Preparing for Unprecedented Weather Conditions

Village Farm Team,

We used our time this past weekend to create a plan for the unprecedented wintry weather we would be experiencing on the farm throughout this week. Since we would be experiencing a substantial hard freeze (a sustained period of time with temperatures less than 28 degrees Fahrenheit), we approached preparation differently than we would for a light freeze. Since most everything growing in the field at the moment has an incredibly slim chance of surviving as temperatures will come close to reaching single digits, the first of our tasks focused on harvesting. We harvested any vegetables that we believe will store well in our walk-in including carrots, broccoli, radishes, and cabbages.

Our next task was to focus on covering the crops with the best chance of survival with frost cloth. At most, frost cloth can provide a 5-6 degree buffer against outside temperatures. We chose to cover our more established crops like beets, carrots, leeks, and scallions in the hopes that they might survive the week ahead. We won’t know their fate until we reach the end of this week. In order to protect all of the crops we’ve been seeding for spring, we sealed up the greenhouse as much as possible and covered our tomatoes and peppers with frost cloth for additional protection.

We fortified our animal enclosures as much as possible to block the cold northern wind. We also set up a rotating schedule of community volunteers and farm staff to make sure their water isn’t frozen and they have plenty of food. We will most likely be closing up our hens in their coop during the nighttime hours to keep them as warm as possible.

Our update next week will provide a better scope of how the farm fared. We hope you are able to stay safe and warm as we weather the remainder of this cold week!