Today we spent time reflecting. We often tell each other that Spring is the hardest time for us in the year. In theme with the season, everything broke down! Our dethatcher has been our primary cultivating tool, and that broke down on us! Some of our seedlings were eaten (by squirrels) and some died. Lost some other tools too.
Despite these challenges, we are pretty encouraged for the season ahead. At least, things will only get easier (no other time is as difficult for us like spring is).
Instead, we’ve felt a sense of calm or ease at the beginning of this season. Maybe its because we felt that there were so much more things to be grateful for. Or, rather things have been worse.
One thing we were really happy for this spring was the rainfall. We loved the rain this spring! It always surprises us how much the seedlings grow after a nice rain, though so do the weeds. We are happy to see that our Collards are doing quite well this season so far.
We’ve also made some breakthrough with our transplanting as well. An elder stopped by the plot and told us we need to have our machetes. Its a pretty common tool used by farmers in the Caribbean, and I’m sure elsewhere too. We forgot to pick them up for a few weeks, and the elder was pretty adamant and gave us a slight scolding about it, so we picked it up the following day. He was right! Transplanting our seedlings and weeding has never been easier. I am no longer hunched over the beds straining my back anymore.
We made great friends with the birds too. They hung out with us as we cultivate the soil and transplant the seedlings, or maybe they’re just there for the critters. Either way, we are well acquainted with them now. They get pretty close to us, probably about an arms length away!
The deer no longer like to hang out on our plot! Its still pretty early so who knows what the rest of the year may look like, though there aren’t any more tracks or droppings.
We’ve made new friends, we’ve already got our summer tan (and probably enough vitamin D), we smell like the Earth, we ate VERY well and slept well too.
In focusing on the farm, we’ve somewhat neglected other important things, but we’re slowly finishing up our farm transplanting and soil prep.
Here’s to to the rest of Spring! Hope it was as a good start of the year for you as it was for us! Until next time!