The Benefits of a Cool Spring

“Don’t plant your garden until Memorial Day” is a familiar old timer’s saying up here in the Northwoods. In recent years, we’ve experienced warm, early springtimes, and this advice seemed no longer to apply. This year, however, has felt more like an old-fashioned spring, with nighttime freezing temperatures lingering still into mid-May and a chilly north wind even on beautifully sunny days.

Nature is responding as well. Usually by Mother’s Day, the hummingbirds have returned, but at least on our farm there is no sign of them yet. The trees have yet to leaf out along with most of our perennials. Daffodils are blooming perkily amidst it all, but almost everything else in the gardens is waiting. Even the rhubarb remains short and hesitant.

Some folks have been grumpy about the lingering chill, but on the farm we’ve appreciated the slow spring. Here are a few reasons why.

Extra time for those early projects:

The ground stayed frozen so long this winter, we weren’t able to dig our overwintering storage carrots we grew last summer and covered with mulch. Often when this happens, it’s a mad dash to harvest them all in the spring before they sprout and rot. This year, however, the lingering cold soils have given us extra time to harvest these amazingly sweet carrots for our CSA shares. The soil has remained so cold yet that our fingers stiffen up as we dig these carrots—still!

Slow growth in the perennials has also given us time to transplant and split a few more old rhubarb plant, de-cane the raspberry patch, deadhead the flower beds, and pick up fallen branches before mowing season. With the migrating birds still coming through, we’ve been hesitant to take away all of the old seed heads, which are an important food supply on their journey.

For years, we’ve wanted to beat back the encroaching blackberry canes that are creeping up from the forest into the yard, and this year Steve was able to sharpen up the mower and give them a good grinding before they all leafed out—reclaiming the space. He had to dress up in something rather like gardening armor to do it, as the brambles wanted to fight back! Now the grass can regrow, and we can see out across the creek better. It’s amazing how fast thorns and briars can take over when you haven’t had time to maintain the balance of domestic and wild spaces.

A breather from the bugs:

One of the reasons I love winter is because there are no bugs to torment you! Spring is beautiful, but it also heralds the return of all the tiny biters on the farm. This year’s early warm spell instantly brought out the flies, mosquitoes, and black flies, but now the lingering cool temperatures have pushed them back, and we’ve been able to enjoy our outdoor work without their torment.

The gardens by Farmstead Creamery can be especially buggy, as they are near the little creek that runs through the farm. Typically during springtime gardening, the tiny little black flies drive us absolutely crazy! This year, however, we were able to lay compost, turn the soil, mulch the walkways, and plant carrots and onions while only seeing a couple little pesky flyers. It was a nice feeling indeed to have that task accomplished before those black flies hatched.

The animals appreciate the bug-free time too. Lambing during a warm spring can be a real battle with the stable flies, which painfully bite the animals. One of the benefits of fall lambing is not having these flies, but this cool spring has kept them at bay as well. All the animals on the farm appreciate this—whether or not they are having babies this spring.

Adjusting Strategies:

For the baby animals on the farm, we compensate for the cooler weather with heat lamps and other precautions. For the lambs, we now have little polar fleece coats they wear for added warmth until their wool grows longer. For the little chicks, we keep them warm in the smaller, insulated coop. This year, we invested in a “Comfort” chick warmer, which is a suspended heated plate they can sit or walk under to warm themselves. It mimics standing under momma hen for warmth, and the little chicks love it! I’ve noticed that they act much calmer and more assured than just with heat lamps for warmth.

We’re starting many of our cool-sensitive crops later this year, while cool-loving crops are closer on schedule. It’s no fun having overgrown transplants waiting to go when it’s not safe to set them out yet! The soil is much too cold for them yet as well, and the hot-loving crops would reject that chill and suffer. In this situation, it is better to be patient and choose the right timing rather than hope to hurry the situation along.

Watching for Nature’s Cues:

Mother Nature has seen many kinds of springtimes, and she knows what she’s doing. We can take our cues from her. Considering the bird migrations in our area have been a bit late, as has the leafing of trees and shrubs, we should also temper our own transitions on the farm towards summer. Nature is to be worked with, not against, and we can enjoy the uniqueness of the transition of the seasons offered each year. Another day working outside without mosquitoes? I’ll take it!

Time to head out for some more springtime projects. See you down on the farm sometime.