24 degrees here this Saturday morning, but everything was well covered (except didn't check the tomatoes). We will be harvesting or double covering many crops the next two days in expectation of upper teen temperatures Tuesday morning. Many crops grow in the field in much colder temperatures - spinach won't blink until it gets down to 15 degrees. Carrot roots will keep in the soil down to single digits. We've kept both of those in the ground through negative degrees with row covers. Often we harvest our carrots in January, but will finish harvesting the crop this week to get it out in the CSA this month. Them's some good tasting carrots this year. And there are a few turnip bunches that are excellent. It was a pretty good crop, but when you have 3 kids going out to eat turnips multiple times a day, it makes an impact on production. Cabbages, cauliflower, and broccoli are at peak harvest.
There is not a scheduled delivery for next week, but I do plan to open Farm Stand for extra orders. Also, Harvie didn't get many of you regulars scheduled for this delivery and the one on the 16th, but you have been added now. Your card charges will be different since there wasn't a pre-pay. Harvie committed to hiring 10 new customer service people, which is a huge increase, and they are hiring them now so that they are trained by the time spring rush arrives. Still, I am going to look at some other platforms for next year. A big sell with Harvie is the Preferences system, so that everybody gets some approximation of veggies they like. I do see from my end that about half to 2/3 of you customize your boxes, and I'm glad to see that being used well. The other aspect I'm looking for is something that is really easy for customers to order with. Harvie will have a new Farm Stand ordering system, which you can experience for the first time if you order for Wed the 9th. Watch for emails.
