Farming in January?

I thought I might share with you what is going on at the farm in late January. There isn't much, of course, but the farm isn't desolate. We have a cover crop of rye over about 1/2 Acre where we will probably plant our tomatoes next spring. It is our pride and joy because it is the only bright green on the farm this time of year. That is Chelsea gathering her thoughts after a day of hoeing in the strawberries. The rye isn't very tall now but later in the spring it will really take off, it will be up to her waist at least. Sometimes it grows up to 6 feet tall!

Speaking of Strawberries, here is a picture of our strawberries now. They certainly aren't anything to brag about, especially because they have so much freeze damage (the brown leaf margins) but we are proud of them anyway. We planted 4300 of them by hand with the help of 6 of our generous friends in October. The plant you see has been in the ground for three months. It has not grown much above ground, but it has developed many more roots underground to prepare for the coming season. You can see the soil is cracked around it because it is getting dry. We already rolled up our irrigation hose for the year so it won't freeze and burst, so we are just hoping for rain. So far we haven't gotten any rain in January and we were behind in December, so this year may start off dry.

-Don