Originally published in the Napa Valley Register on November 28, 2022.
November and December are a time for lists… for kids it can be lists of presents and for adults it may be parties to attend, gifts to buy, recipes to try, and resolutions to think of. While we all know what kind of lists Santa is making at this time of year, not everyone knows what kind of lists a farmer is making.
The fall brings the onset of cool weather and a natural pause to the growing seasons on a farm. Crops we plant in the early fall will mature at nearly the same time as crops planted in mid-winter, thus there is no real reason to plant heavily at this time of year. Instead, farmers allow themselves the break to do other projects on the farm.
During this break, farmers make their lists. It can be anything from paperwork to file, hopes for the next season, or projects to finish while there is time. During the summer, we depend entirely on the rote weekly routine of harvesting, packing, selling, planting, or weeding that lists become a superfluous redundancy. There is no space for anything but working on autopilot during the summer. So, in the winter we love making to do lists that we finally have the time to finish rather than allow to collect dust.
One of the most important lists we write during the winter is our crop plan. A crop plan is a farmer’s way to know exactly what they will grow throughout the season, when to sow or seed the crop, when to transplant it to the field, when to expect the start of harvest, and finally, when to expect its end. All these dates require so many calculations and depend on specific experiences as each crop responds differently to a region’s microclimate. Suffice it to say, a farmer does much more than randomly buy a bit of seed and plant it at a hap-hazard date. Instead, they use a complex and crucial crop plan to ensure they end up with consistent amounts of produce every week.
On my own farm, creating a crop plan requires several full days of work and a complicated spreadsheet that we continue to improve each year. Once we finally finish our crop plan, we next come to the fun and equally difficult task of buying the lists of seeds we need for the season. We generally buy from 3-6 different seed companies… some who specialize in potatoes, some in organic seed, and some in new varieties. The price differences for seed and availability can be very significant, thus requiring additional lists and labor.
It feels symbolic that the seed we buy in winter represents almost an entire year’s growth for a farm. Like these seeds, our farms must naturally slow down to prepare ourselves for the next year. But while a seed’s biology slows down during dormancy, it is still very much alive and active… waiting for the right conditions to germinate. And so it is for a farm. In the winter we may seem slower and sleepier, growing only kale and radishes, but we are just recovering and preparing for the long summer days.
So, while you make your next list for the holidays, or perhaps your next shopping list for the Napa Farmers Market, you can think of farmers and their own lists. From these lists we create now will come the blossoming of so much beauty, food, and labor in the months to come.