Winter Work

Our friend Ken working with irrigation

John and Mike of Fifth Crow Farm planting strawberries

Paul discing his field for cover crop planting

Dear Winnie and Steve,

A storm is due to come in tomorrow or the next day, and frankly we are looking forward to being home bound for a few days.  As winter work on the farm goes on, I am realizing that winter is not a complete down time as I would have expected.  So many things need to be done months ahead of the hoped for results.  For example, the beautiful strawberries that will come next spring and summer need to be planted right now.  The same is true for garlic.  Cover crops get planted now to direct nitrogen into the soil so that the ground can be disced and planted with vegetables in the spring.  The winter Sonora wheat has been planted.  Everything needs watering if the rains are not steady which means irrigation projects.   For those involved in the long days of labor it can be physically tiring.  And yet I definitely feel the sense of camaraderie from shared work and accomplishment.

It seems all of us here at this time are involved in some endeavors where we are trying to do something  we may not have done before.  That's where collaboration can be helpful.  As I look toward the larger garden and growing more of our food I sometimes think, "How will I know how to plan out and grow all this stuff?"  Mostly I just trust that I will find a way.  Bill Coperthwaite in A Handmade Life says, 

"Expert knowledge is certainly needed in every area, but

too little concern has been given to the value of stumbling.

If enough people are searching -- stumbling as they may,

we will make many discoveries, and the stumbling 

diminishes as our searching skills get honed with 

practice."

Thinking of you.  Donna