Winter on the farm is slow. It’s almost as if the Earth is resting, recovering and rejuvenating itself before the blossoming of Spring and Summer. This winter has been more intense than the past few years. First, weeks of rain, than a couple feet of snow, leading to a few days of sun and finally more snow. Nightly temperatures have frequently been in the teens. Most mornings there is an inch or two of ice to break on the animals water troughs. The row covers in the garden have collapsed, been reset, blown over and been fixed again.
The apple and stone fruit trees are dormant, leafless, but hardy enough to endure the freezing temperatures. The garden is quite bare with some chard, kale and garlic holding strong. The greenhouse is packed with tiny plants waiting for all the snow to melt to move into their new homes in the raised beds in the garden.
It’s a season of anticipation, practicing patience and embracing the natural rest cycles the land and plants need. Perhaps, encouraging us to rest also before camp’s busy Spring and Summer season as well.
So here we wait and prepare and rest, while also dreaming like crazy about how lush the summer garden fruits and vegetables will be.
Farming Luther Glen 