some other items to help flesh out the mix. By next week, we’ll be picking our first Peas and by the following week, we anticipate the Strawberry harvest beginning. And before you know it, you’ll see the first Zucchini, Peaches and Tomatoes in your boxes.
It should be a fun transition season.
Pablito