If you’re ever wondering what the weather is like at the farm, you can check it anytime online! Today we received 1.83″ of rain, which brings our total for 2014 up to 9.58″.
Frog Song Weather Station Link
After two winters of setting alarms to get up in the middle of the night, we finally invested in a weather station at the end of 2013. It was a big purchase, but we decided that the investment would be returned in better crop protection and additional sleep during the winter. We have sensors in our two greenhouses and also in our cooler. Now we have the ability to set an alarm when the temperatures in the greenhouse or field reach a level that requires action. In the case of the greenhouse, we light heaters. In the field, we may turn on drip tape on sensitive crops that can be protected by our 70 degree groundwater. We also know when to open up green houses for ventilation. If the power goes out and our produce cooler is down, we know to respond as soon as possible! We’re nowhere near fully automated, however, and still require the work of many human beings to actually do the opening and closing of our greenhouses, irrigation and freeze protection. I’m still dreaming of “Farm Force Field” technology, where we can press a button to protect the entire farm from unwelcome precipitation, rain or cold. For now, we’ll enjoy our weather station and the small amount of comfort it provides when we are in the office or away from the farm.