In addition to growing food, repair work, and planning, we plant.
It’s a bit crazy, but those tomato and pepper plants we sell and plant on the farm in April, were seeded in January. The winter is the busiest season for our greenhouse workers. Work begins in earnest the first week of January and escalates to a fever pitch, peaking the first two weeks of April. The pace begins to slow in June just as the pace of field work hits its busiest stride.
Every spring Crabtree holds a Spring Plant Sale and Festival where we offer the community sustainably-grown, hand-sown, plant seedlings chosen by us for their taste, heartiness, and appropriateness to our regional weather patterns and challenges. This is, undoubtedly, a fun and fabulous annual event, but for us it is also a crucial fundraiser. It is what keeps our farm financially afloat, bringing in approximately one third of the operating revenues the farm will need in order to pay staff, buy supplies, make repairs, and farm in general.
So, what do farmers do in winter? We reflect, restock, and recommit ourselves to having the best season yet.
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