Winter on the farm is a time of planning, scheming, and dreaming. We sit back, take a breath, and relax after a year of chaotic, around-the-clock farming. We lick our wounds, look back on our mistakes, and think of how we can do things better next year.
Winter is a time for puttering. We work on side projects, half-baked schemes that we dreamed up during the summer months but never had time to tackle. We clean the barn, sweeping away the remnants of abandoned experiments long forgotten.
Meanwhile, the excitement of springtime is slowly building. A few weeks ago, Curt said "this time of year feels like the first climb up the roller coaster." The anticipation is mounting, but it still feels like the "farm year" hasn't truly started yet. We are still in winter, the farm asleep under a thick blanket of snow.
All that changes when the maple sap starts to flow. All of a sudden, the farm season is off and running. We crest the hill, and start barreling downwards. Suddenly there is way too much to do, and no time to do it in. We race, gathering speed, towards the months ahead. Months filled with planting, tilling, growing, weeding, watering, pruning, and harvesting.
A few weeks ago, it seemed like we had crested the hill. The early spring sun was warm through the bare branches of the maple trees, and the sap started to run. We boiled for a couple of days, and even managed to draw off a few gallons of bright golden syrup. But this first dip into the chaos of the farming season was just a teaser. A few days later, we were thrown back into winter. Back to scheming, puttering, dreaming. The biggest part of the roller coaster - the BIG downhill plunge - is yet to come.
And we can't wait to take this ride with you again.
Looking forward to another year on the farm in 2021!