Farming Through Different Seasons

CHOCTAW COUNTY, Miss.(WCBI) – With the seasons in transition, farmers throughout the area are making the necessary preparations.

Meet Kevin Springs Owner of TKO Farming.

“Vegetables such as cabbages, greens, the sorts of green leafy vegetables, do very well in the cold climates and I’m growing a lot of them,”said Springs.

He says there are many ways to keep the local produce coming even though the days are getting shorter and cooler.

“We do we seed bank. Everything we grow in the Spring we try and grow until it seeds out and then we take the seed and we bank them. So, we don’t have to continue buying seeds year after year,”said Springs.

Spring is also able to continue growing through the winter as long as the vegetables aren’t completely exposed to the elements.

“We have a high tunnel built. It’s commonly referred to as a hoop house. We had that built to extend our growing season from Spring and Summer to in Fall and Winter. We will be able to grow crops virtually year round,”said Springs.

The Friends of Dean Park Organization in Louisville hosts a farmers market year round. Spring says it’s important to him to make the veggies available to help folks in need even through the winter.

“In this country we face discrimination on many levels. Food is yet another arena where discrimination is very heavy. It’s important that were able to deliver locally, fresh, fruits, and vegetables to people. So, we want to do what is called local, regional food economy. To grow that and build that and that way we will be able to supply food from farm to fork or farm to table,”said Springs.

Spring says he’s still fairly new to farming but he’s already noticed one thing.

“Climate change is an issue as you see we’re in October and I’m sweating. So, usually in other parts of the country its probably be cooling off this time. Yet Mississippi, it’s 85 degrees. It’s a big issue for farmers. It changes the way that we have to plant, the way that we harvest, the way that we store, how we get things ready for market with the season extending such as this, their plants that will start to play out right now. So, everyone is starting to use different methods to combat climate change,”

The official start of Winter is December 21st.