February 2021. We’re Awake Now

FOR A SEED TO ACHIEVE ITS GREATEST EXPRESSION, IT MUST COME COMPLETELY UNDONE. THE SHELL CRACKS, ITS INSIDES COME OUT AND EVERYTHING CHANGES.
-Cynthia Occelli
OPENING OUR EYES
Jack and I took a walk down the bike path that runs alongside the south side of the farm this weekend, January coming to a close. The sun was out and the birds were wild. Do birds get as much energy from those sunny winter days as we do? Jack napped, my legs followed the path, but my mind just floated away…into the sounds of the winter world.
I’ve learned a lot about letting your mind wander or just turn off lately. As it turns out, our week off in December shed some light on an imbalance I had allowed to grow. And so this winter I learned a lot about how precious the moments are that you let your hair down, or allow your mind to “rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever” (May Sarton).
The four of us made a practice of this. We decided not to fill orders in January, and instead worked toward healing our bodies and rejuvenating our minds…watching the sunrise like a fireworks show with May in the mornings…wondering what cloud formations we would get, reading novels that had been stacked on our nightstands, hiking the outskirts of Dayton on all the trails we hadn’t made time for, and of course enjoying that favorite of our crafts…cooking (and eating).
I’ll carry this energy into our year…our year that as farmers is naturally imbalanced or maybe a better word is cyclical. Winter is a major time of rest and renewal for us that powers us up after the wildness of spring, summer and fall. But it isn’t to be forgotten in that intensity of summer either: ‘Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.’ (John Lubbock)
I hope for all of you that have any of that rabbit-paced nature in you, you’ll allow yourself to tap into that turtle nature, sitting on a rock in the sun and closing your eyes on a regular basis.
February for us Foxes:
*Online ordering begins for the year. We will be scratch-baking quite a lot to add to our menu of microgreens, shoots, and salad greens. You can order by Thursday evenings to pick up in the Oakwood Farmer’s Market Parking Lot on Saturday’s from 10-12.
*We are going to be planting the hoop house with spring crops! If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited. Kale, broccoli rabe, bok choy, salad greens, radish, turnips, etc…coming for you in late March-April.
*Jack can take 5 steps at a time now…so February will likely see him moving at quite the clip.
*May has plans to have the best Valentine’s Day ever and she wants to make ‘all the chocolate tarts’ with me that I’ll be offering for online ordering for Valentine’s Day weekend. She also got a sushi mat and so we intend to teach her to perfect the art of sushi rolling this month :)
*More exploring of local trails…Brookville Lake is on the menu and Germantown Metropark too.