News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Organic Farmers in the Upper Cumberland are preparing for colder weather as temperatures begin to dip below the freezing point.
Randy Dodson of Waters Farm says using special materials will help farmers protect some of their more vulnerable crops during this time of year.
“We use structures and we use covers that vary in thicknesses from an inch-thick screen that allows a lot of light in but protects a couple of degrees, all the way up to a frost blanket,” Dodson says. “If you’re going to grow in extended seasons, you do those things to prepare for it so you can protect your crop and still have something to harvest.”
Dodson says farmers typically see less and less production from their crops as the winter weather sets in, even with the added prep work.
“Plants need at least 10 hours or more of sunlight per day to actually put out real active growth,” Dodson says. “From around Thanksgiving to the middle of January, there’s a period where daylight hours are 10 hours or less. So the plants generally just kind of sit there. They don’t have a lot of growth.”
Despite the slower growth during winter months, Dodson says he continues to push plant growth during those months in order to be prepared for the spring.
“We have plant materials that can be harvested during that cold and low-light level period,” Dodson says. “The plants that we do plant… come February or March, we begin to get more daylight hours and the temperatures are starting to move up a little bit, we get new plant growth for the early spring.”
The National Weather Service indicates temperatures in the region could dip near or below freezing through Friday morning. Dodson encourages even gardeners to protect their plants and small crops by laying black plastic near the base of their plants to help attract sunlight and heat to the roots.
