Spring in the Valley

Last week, we had one day when the temperature flirted with the 80* mark. It was amazing!

This morning, we woke up to snow. It was amazing! (thankfully, the actual snowfall fell far short of the original predictions)


Such is life in the Shenandoah Valley in March….sometimes even in APRIL! I saw online that someone called our weather “bi-polar” this morning. While it may not be socially acceptable, it is an accurate description. Spring weather is unpredictable, contradictory, unsettling and downright frustrating at times.

Some folks don’t understand my dislike of the “white stuff”.
Oh, I admit, it’s pretty. It also provides moisture and the nitrogen uptake necessary for growing things. But, it makes the rest of farm life just a little bit harder.

This time of year, the sheep have had a taste of that wonderful, tender, young, green grass. When forced to spend the day eating hay in the barn, they protest. They protest loudly! Two of the ewes attempted to start a picket line at the gate that leads out back. They paraded for a while, and then hunger got the better of them.











I went on a tour of the hoophouses, as the Market opens in SIX short days. At first, a quick peek in the door was a little disheartening With the very low temperatures predicted, we covered all the new plantings. When I opened the doors, the houses were quite dark, as snow covered the tops. The beds were all shrouded in their frost blankets. …and it was COLD! This did not bring forth a feeling of confidence for the upcoming Market..


But, then, I pulled back some of the covers and looked at the plants below. YEEHAW! Look at that lettuce! There’s lettuce, kale, green onions, claytonia, and a couple other things. I’m feeling better and better.



Spring IS here….you just have to know where to look!