Springing into the Farming Season

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Created on Friday, 17 March 2017 02:34

Written by Heidi Neuhausser

AROUND THE NEK- As mother nature changes on a daily basis some might wonder how the weather is affecting some spring time activities. For instance, the challenges local farmers face when it comes to getting the growing season started.

For some small farms March is the month they start to plant seeds. Some use greenhouses or tunnels, which are like greenhouses but are more round and covered in plastic. Others have a different approach. 

“We’re a small farm but we are diversified which means we grow a lot of different things, we grow almost all of our own plants, so we don’t have a greenhouse for that, well we do but we can’t use it until much later, so we grow under grow lights, on racks inside the house”, said Jessica Simpson of Wilder Farms.

Farmers use methods like greenhouses, tunnels, and growing lights to get the growing process started. Then when the weather gets warmer between March and April farmers are able to use the moisture from the greenhouses and tunnels to help the plants grow. This helps farmers become one step closer to planting their crops.

“You just really have to wait for the weather. We plant in the tunnels as soon as it’s decent and the ground is thawed. The same goes with outside, if you need to have tractors on the ground then you have to wait for it to dry out enough otherwise it compacts the soil and you could have a lot of problems. However, if there are beds that you don’t need to rototill, and that are ready then you can just start working in them as soon as the ground can be worked”, said Jessica Simpson.

During the months of April and May is typically when farmers can replant their crops into the ground. After the plants have fully matured they are prepped and ready to sell.