No, it’s not nice.

Even though I wore my non-insulated coveralls to market, I should have broken out a pair of shorts. There was plenty of skin showing, including a few fair-haired vendors who sported the bright pink hue of a January sunburn. All market long, customer after customer remarked how nice the warm weather was. Sure, we didn’t have to bundle up to ward of the cold, but for farmers a jaunt of unseasonably warm weather spells: work & worry.Don’t get me wrong, I love a balmy day…just not in January. This is the season for cold weather. As farmers, we prepare for it. A day in the 70’s this time of year has us scrambling and struggling.My first worry was for the orchardists. A warm stint too early has the danger of waking tender fruit buds. There’s no doubt of bitter cold weather still ahead of us this season. A tree’s calendar is based upon external temperatures. Warm weather begins the awakening from seasonal dormancy. If this happens too early, there’s the potential for damaged or lost crops. Stone fruits like cherries, peaches, apricots and plums are very susceptible to damages from early warm weather.Similarly, the vegetable folks are kept on their toes. Touching base with Rob at Young Harvests to see how the hot weather would impact one of his coveted off Sundays, he lamented that this is the weather that keeps him on his toes. “It’s a pain, but I have to protect the tender greens,” said Rob as he explained there’s more problems with disease and fungus this time of year. “I need to be super on it, opening up when ventilation is needed as the temperature rises. Having already buttoned down his greenhouses in preparation for freezing temperatures, opening them for needed ventilation to keep the vegetables from cooking is one chore he’d rather not have to do.And for those of us with livestock—one word: MUD!“My Pyrenees look more like Chocolate Labradors,” said Shane Hughes at Liberty Delight Farm as we traded our weekly farm stories. We both have big white hairy dogs. We both have mud.I’ll take the cold, the dry cold, the mud frozen solid cold. Despite the warm air temperatures, alpaca wool socks inside thick neoprene vulcanized on to waterproof synthetic rubber will not hold up to thawed mud, chilling your feet painfully numb even with a HotHands stuffed in the toes. This is slip-and-fall weather. It is when liquid silt wicks up the legs of quilted clothing to the point when they dry, they will stand up stiff as a bodiless mannequin propped in the corner.By now, the seasonal grasses that comprise the pastures have gone dormant. Turning the livestock out to graze would cause more damage than good. They’re stuck in what farmers tend to call the sacrifice lot, the barnyard, the paddocks, etc. It’s the place where hay (think stored pasture) is fed. Getting hay to everyone means the use of heavy equipment whose tire spin in the slick mud making a miserable mess and occasionally get stuck. {I tend to say very bad words when this happens}And did I tell you it’s lambing season? All those very pregnant sheep in full winter coats were none too happy during the heat wave.The spike in temperatures equates to stress. When livestock are stressed, so are their immune systems leaving them vulnerable to parasites, bacterial infections and viruses…kind of like Young Harvests’ greenhouses.For four wonderful hours on Sunday, though, I was able to stand in the sun and enjoy the unseasonably warm temperatures But like all the other farmers, I went home to more work than usual and a BIG mess. The plus side—it was perfect weather for Rock Hill Orchard’s ginger ice cream.