Welcome to the spring blog from good old Edgewater. There is lots of new developments in everyones’ lives and we here are not exempt. Through most of this I have tried to adopt the “What, me worry?” attitude of the esteemed Alfred E Neumann. But between the quarantine, daily press conferences at the white House, tanking of the stock market and the media, institutional and private business shut downs and obsession of media to discuss and dissect every aspect of it…..well….. I had to pull my head out of the sand. We have to deal with it.

Usually we are obsessed with the weather. Which has been pretty easy on us. Having a driveway and dooryard (and fields) that are dry by St. Patrick’s Day is a gift to us, if not the ski industry. We are getting the flowers and vegetables growing in the greenhouses, and the lack of snow continues to allow us to gets lots of high tunnels and greenhouses fitted up for the tomatoes and cucumbers. Our greenhouse and early field crew is pretty much all present and keeping abreast of the daily tasks this time of year. Of course, with educational institutions shut down we have at least 4 individuals under the age of 7 here every day. That in itself takes a bit of juggling, but it comes with some comic relief. Today we had Roswell all decked out in Queenly garb that was designed on the spot from packing insulation (see pertinent photo). It can be pretty humorous to watch the pack of little ones pursue their serious ministrations…if you can only figure out what it is they are actually trying to accomplish.

*Big Boss Man and the daily ritual of the Chicken Herding.*

We are trying to get our social distancing on as we work among ourselves and following all health protocols that are applicable and adaptable. On a farm this is probably easier to do than in an office space, which is good because we certainly do not have the luxury of shutting down in the interim or collecting unemployment. Many farmers are struggling to understand if they should be adopting different cropping and marketing strategies. Should they emphasize and shift focus to less perishable fall crops? What if the states close down farmers markets because they constitute gathering of more than 50 people? (some states have…) How do we deliver the goods in a retail arena? In a wholesale arena? Delivery, packaging…? How can we insure that as food providers we do not contribute to the problem? These are becoming real issues and considerations as the repercussions from this pandemic develop.

One of the very specialized tools we use in producing those beautiful hanging baskets….. — *One of the very specialized tools we use in producing those beautiful hanging baskets….*.

For the moment we are just going to do what we do. We are going with our normal crop mix, in the proportions that we have in the past, and assume that the markets ultimately will perform similarly for us. Our current crew can get the stuff grown and transplanted into the field, but we are concerned about what happens during strawberry season and beyond if we cannot get our H2A workers into the country. These gents have been here for many years, they know the system, they know the ropes. This will be Roy’s 20th year with us. He is de-facto management. Many of my colleagues are trying to address these challenge, but as everything is so fluid at the moment the outcome is difficult to envision with any degree of rational certainty. My crystal ball is full of murky, muddy water on this issue.

So we here are adopting the directive from Admiral Farragaut at the battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War when he demanded: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” We have bought the seeds, supplies and ordered up the fertilizer. All the old field trucks are getting their annual inspection at Plainfield Auto. Tractors are coming to life and out of their winter mothballs. As Jenny says…”The sun will shine, the ground will warm, and things will grow,. “ We will have plants for your garden and food for you to eat.The pandemic will be what it will be. In the meantime stay calm, patient and don’t be overcome by the anxiety generated from the media talking heads and politicos. Instead, listen to the Talking Heads…or Merle Haggard..or Mozart or Beethoven. Read a book. Better yet, go outside and rake the lawn on these beautiful early spring days. . And be realistic about how much toilet paper you really are going to use in the next year.