Plowing into Summer

We blink, and here we are growing into Summer. In just a few days we will be permanently planted at the farm. The remodel is almost done, and we are so anxious to be farming and living in the same spot that we bought, and erected, an 18 foot ti pi in our field so we may start living on the farm before the paint is even dry on the walls.

We were blindsided by the amount of work it would take to orchestrate the remodel of the farmhouse while simultaneously pushing forward with our plans to double the size of our garden and convert the entire farm to biodynamic. We struggled to keep up with both weeds and potlucks, school recitals and unforeseen downpours on tender plants. Finally we learned to give in, but not necessarily give up, and nourish the parts of our lives we want to root and grow, and let the other parts grow feral.

As I spend hours, days, weeks, pulling weeds, rotating crops, and answering questions of sub-contractors I am reminded of the struggles Toby and I went through when we became parents. We thought we were prepared after watching my belly swell over the better part of a year, reading multiple books on the topic, and asking everyone we knew lots of "probing questions". Yet, when first Gus, and then Freja arrived on the scene they seemed to repeatedly remind us that we knew little or nothing about parenting or even ourselves. Something happens to you when you become a parent, I do not care who you are, or how balanced and centered you think you are before hand. Parenting is an all or nothing affair; intense and refocusing.

Since becoming parents Toby and I learned that we had to let go of who we thought we were before and not try to label who we are now or hope to be. We had to let go of control, and hang on for the ride. It took us a few years as a family to figure that out, and perhaps not by coincidence, when we finally started to realize what it took to be a solid, happy family we bought this little farm out here on Vashon. This past year we watched ourselves be reborn yet again, as Toby lost a job, Amy went back to a job, Gus and Freja carved out their own educational and social paths, and we all learned a little about what it takes to farm.

So here we are, on the precipice yet again of an exciting, intense, and exhausting adventure. There is little time to sit around, the weeds are always growing and the berries are coming ripe. Peas are picked daily, and the kids are turning green from eating so many vegetables; or maybe just from lack of baths. Toby is settling in to his "new" job as VP who gets to ride a motorcycle to work each day. And I am still scratching my head trying to figure out the best way to grow a peach, the fastest way to bake a good loaf of bread, and the most fun way to teach ornery teens trigonometry. We love this life for all of its ups and downs, and remind ourselves that a life worth living has both.

Tick Tock

My apologies upfront for the lack of postings this last month. Those of you with gardens, and or farms, are probably nodding along with me when I tell you that May is planting month around here. We rushed to fill every spare minute with a seed in a hole, trough, hill, flat, and sometimes just threw thing out and wished them good luck. We almost got everything into an appropriate place, but I still have a few pounds of Ozette potatoes and a handful of winter squash seeds that need to be tucked under some soil pronto.

Our big deal right now, besides finishing up building the farmhouse and moving in this month, is that we had a major crop failure in the orchard. Pollination went great for pears, peaches, plums, and cherries, but the apples did not do well. We ended up with crazy weather right around the time of apple bloom and almost no blossoms were turned into fruitlets and what did emerge was munched by a sudden attack of leafroller caterpillers.

So please pardon me while I juggle yet another ball, finish up the teaching/school year, rescue our orchard, plan our summer crops, throw out my chin and say glad out and give you all a proper posting in a few more days. In the meantime please give thanks for what you eat and those of us who grew it!