Beautiful dream of Spring

Spring never fails to impress. After months of dormant brownness, suddenly an explosion—a euphoria—of greenness! Almost overnight, as if by some quiet, common accord, the entire earth pulsates with indomitable life. Every year the phenomenon is amazing, mystifying, overwhelming.
The Winter was cold and unremitting. Huge piles of firewood disappeared, like so much work turned to ash. We are thankful, though, for the enforced silence and slowness. It is from such darkness that the ebullience springs forth so awesomely and charmingly. It is from within Winter’s deep sleep that the beautiful dream of Spring arises.
Which is where we find ourselves today, hurtling through the lengthening days, marvelling at the unfolding story of each seed, sown and unsown, waking each morning to a seeming new world. And, finally, our third year on this farm, Spring has been accomodating with our desires. The previous two years we nervously waited for the wetness to slacken so that we could get the earth tilled and the seeds planted. So far this season we have gotten our work done without impertinent impediment. The peas, radishes, spinach, lettuce, carrots, beets, dill, cilantro, onions, turnips, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards, chard—all off to a refreshingly great start, lunging for the sun.
And when February came and it was time to start the first seeds of the season, the greenhouse was already there! This may sound strange to those of you unfamiliar with the itinerant saga of this structure. It was first erected in the Spring of 2007, six or seven miles from here. We moved that Winter, and so the hoophouse moved with us. It was erected again in the Spring of 2008, only to be upended and nearly demolished by Hurricane Ike that September. It was then erected again last Spring (though it is now 20’x32’ rather than 20’x48’ and some of the metal frame is a bit bent). And still there it stands to this day (as of this writing), brimming with burgeoning plants. I can hardly relate how sweet it is to have the greenhouse there when you need it as opposed to being busy building it when you need it.
The garlic, planted last October, is growing gorgeously. Strawberries are flowering prolifically. The chickens are delighting in the recently improved greenery. Several working shares have already begun lending their hands to the 2010 effort. Although we never know what may come, for right now, anyhow, all is well on the farm, and we are looking forward to sharing the first harvests with you in a few short weeks.