So much bright and light this week. The lingering sunlight has finally reclaimed the afternoon.
Even though the ground is still frozen, now insulated with an entirely fresh blanket of snow, we have felt a perceptible jump in day length signaling the assured approach of spring. We are nearly midway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, and can sense a shift in our hoop houses. During the winter, plant growth slows to all but a frozen halt, and we must harvest sparingly to assure that we leave enough leaves to do the photosynthetic work for each plant. We are pleased to announce that their growth is, once again, perceptible.
The stretching day length is also our cue to slowly begin movement towards spring plantings. We’ve begun to turn over the garden beds in hoop house 2, and have seeded the very first few trays of what will be our earliest kale transplants. This, while Alex still races to finish the crop plan before the real plants get ahead of him.
And, inspired by the transition from the slow, darkness of winter, back towards movement and light, Corie has co-organized a women’s rejuvenation retreat series that will take place on the farm in our classroom space. We invite you (sorry men, ladies only) to gather with us, one morning a month to share in movement, meditation and a meal. The first event is this Sunday, and we hope to see you there!
- Lauren & the Bread & Butter Team
The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.
- Wendell Berry
