Snow! Oh I do love snow - in small quantities. This was about 1/2 inch too much for the low temps we are having - we couldn't really plow the dirt/gravel driveways around the farm house and barns and I'm getting kind of 'exited' to try and drive the box truck up the little icy slope away from the loading dock this morning . . .
But some snow cover is so good for soil. 'Poor man's fertilizer,' is the saying. It's not really fertilizer. Yes, there may be a slight amount of atmospheric nitrogen in the snow, but nitrogen moves so quickly through a soil system, it is highly unlikely that any of that specific nitrogen will still be available for next year's crops. What is does do, however, is protect the soil like a blanket, actually keeping the soil warmer, and some of the soil microbes slightly more active. Any kind of cover will protect soil. Snow is a very natural and cheap cover!
We try to cover our soil with cover crops, compost and mulch before the end of the season. Some of the latest harvested areas (like where our carrots are coming out of) are hard to cover before winter comes, but when there is snow, we get a little free cozy cover that requires no work to apply! Plus, we will plan to plan those carrot beds as soon as possible in spring, most likely with the first greens and tender roots that will be harvested from the field next year.
When Ruben Parilla, the soil expert from NOFA/Mass was here for the start of our composting experiment this fall, he talked about how some farms he works with, smaller than ours and completely hand scale, have excellent soil health after decades of not planting cover crops or having fallow periods. This is because they are constantly adding organic matter, not tilling the soil excessively and they are constantly planting and re-planting cash crops from early spring to late fall. It's the relationship between plants and soil organisms that builds life in the soil exponentially. The absolute best thing you can do to increase the diversity and health of life in your soil is keep a diversity of plants growing happily.
Our soils are in such better shape than when we first put down a cover crop in August of 2020. We paid for the plowing and seed without having an approved mortgage because our crop plan would not work in 2021 if we didn't have open land to work with, and we had to take a risk. It was a risk worth taking and it has paid off. I'm so, so excited to keep improving the fertility of our soils here on the farm. Healthy soils (as I have said before) are the foundation of a healthy farm business. It doesn't matter what great harvest and wash equipment I hav if I don't have abundant and healthy crops to harvest.
2021 and 2022 were two of the worst growing seasons weather-wise in anyone's recent memory, even some of the older farmer who have been in tuned with seasonal extremes for half a century. It was really, really hard to relocate a farm business in those conditions. The good news? Healthy soils actually sequester carbon from the atmosphere. By improving the health of soils on our farm we are improving their capacity to utilize and store carbon. In our own little way, we are working to impact our climate, and we couldn't do it without you.
I really do think I have the best CSA membership anyone could hope for.
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