It’s been an absolutely beautiful January here at Oshala. We had a great December of rain (and even snow leading into the new year). However, for the last few weeks, it has been sunny and dry (though cold at night), which can be fairly normal here in Southern Oregon.
The crew has been taking advantage of the good weather to get some projects done around the farm. We have been repairing some of our farm infrastructure, planting trees, and pruning our fruit trees and berries. We’ve also had time to do the necessary cleaning out of all our farm buildings and organizing them for the coming season.
By placing the seeds in the walk-in already planted, we are taking advantage of the plants natural rhythms.
We started working in the greenhouse this last week, planting trays of Angelica, and putting them into the cold stratification. Some of the seeds we grow need to go through a natural cooling period that mimics the natural vernalization that would take place over the winter in nature. Often, we just refrigerate the seed by itself; however, we decided to use the good weather to get a jump on planting them in trays now. By placing the seeds in the walk-in already planted, we are taking advantage of the plants natural rhythms. In this way, we will be able to pull them from the cooler and put them in the greenhouse where they will awaken from their winter slumber and germinate.
Many of the crops we grow take two full seasons to reach maturity.
Through all of this, Elise and Jeff have been busy working with our contract buyers to get their orders in for the 2022 and 2023 harvest seasons in order to ensure we accommodate their needs in our crop plan for 2022. Many of the crops we grow take two full seasons to reach maturity. We are currently working for our 2022 and 2023 harvest plans, ensuring we have enough seed and space to accommodate all of our customers’ herb needs well into the future.
