The question: Is March spring?

Well, the animals certainly think so. This morning there was a large gaggle of turkeys moving through the fields.

I start my first seeds in March, artichokes, onions, and brassicas. But the ground in most years will likely be truly frozen for at least another month. Subsequently it is also time to do everything I did not get done in January and February. This year that would be pruning and mulching of raspberries, blueberries, and trees. Yesterday I also placed a late order of table grape vines that I will be planting this spring. They will hopefully be producing fruit in 3-4 years. They will fit in nicely with what I want the farm to be, highly diverse with a good mix of fruits and berries.

Deciding what to plant, when, how much, what the markets are…is complicated. Every year I examine the questions of why I farm and what the farm is. What were the things last year that worked? What didn’t? Where do I want to be in five years, ten years, thirty years? I want to produce food for my local community. How far does “local” extend? I am looking at doing a new online wholesale market this year. Does that wholesale market fit into my farming model? How much time should I put into researching new crops? And on, and on, and on….

Really, March can be pretty exhausting because I want to be busy doing physical things in preparation for the coming season, but the weather is so inclement that it limits what I can do.