The Garden of Hope

They say that every seven years you shed your skin and start over again. With farming, you don't have to wait that long. Every year is a blank slate. You get to start all over and try different things, tweak your ideas, improve on past efforts. There is very little hold over from year to year. (Well, excepting for weeds you let go to seed, and areas that need soil amendments and crop rotations, but you get my idea.)

I've finally dug out all the seed catalogs again (and there are many!) and started the arduous process of figuring out what to grow next year. I literally take each vegetable and go through multiple catalogs until I find a variety that sings to me. Do I want green beans that are "dependable" or "delicious, good looking" or "high quality bean for gourmet markets" or "excellent taste and appearance"? Well, I want all of those things in a bean that grows vigorously, is easy to pick, holds well in the field and after picking, tastes awesome and stores phenomenally! And is resistant to disease and pests! And picks itself! (ok, the last one may be too much to ask.)

The next step, after selecting your variety, is to figure out how much to buy. This involves going over last year's spreadsheet to see how much we bought, then the garden log to see if I wrote any notes on quantity, planting time or quality (sometimes the note says, "Plant more of this!!" when I've run out of seed or "poor germination" or "plant 3 rows instead of 2") and to check my leftover seeds to see what I have left. Then I figure out how the seed is sold- some are sold by the seed count, by weight or by packet. And to see how many seeds it takes to plant a 100-foot row, and how many rows and how often it needs to be planted. And what the average germination is, etc.

This process is for every annual vegetable we grow, which is somewhere around 70 varieties!

But embedded in this arduous process is a study of hope. Each year I am amazed that I can put seeds into the soil, and that they provide food for us to eat. It is wondrous to me how simple it is. I just don't get over the fact that I'm involved in this amazing cycle of life. All it takes is healthy soil, nutrients, water and sunlight. We coax the seedlings out of the ground, try to take away competing weeds and encourage the plants with kind words and thoughts.

We spend quite a bit of money on our seeds and this year's goal is to purchase from seed suppliers that focus on small seed farmers, not giant multinational seed companies. This makes our seed order higher than in the past, but we are voting with our dollars and supporting small, sustainable farms.

As soon as our seed orders are complete, on to the annual newsletter and order forms!!

Winter has officially arrived

The thermometer says 5 degrees F outside. Is it any wonder why I'm procrastinating bundling up to head out for pre-dawn animal feeding and stall mucking? Luckily this was the scene at the woodstove. So nice to have a roaring fire to keep things toasty.

This is the day I need to channel next April when we are breaking our backs, splitting and stacking wood in the basement for next year's heat. We (ok, I admit, Mark does it all) cut all of our wood from trees that are damaged, diseased or need thinning from our 90 acres of woods. Mark drags them up to our house area for seasoning all winter. In the spring, we (this time it includes me) split them and dump them in the basement for stacking. It cures and dries all spring, summer and fall for next winter's heating use. We haven't used our hot-water baseboard heaters in years. That, along with our recent solar installations have reduced our household fossil fuel consumption dramatically. Now all we need are some sunny days and we can have sun-warmed hot water for washing.

When the temperatures get below zero (our thermometer only goes to -22ºF, thank goodness!), we start to bring hot water out to the animals. It's just not fun to fill the waterers and have them freeze immediately.

All of the animals have indoor/outdoor pastures so they can get in out of the weather. It's amazing how many times the sheep have several inches of snow or ice on their backs in the morning. We do have to close their door when it's lambing time, since they prefer to sleep outside!

So I did it: fleece-lined jeans, neoprene boots, Carhartt coat, windproof hat, neck gator, gloves, and headlamp. Honey, the cat was waiting for me on the doorstep - so nice to start the day with some purr/cuddle time. It was gorgeous out: yes, cold, but with a crescent moon and stars galore. On my way back inside, the sky was brightening in the east while the dogs chased eachother through the snow. A good start to a great day.