Persephone Days on the Farm
From November 12 until January 29 in our Long Island location, we enter the “Persephone Days”, as farmer/author Elliot Coleman likes to call them. The term Persephone Days refers to the time of year when days have 10 or fewer hours of daylight. During these short days most plant growth pretty much stops. Farmers have observed this phenomenon since ancient times.
According to Greek mythology, Hades, the god of the underworld, abducted Persephone, the goddess of spring, and carried her down to the underworld to be his wife. Persephone's mother, Demeter – the goddess of agriculture – demanded her daughter back! In her frustration, Demeter withheld fertility and plant growth until her daughter was returned.
As we started to enter the Persephone Days back in November, we took every advantage of the nice weather to get as much done in the field as possible. Outlined below are some of the Winter projects we took on this season:
Shredded Leaf Mulch
We shredded an enormous amount of fallen leaves to make a beautiful mulching material, ideal for getting into all the nooks and crannies between small plants like winter wheat and strawberries.
Bulb Planting
We finished planting all the flowering bulbs for the season. One of our best discoveries this year was using a soil sampler to plant smaller bulbs – it was the perfect tool for getting the hyacinth bulbs into the ground quickly, and when you have over 1,000 of them, it’s a life saver!
Into the Cooler
Most of the crops in the remaining uncovered garden beds were harvested and stored in the produce cooler.
Caterpillar Tunnel
One of the largest projects we took on during the lead up to the Persephone Days, was the construction of our glorious caterpillar tunnel. Thanks to a period of low winds, we were able to assemble the tent rather quickly, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! The tunnel will remain unheated and we’ll be able to grow produce throughout the winter. Our main tunnel crops will be spinach, carrots, scallions, lettuces, herbs, and various Asian greens.
(Gallery from left to right: (1) The Return of Persephone, by Frederic Leighton [1891], (2) garlic and shallots got planted and mulched, (3) blue grape hyacinth bulbs, (4) tulip mix being planted in a new bed, (5) chinese cabbage, (6) sweet baby carrots, (7) constructing the tunnel, (8) finished tunnel)