We finally got our night below zero. After a few close calls and disappointments, the weather finally came within the range of average temperatures for this time of year, even if it only lasted a night. Minus 2 degrees celsius is enough to separate the wheat from the chaff, the annual from the perennial, the galinsoga from the bok choy…which warms the heart of this otherwise chilled vegetable farmer. Minus two is also when wheat and peas do a hand-off to rye, altering the green manure patchwork of the farm. Rye, you see, loves the cold, draws its winter sustenance from it, and will be the first to emerge from it in the spring. Like garlic, an allium which also winters over in the fields, rye builds in strength during November, then is quietly laid low by the first snows, only to emerge triumphant under the first rays of spring. We shan’t jump the gun, though, as there will be many long cold months between now and then…
