April-Blank Slate

The colors are beginning to trickle upward into the picture we are painting this spring. Playing the annual agriculture game, we begin with a blank silty-clay-loam canvas every year. With seed beds prepared, rather fluffy ones considering the humus that we've accumulated after seven years of feeding the soil life, we directly sowed our first seeds a few weeks ago. This March granted us yet another early start, in keeping with last year. It appears that Mother Nature has sanctioned a longer growing season for us in the wake of our changing climate. The soils warmed enough to trigger the grass to green, crocuses to bloom and buds to swell. And though we are still mindful of the limited sunlight hours March offers us, those cues are enough to kickstart our growing season early.

Farming the four seasons is forgiving as the slate is wiped clean by months of winter dormancy and pause. With the onset of winter, you climb out of the weeds whose tails you chased all year as they collapse under the frost. Any shortcomings of the previous season are put to bed, and time away from fieldwork gives us a fresh perspective. It's a new start and just as the dermis of the earth is coming up to temperature, so is our skin tingling with the sensation of sun exposure. We step out of the farmhouse in the mornings into the bailiwick of the birds...incessant singing, robins surveying the ground level while finches and starlings and all the other visitors of the feeder are darting to and fro in the air, and further afield red winged blackbirds and killdeer are nest building. We're not so different from them, starting all over again.

Let us start over again. There's a picture in my mind's eye and it is more enlightened than the one that Rich and I painted last year. Each season is a product of the lessons learned from those proceeding it. Broader strokes this time, more mindful intentions and chaos, but less than last summer. It'll be colorful and alive as always, capturing the story of this particular spring, summer and fall. Though we are working with the same acreage, every growing season is unique in its conditions. But just like the last seven springs here, we are starting with the rich carob brown of the earth and all hues of green poking their way through it. And inevitably, a fluorescent blue dashes the scene. It's a Croc discarded amongst it all so as to run barefoot once again. Winter is a long time to keep those little feet bottled up.

We have our paints and brushes, and our great muse: the field. The intoxicating scents floating in on spring winds, thunderclaps and ensuing sun spells are setting the tone. Let us begin.

Updates from the farm:

-Saturday Pick Ups Continue: We are excited to continue our harvests and bakes for our locals with pick ups on Saturday's in the Oakwood Market lot :)). Pick up on Saturday April 19th will be in a different location:

-Earth Day Event at Pink Moon Goods: This month we are participating as a vendor in an Earth Day event at Pink Moon Goods on Saturday, April 19th where we will be set up selling from our booth from 12-4 pm right outside of the store. Pink Moon Goods is a beautiful store with a curated collection of home goods and gifts located on 5th Street in the Huffman Historic District. Come see me there :). Yes you can still order your goods ahead of time online and pick up from my booth at Pink Moon that day.

-Field Planting: Back on the farm we have the high tunnel veggies coming along with harvests this month as the veggies fully mature. As for the field, the sweet peas are starting their climb toward the sun, garlic is looking good, our spring dino and curly kale and broccoli are in and kohlrabi and potatoes are next. It's such an exciting time around the farm.

-Plant Sale: We have an awesome menu of plants we're growing for your garden this year (your meaning you local loves of ours). The menu includes a variety of flowers, potted herbs and veggies. If the conditions are right, we will have the earliest varieties available via our website weekly ordering at the end of this month but most will be sold in May.

Thank you for reading.

My writing is free for all to read. If you would like to support it you can do so below: