Happy New Year, y’all!
While farm life never truly allows for complete breaks, we’ve been taking it realatively easy here at In Good Heart Farm. The mild weather these past few weeks has been a treat, though now the cold has arrived—just in time for CSA season to start back up! Too bad we couldn’t flip the timing—it would’ve been much nicer to harvest during those warmer days. But such is the nature of farming.
Freezing temperatures add an extra layer of planning, skill, and timing to our work. We can’t harvest crops when they’re literally frozen—if we did, they’d turn to mush once thawed. Plants can survive the freeze as long as they thaw naturally on the plant, so we have to carefully time our harvests around the weather. Thankfully, daytime temps will stay above freezing for the time being, which means we’ll be able to harvest later in the mornings. Unlike in the warmer months, when we start as early as 7 a.m., or in the Fall, when we start at 8 a.m., these colder mornings mean we rarely begin before 10—and even then, we start in the warmth of the greenhouses.
Field harvests also come with the extra task of uncovering and re-covering row covers to protect the plants from frost. This adds an extra 1-2 hours to the workday, depending on how many rows we’re working with. And then there’s the rinsing and washing of greens in icy cold water—that’s a special challenge all its own!
I only head out to harvest on Mondays, as most of my days are spent behind the computer, homeschooling the kids, making CSA, restaurant, and co-op deliveries, or picking up farm supplies. So, I will only endure the cold for a couple of hours each week. Our crew members, on the other hand, spend varying amounts of time out in the field:
- Three of our crew members work three days a week, four hours each day, helping with harvest, wash, and pack.
- One crew member works once a week for about three hours in the afternoon.
- Another crew member works three days a week for eight-hour days.
- And, of course, there’s Ben, who’s out there six days a week, often all day long—though January does give him a chance to focus more on planning indoors where it’s warm.
All of this is to say: let’s take a moment to be grateful for these many hands, these whole people, who brave the cold to bring us all the delicious veggies that sustain us through these last three weeks of the Winter season.
And we’re equally thankful for your hands, hearts, and support in all the ways you’ve helped us over the years.
When Ben and I first started the farm, we considered calling it Many Hands Farm—a name that still feels fitting for the collective effort that sustains this work. Ultimately, we chose In Good Heart Farm because it reflects what we value most: the interdependence that fosters healthy soil, a thriving farm, vibrant people, and connected communities.
Wishing you warmth, abundance, and gratitude as we step into this new year together!
In Good Heart Farm 