Fall is the time of year that all the farmers are out there day and night trying to get everything done before that hard freeze comes or even the season's first snowfall. It's a time to get the ground ready for a winters rest. So out they go before the sun comes up and into their fields they go. While others are eating breakfast, they are already hours into their day. When lunchtime comes around a short break occasionally may occur. The sky is getting dark, the sun is beginning to set and dinner is on your table. The farmer is still out in the fields. Even as a small farmer we know this routine all too well. When there is work to be done, it has to be done. End of story. However when that first snow hits, reality also hits. And the reality is you have better had your work done prior.
Growing food of any type is hard work whether you have a thoousand acres or just a plot of vegetables. It is more labor intensive than you would ever imagine had you not already done it yourself. When you finish finally late at night your body will hurt in places you never even knew you had. This also is proof of a day's hard work. Which is something truly to be proud of.
Sure growing and farming have their downsides, but they also have plenty of upsides. The time directly following the first snow is when I truly have a moment to appreciate it all. I absolutely love what I do. Surely there are moments that I dream what it would be like to have one of those 9-5 jobs. Where when 5 O'Clock rolls around I could go home to my family and leave my work actually at work. What a concept. It seems very tempting when I am in mid-spring with thousands of budded flowering shrubs that hours upon hours were spent potting up for the spring sales and all of a sudden the skies clear up and the threat of frost appears. Frosted buds will flower improperly and thus cause the shrubs not to be as desirable. Many of times we have had midnight plant moving parties. I call them parties because then it seems more exciting. Granted we do chuckle and try to get our work done as quickly as possible. But it is still in the end work, work that must be done. We've even had my mom's best friend come and help one year in pajamas and flipflops. We are so glad to have friends like that.
So when that first snow falls I throw on some warmer clothes and a few extra layers and finish up what I put off when it was too warm to accomplish in the summer. I also realize how happy I am doing what I do. I have the opportunity to see the wonders of life daily as I watch small seeds take shape into the greatest tasting tomatoes you would ever taste. I see the praying mantids hatch from what would appear to be a brown styrofoam pellet that was weathered by the winter winds and snow and managed to survive into these beneficial creatures that take aim at every pest that wanders into my field. These I believe are truly miracles of nature. I also enjoy that quiet peacefulness that only comes when you are truly focused and content with what you are doing and your surroundings. The field is my sanctuary.
And I like you will finally slow down a bit in the months to come and fall back in love with farming again. Just in time to pull out the seeds, smell that scent of fresh soil and do it all over again.
