Spring, Where Are You?

Yesterday (March 20) was the first day of spring and the picture above was the view outside my window as I sat down to write. “No, there are not any fresh pastured chickens available,” I will be telling customers for the next two months.Compared to last year, this winter has not been very nice to the farmers, yet we have managed to do our best to keep the local foods flowing despite polar vortices, rainy weather and frigid windy conditions. Driving a box truck on the highway in gusts of fifty miles an hour is a white-knuckle adventure. Forget setting up a tent shade or risk losing a piece of equipment that will cost hundreds, if not more, to replace. Seriously. Did you see that walk-in outfit The Mushroom Stand had in the twenty-degree weather to shield their fragile fungi from the frigid cold? Add to that the cost of a propane heater rig and the fuel to fire it off for hours.But we’re trying to usher in the new season…we promise. Here are some of the ways in which the Central Farm Markets vendors are working hard behind the scenes to bring you the best possible products from the mid-Atlantic region.Fruits & VegetablesNew greenhouses are being set up. Existing ones are full of flats in which seeds are quickly germinating into young starts that will be planted into the fields now being plowed even if the farmers must bundle up in several layers to fend off frosty conditions. Next will come miles of black plastic mulch to deter weeds and eliminate the need for herbicides. Mulch also helps retain soil warmth and moisture. Tomato stakes will be pounded into the ground, floating row covers prepared to unfurl and weight down, and netting set up to protect succulent berries from being decimated by birds.Orchard crews have been busy pruning trees and canes to promote larger fruits and prolific berry production. Planning for years ahead, not just seasons, orchardists - especially those who produce artisan ciders - are grafting heirloom varieties of apples and pears found by exploring old hedgerows in former orchards spanning the last two centuries.While most fruit and vegetable operations can function with a core crew over the winter months, farms are labor-intensive and require the use of seasonal labor which means hiring people in addition to the current workload.With several of the Central Farm Markets vendors being Certified Organic, spring also brings lots of paperwork. This is the time of the year when Certified Organic farms must submit their annual review which includes an updated field plan of what will be grown and the types of fertilizers and compost used. For a diversified fruit or vegetable farm these documents are incredibly detailed and complex, taking weeks of office time to complete.MeatsTo get livestock from our pastures to your plates involves far more than most customers understand. Prior to an animal stepping on the trailer for its final trip before going to market in a plastic bag, there are a multitude of seasonal activities, especially in spring.If the animals have not already been born over the winter months, the pregnant females are waddling around ready to pop with the first greening of the grass. Birthing babies is a 24/7 venture leaving farmers bleary-eyed whether they are bound for the fields or market.But before that grass can get green, farmers need to be out there fertilizing which usually involves lots of manure, soiled bedding such as straw and plenty of saddle time on their tractor hauling a manure spreader. Other types of spreaders we’ll tow around include a lime spreader (the white powder, not the green citrus) and a seed spreader. There are also things such as spring-toothed harrows to scratch up the soil so seeds have nooks and crannies into which they can fall so they are not blown away by the wind or eaten by birds, a drag or cultipacker to cover the seeds or even a seed drill which puts seeds into the ground at a specific depth for optimal germination.And then there are chickens which begin arriving in the mail as day-old peeps. Order too soon and by the time they are done in the brooder (the enclosed, heated area where they go from being fluffy to feathered), the weather is still too cold to put them outside on pasture. They will eat food to stay warm, not grow. A scrawny broiler is a loss for both farmer and customer.For EveryoneWith the main market season now less than a month away, all the vendors are taking inventory of their equipment, fixing what needs to be fixed and replacing the worn out and broken. Trust me, setting up and taking down signs, banners, tents, shades and tables combined with the jostling in and out of vehicles puts quite a beating on the equipment.Prepared food vendors are renewing requisite licenses and reviewing the regulations to ensure their food preparation set-ups meet all the federal, state and municipal health codes.There is a flurry of activity to communicate with customers, be it social media, newsletters, or blogs. Customers want to know what’s going on both at the farms and markets. If you haven’t already done so, sign up for the Central Farm Markets weekly eBlast to stay in touch or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.And don’t worry, spring is on the way. We promise.