Early planting: One area farm takes advantage of unseasonably warm weather

Unseasonably warm, sunny days have been more the norm than not this winter in Southeast Missouri.

The National Drought Mitigation Center's website lists Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties as in abnormally dry conditions, the least-severe drought condition. The map last was updated Thursday.

Cape Girardeau received less than half an inch of rain Saturday, which does little to alleviate the effects of a dry spell.

However, the mild, dry weather is a boon to local grower Laughing Stalk Farmstead, co-owned by husband-and-wife team Ross Peterson and Emily Scifers.

Laughing Stalk is a self-described "small, diversified, organic, vegetable farm" according to its Facebook page, about 10 miles north of Cape Girardeau's downtown.

Ross Peterson, left, and Emily Scifers, co-owners of Laughing Stalk Farmstead, use cedar boards to build raised beds Friday at their Cape Girardeau farm.Laura Simon

Peterson and Scifers already have started spring planting in their outdoor raised beds, Peterson said, which normally is not advisable until later in the season.

Peterson said he and Scifers have sold their produce at Cape Girardeau's Riverfront Market and Farmers Market and are involved with Cape Locally Grown, the online, off-season outlet for local produce.

"We didn't think we were going to get this much rain," Peterson said about the past weekend's weather conditions. "We might have to wait a few days, hope it'll dry out."

He said Scifers seeded some carrots Saturday, underneath the spinach and kale they were able to overwinter.

"We're planning to plant more spinach and lettuce greens next week," Peterson said.

Peterson said this winter has been markedly different than those he's seen recently.

"It's been a really mild winter, really dry overall," he said. "On an average winter, there's no way we'd have been able to even build those [raised beds] or start planting."

He said the soil usually is too wet to effectively work it.

But "with the warm weather and lack of rain, we were able to work the ground more and get things ready. It's kind of nice," he said.

The soil at Laughing Stalk is heavy and retains water, he said. That could drown seedlings and cause rot, Peterson said.

Normally, he and Scifers would use the farmstead's greenhouses to start seedlings, and they will be using that in addition to planting the outdoor raised beds.

He said he isn't worried about the possibility of losing what they've planted this weekend.

"What we're planting now, unless we get lots and lots of rain and temps massively cool off, we're all right," he said.

If heavy rains and colder temperatures move in long-term, they might see seeds rot or have a lower germination rate, he said.

"But we just kind of had a feeling for the way things have been going this winter," he said. "It's kind of worth the risk. If nothing else, we just lose some seeds and have to plant later. Might as well get seeds in the ground while we can."

He conceded starting the growing season earlier wouldn't give them a huge jump on a harvest. Generally cooler temperatures and lower, shorter-duration sunlight don't encourage aggressive plant growth, Peterson said.

"Even if we planted many, many weeks ahead of time, it doesn't bump up the time that we're able to harvest it by same number of weeks," he said.

Peterson said he's looking forward to the 2017 growing season.

"Generally, just being farmers, we're pretty optimistic," he said. "There's a nice start to the year."

Some years haven't been as prosperous, Peterson said.

"Sometimes you can put seeds in the ground and think, 'Are these even going to grow?' But this year, I think we're feeling better about the year at the beginning. It's nice.

"We'll see what comes," he added. "It's only February. Gotta at least start out optimistic!"

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address: 1521 County Road 649, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

3049 William St, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

35 S. Spanish St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.