Sweet Spring

Hellooo out there!
 
(I am going to digress for a while, if you want just the facts ma’am you can scroll to the bottom.)
 
Greetings from a farm perking with quiet opening power. Each time I step outside today I feel a gentle uplift in spirit. Life is moving in all the plants today, getting ready to unfurl. It feels so good. This rain and soft grey light are exactly what’s needed to coax little cotyledons up and out of the soil. Yesterday the crew and I got so much done in that bright sun – flowers and herbs spotted up into bigger cells, greenhouse plastic repaired, strawberries uncovered, tomatoes potted up, two new pastures seeded and fitted down, the first field of bio-plastic laid and seeded down, a bunch of raise beds formed and ready to plant. Today is the perfect day to follow all that work and let it settle in.
 
This morning I woke up early and my first thought was: “ I could plow everything that needs to be plowed this morning before it rains. “ It seemed novel for some reason. I did my best to be calm and give the kids breakfast and get them off to their various places, and then BAM, I GOT TO IT. I hadn't’t moldboard plowed since 2008. We just don’t use that type of plowing much on the farm, plus Paul was the one who did most of the primary tillage. So. I hooked up to the plow not quite sure how it might go. I felt pretty good and calm though. I drove it over to the parking lot and got it all leveled and happy and then headed out to take a swipe and see what happened. I drove to a field that’s destined for oats and peas this spring, meaning a field that could handle a little plow blemish with out any real detriment, sighted across the field, gave the tractor a nice surge of fuel, and eased into the soil. Ahhhhh butter. I can’t tell you how sweet it was, or how softly that gorgeous soil rolled over for the plow. My soul soared with joy. Even though a lot of bad things, and maybe even the downfall of all civilizations (!), can be attributed to the moldboard plow, I know why humans have had a romance with them since their invention. Plowing is intoxicating.
 
Having taken that virgin swipe in relative safety, I headed over to the pasture that I actually wanted to plow. You may remember it - it’s the pasture to the left just as you drive turn down the farm lane. The chickens were there last year.  The soil I turned over was a dream – dark, perfectly moist, and just falling apart tender in my hand.  Dirt like that should come with a warning. I lost a coulter, (a wheel that looks almost exactly like a pie cutter that is mounted right in front of the plow share) in the first pass I took thought the field. I figured out what was going on quickly and got it remounted with out much trouble. I think the plow was saying that it needed at least a little attention after all these years. I was glad to give it. We’re going to have some happy potatoes there this year.
 
Anyway, as you can probably tell, farming is going well this spring. I’ve got a crew that won’t quit. They’re fantastic. It’s been a little cold and wet, but I’ve decided to not worry about that, or any other weather for that matter. (Did you know that worry is utterly useless?) The crops are getting in the ground, the greenhouses looks good, the tractors are in good repair, and the field work is going well. And so.
 
Nuts and Bolts:
There are still PLENTY of shares left.
There are still Healthy Food For All shares left.
I’ll set the start date once we get closer to distribution. I bet it will be around the second week of June.
 
Well, thanks for reading. I hope that this day is treating you well, and I will be in touch,

Yours,
Evangeline