Recovering After the Arctic Blast

December 28th, 2022

We hope you stayed warm despite the freezing temperatures over the past several days! Now that we’re on the other side of the Arctic Blast, we wanted to share a field update with you. We lost approximately 70% of our crops, which is definitely significant, but given temperatures were in the mid-teens for one night followed by multiple nights in the low 20s, the damage and crop loss could have easily been more widespread. Fortunately, we took numerous advance field preparations that not only allowed us to harvest a good portion of crops for longer-term storage but also protected some vegetables enough that they will bounce back over the next few weeks despite frost damage. Some of our other crops, like these carrots, can still be harvested because the edible portion (the root) wasn’t damaged in the freeze!

Over the next several weeks, you’ll notice that our offerings will be on the lean side as the field recovers. While we will have a little less variety of veggies than we normally would for this time of year, our farm stand will still be stocked with plenty of delicious organic options! You have one last opportunity to shop the farm stand this year. We would love to see you today (Wednesday, Dec. 28th) for our special holiday farm stand from 4-6pm at The Farmhouse. It is located at 3400 Harvest Corner Drive here in Richmond. If you’re curious what we will have, scroll down to the bottom of this post.

If you happened to look inside our greenhouse, you would never know the freeze happened! It kept our plants nice and warm and did not sustain any damage. All of the winter crops you see Farmer Bethany watering are ready to be planted over the next couple of weeks. Here’s what we have growing in the greenhouse: broccoli, cauliflower, green and red cabbage, bok choy, collard greens, tatsoi, Tokyo bekana, and assorted herbs. We’re eager to get planting so that we can replace our damaged crops and free up some space in the greenhouse for tomato seeding next month!

Upcoming Events:

• Holiday Farm Stand at The Farmhouse on Wednesday, December 28th from 4-6pm

Currently in Season at the Farm Stand: Carrots, Hakurei Turnips, Watermelon Radishes, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Collard Greens, Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Romaine Lettuce, Bok Choy, and Fennel.