Spring is finally sprung! Good News..how much resignation to crummy weather can one be expected to muster? Good thing we do our greenhouse plantings by the calendar. Greenhouse work makes this time of year more fun Seedlings look to be right on time, starting with onions, leeks, and kale and collards ready to go out in early May. Tiny little peppers, eggplants and tomatoes will be the right size for setting out at the end of May, when our frost free time begins. Greenhouse Sale begins Saturday, May 11th, but check with us if your garden is ready for plants earlier. We will be open weekends 9 am to 2 pm, week days 4 to 6, other times by chance or appointment.
As a new farming season begins and I plan how much work to make for myself, it is time examine the perennial question, “Why bother?” I have a variety of motivations. I want to grow the best food I can for myself and my family. Along the way, I have picked up the skills, machinery, land, markets and community support needed to make a go of farming. It will be a sad day for me when I quit altogether, though lightening my workload looks good. I still worry that the food system we all rely on could collapse at any time. I have had this concern since I started farming in the late 1960’s. It still might happen, and a local food supply will be there only if we build it now.
Working out of doors on a regular basis is a big plus of this job. The people I get to work with, on and off the farm, are a great bunch. I can make a modest income in an honest manner. And I get to go away for part of the winter. Best job ever. The urge to plant is on.