by Tara Laidlaw, Farm Director

It’s official: winter has arrived! The morning of December 1 brought a light, picturesque snowfall to Camp, which made getting out of bed to feed the animals at 7:30 am much easier… After all, who doesn’t love a little bit of snow?

Winter is upon us! A dusting of snow rings in December at the Farm.

By this time of the year, the vegetable garden has really slowed down. In October and November, I planted two different kinds of cover crop seeds in most of the beds: winter rye and crimson clover. These plants help build up nutrients in the soil, they hold on to the soil so it doesn’t get washed away in big storms, and then in the spring, when they get turned back in to the ground, they decompose and help make the soil rich and fluffy so the vegetables will grow better. (For anyone who’s ever helped out on the farm, you know how rocky our soil is here… these cover crops are a great way to improve the soil without using chemical fertilizers.)

The clover and rye will almost completely stop growing as the weather gets colder, but as soon as things start to warm up in the spring, they’ll get going again, working their magic so the farm will flourish in the next growing season.