Mary, Sabrina, Johnnie and Noah harvest the last of the field radishes yesterday.

The flurries of phone calls and text messages started long before the snow. Already on Monday, we were touching base with fellow farmers in the region, comparing notes on carrot harvests, wondering if or how it was possible to do a market if the forecast held, do you think the sub-zero forecast will really materialize? The consensus emerged pretty clearly and quickly: we were all going to be running hard all week, just to try to get it all in before the deep freeze. All of us remember last October, with a similar temperature drop, we all had heartbreak stories from that storm—whether it was the beets or carrots or Napa cabbage that froze out last time, I think we were determined to get it in. Market was not an option, with temperatures forecast so low that produce would freeze on display, if we somehow even managed to set up. All of us concentrated on just getting the food out of the field. We made countless 12 mile round trips this week, after dark and after long days of heavy harvests, to stash the farm bounty in the rented walk-in cooler space over at the ag research station in Corvallis. Our own on-farm cooler was packed beyond capacity, and our farm shop has become a temporary parking for additional pallets and carts of produce.

We are so grateful this year, for the farm team that made it happen. That includes our core on-farm crew, Johnnie and Sabrina, our harvest and market helper Alexis, and all the extended farm family: from Ed volunteering in the bulk carrot harvest, to farm members dropping off some extra warm layers or a chocolate dessert, or a delicious ready-to-eat meal for us all for Friday night. Two solo farmers in the face of an October winter storm can feel very, very alone and powerless. But that was not the case this week at all. We warned the crew early in the week that Tuesday and Wednesday might be the hardest longest days we would work all season, that this week might be the biggest we’ve had. They rose to the occasion: pounding rebar to set up new low tunnels to protect the un-cut spinach, brushing snow from radish tops to bring in every last remaining root, pushing tote after tote of carrots, beets, and radishes through the barrel washer.

At one point on Thursday, our last day to wash anything before it freezes for several days, I thought the greens spinner was making an odd noise, a sort of rhythmic flapping sound—only to see, when I looked over, that it was Alexis doing a stationary high-knee jog in her rain bibs and rubber boots, to warm up while greens bags ran through their 60-seconds of spinning. Johnnie took a few laps around the orchard and chick barn to keep the blood moving. Overflowing with love and appreciation for this tough-and-cheerful farm team, Noah and I also recognize all this as evidence for needing to get that packshed built, ASAP. At some point Thursday we had to stop the greens washing to get row cover spread over crops inside our tunnels, so while we do have piles of salad mix clean and ready to bag up, we also have many totes of un-washed greens that will have to wait for a bit of a thaw. Someday, we remind ourselves, we’ll be able to do that all in shelter.

Two new low tunnels, a few crops covered with row cover, caterpillars and four large (30x60 high tunnels) along with a ton of storage crops — the last all in this past week - are part of the backbone of our winter farm.

We also covered and buttoned up all the spaces where we are holding crops in the ground for winter harvest—three of our large tunnels, and two of our caterpillars, full of greens for your winter tables. On Friday, with the immense pressure of winter storm warnings coming down, we managed to remove and replace the greenhouse plastic on Tunnel 4, our south-most high tunnel, which is planted with a beautiful mix of spinach, salad greens, and spicy mix for deep winter. The giant tear in the roof plastic had enlarged in last weeks’ windstorm (remember when last week seemed a little crazy? It’s been two pretty big weeks in a row). Knowing that giant rip could enlarge further, and that our greens really wouldn’t be protected well enough from single-digits, the four of us spent Friday morning removing the old plastic, and re-covering the entire tunnel. It is a stressful task even in spring or summer, and we’ve never done it in such cold weather before. We got it all buttoned up just in time, before the snow and winds started to hit.

Johnnie secures wiggle wire on new high tunnel plastic to block drafts and botton up the new roof on one of our unheated high tunnels.

It’s been an amazing week, again, here. We all had moments where we cracked a little bit. But together, and knowing that you were all behind us, we managed to do so much. It may be, as one of our farmer friends phrased it, a season-ender. But if so, the end of one season is just the beginning of another. Yes, the very last of the sweet peppers and tomatoes are off the vine and stored in the shop; there will be no more to pick. The final flowers will be in the farsmtore this weekend, we’ve had to say goodbye to the rest. The last radish of 2020 has been bunched. There is a bit of mourning for the main season wrapping up. BUT, it’s only the beginning of the winter farm. There are so, so many sweet winter carrots and beets stored for you to get at the farmstore. There are bulk radishes enough for everyone. The storage cabbage was safely harvested last week, to dole out in November and December. We’ve opened the Delicata squash vault; the cauliflower harvest, which we’ll pull from storage for the next few weeks, was phenomenal. The farm isn’t over, we’re just changing seasons.

And today, instead of setting up at market right now, we’re figuring out how to stock and host the farmstore. We had some ideas of clever pre-packed bags, online orders, meal plans…..but honestly, like most of our farming colleagues, we spent all week just getting everything in, knowing we’d have to figure out our plan once the harvest was stashed as safely as possible. So, come on out to the farmstore whenever your roads are clear and your schedule allows. We’ll be sorting out the cooler, bagging up greens and carrots and stuffing the farmstore this morning, with help from Alexis, and we’ll do what we can to help everyone move efficiently through the farmstore. We expect with the weather, many of you may want to wait to she till this afternoon or even the next few days. Don’t worry, we’ll keep the farmstore stocked. And maybe we will have a cauliflower-and-boc-choi special, so stay tuned to your email for announcements, deals, and special plans.

Till then, come out when you can and enjoy the season; we’ll do our best to have fresh food here for your kitchens.

With deep snow and gratitude,

Mary, Noah, and all of SweetRoot Farm.