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time: 9:30 am
air temp: 34 F water temp: 38 F (!)
tide: extra low
conditions: calm
number of bags: 40
Is it me, or is there just the slightest hint of spring in the air lately? Maybe its having more daylight in the evenings post-daylight savings, but I'm definitely starting to feel the tingle of spring coming my way fast and furious.
I caught a good extra low tide that coincided with both daylight and calm, sunny weather (do you know how rare that is?) this weekend, which provided me with a great opportunity to check in on the oyster babes and see how they are faring towards what is now the end of their long winter's snooze. Happy to report that all are accounted for, seemingly undisturbed and look to be alive, which makes me breathe easy. I wasn't particularly worried about them, but its always wonderful when things go as they're supposed to, especially when left out in as volatile an environment as the ocean can be.
After checking in on the oysters and making sure the gear was snug and where it should be, I pulled up the data logger hanging off one of my buoys to download the water temperature info that it's been tracking for me all along. Not surprisingly, all the warm weather and rain we've had over the last few weeks and resulted in warming water temps, which gets me feeling even more tingly-excited for the coming season!
I've got some fun new additions to the Emily's Oysters roster for this year that I'm not quite ready to announce, but which are coming together nicely... I can't wait to share them with the world.
For the time being, though, warming temps have me trying to get my butt in gear to go through all the oyster equipment I have piled up around the yard. Much of it needs cleaning or mending before I can bring the oysters back up to the surface for the growing season, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the volume of it suddenly. Yikes. But I'll get through it all eventually, If there's anything I'm good at it's repetitive, menial hands on tasks that are vaguely arts and craftsy. Plus, with the coronavirus situation quickly escalating in the US right now, I really have no where else that I should be but in my garage working on gear, and delivering oysters to my farm share folks so they don't have to go out in the world right now!