While I wrap up some odds and ends out in the field, I often find myself reflecting upon the growing season – what were the successes, the hardships, the learnings, the joys and the down right ugly? SPRING is full of CURIOSITY - it's both thrilling and nerve wrecking anticipating what's to come! On the other hand, the FALL is all about REFLECTIONS. The soil is my teacher and if I don’t take time to reflect upon the season, I just wouldn’t be a good student.
This fall, I thought I’d share with you my reflections, for instance, I’m especially proud of how this year's brussels sprouts, broccoli and carrots turned out! Since I've only grown these crops for a few years now, they still feel new and exciting to me, and I’m pleased with their quality and flavour this year!
On the other hand, right now I'm morning the romanesco, spinach and sweet potatoes. I morn these crops because I love them dearly, and to see them under perform this season was hard. I have however, made good notes and plan to do a little bit of research – online, in books and among farmer friends – in order to build my knowledge bank and try again next year.
What am I really excited about, you ask?! Well, I’m excited about a lot of things! My brand new irrigation system (rain on command…what a privilege!). I’m excited to grow a lot more cold crops such as broccoli, cauliflower as well as romanesco, brussels sprouts and
cabbages. I’m also curious, scared as well as excited to explore new ways of creating a farming team! I've come to realize that the farm relies tremendously on its crew - a good working crew is the grease that makes everything work smoothly. Without it, well, it simply makes everything so friggin' hard!
So how do we approach these challenges? How can we be creative? And that’s just it, I’m in the fields these days, my mind exploding with possibilities and ideas, as I slowly move through FALL REFLECTIONS into the beautiful WINTER mode of CREATIVITY!
Have I said that I’m excited about this winter!! ;)