It is December – almost Christmas – but the warm temperatures make it feel like November, or October, or …

Our outdoor work is mostly completed. All that’s left is to mulch the garlic – a couple of hours work. We are waiting for a morning when the ground is frozen. So far we have not had many nights of below freezing temperatures, and certainly not any cold enough for the ground to be frozen!

Out on the farm it is quiet & peaceful, the fields tucked in under a green cover crop blanket. Because it has been so warm, the cover crop kept growing longer into the autumn and gained more size, a bonus especially where we seeded later.

Where we had vegetables growing under straw mulch back in the summer, we just mowed the plants down and left the straw to protect the soil over the winter and slowly break down & decompose.

Some fields had vegetables growing into the fall and after harvest it was too late to seed a cover crop. Here we mowed them down (not too short), spread manure & compost and then left them as is, so the soil is not as exposed for the winter.

For aesthetics we would prefer to cultivate or even plow the ground – it looks so much neater & cleaner. But the health of the soil is more important than a picture-perfect farm.

It was necessary to bring a big boy out the other week to clean up the sweet cherry brush & stumps that we removed back in October (we saved all the branches for firewood). They were way too large for our little tractor to even budge! By the end of the day all was burned, leaving just a big pile of ashes. In spring we will plow the ground and pull any remaining roots.

We continue to eat fresh picked salads of spinach, lettuce, kale & even arugula. The perks of a mild fall!

Everybody seems to enjoy hanging out in the greenhouse these days … It is always comfortable in here, and on a sunny day downright tropical!