Winter in the Upper Peninsula is just around the corner and the colder months can affect agriculture. These cold months can be devastating to plant growth. Some food crops and other plants aren’t able to make it through the winter. What do farms do in the UP to protect their crops?
At ‘Seeds and Spores’, owner Jeff Hatfield has been farming and running the place for over 25 years. Starting out small and growing the land throughout the years.
“Squash and onions…we still have potatoes and carrots to dig out of the ground so you know just finishing up our harvest and um, we’ll be you know, due to the fact that we have greenhouses we grow a lot of crops right up until Thanksgiving to Christmas.” said owner Jeff Hatfield. Hatfield goes on to say this time of year is crucial for bringing in the harvests, as the winter frost in the UP rolls in much earlier. Some plants actually don’t need these precautions.
A number of crops have the ability to go dormant. A trait attached to a majority of perennial plants, dormancy happens around the frost months. “Due to the fact that we don’t heat them they go either dormant or things are just done growing”, said Hatfield. More popularly known as the ‘Winter Rest’, these crops will drop their stems and leaves, appearing to be dead. While not actually being heated, these greenhouses contain enough heat to carry a lot of these crops through the winter.
“It brightens people’s day but the food is more nourishing. I believe in local agriculture and I feel like gotta start somewhere” said employee Vanessa Wight. Click here to find more information on the farm Seeds and Spores.
