With last week’s winter solstice came the long-awaited (but still painfully slow) return of longer days. Specifically, here in Sunbury, Ohio, the sun is now setting a full seven minutes later than it was for most of the first half of December, when, according to TimeAndDate.com, the Sunbury sun set at a dismal 5:05 p.m. By the end of the month and year this Sunday, the sun will officially set at 5:15, a full 10 minutes later than on December 2.
So … yay? Kind of. Sadly, we still have several months to go till annual plants will grow and the western sky may still be aglow at close to 10 p.m.
When I first moved to Ohio two years ago, I was dismayed by how late the sun rose here in fall and winter. A little research explained that Ohio’s late wintertime sunrise was mostly due to the state’s being on the western end of the Eastern Time Zone. Studies have shown a higher incidence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) among those living in places where the winter sun rises late.
According to this U.S. map (right) of sunrise times on the winter solstice by George Musa of Columbia University, Ohio is among the states whose residents are most affected by SAD, and definitely the farthest west in any time zone I’ve ever lived. But Ohio’s time zone troubles are nothing compared to those experienced by residents of western Montana, North Dakota and upper peninsula Michigan, where the winter sun rises close to 9 a.m., pretty much guaranteeing any office worker will hardly see the light of day all week for half the year.
Like my SAD-suffering brethren, I’m somewhat sad about the short (approximately nine-hour) days this time of year. But like agrarian types for thousands of years, I take some small joy in gaining even a few extra seconds of light each day, as Central Ohio inches ever closer to the sowing times on all the seed packets I hopefully bought through fall.
For most of us, gardening doesn’t quite hit the radar till the first signs of spring in March. Maybe our mild winter so far has some of you hoping for an early spring. I’m clearly already there, and have already started planning Ranch 61’s ambitious spring garden.
The plan right now is for a huge plot next year, with enough room to produce a weekly crop for the Sunbury Farmer’s Market all summer, while keeping those of us who tend the field in plenty of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, squash and about 30 other strange and wonderful crops from May through November.
We’re only in the early planning stages right now, but we here at Ranch 61 do hope that others in and around Sunbury share some of our passion for farm fresh flowers and vegetables. With some hard work, great partners and a whole lot more daylight, maybe next year you’ll share our harvest.
Watch this space in the coming weeks for Ranch 61’s seasonal garden plans and opportunities to get involved. Till then, enjoy the extra few minutes of daylight!
—SK
Ranch 61 