Sprint Season

“Sprint season” arrives without warning. I don’t know why it comes as a surprise, but it always does. After what seemed to be an interminably long, cold winter and then a wet, cool spring….suddenly, there it is …the moment has arrived when EVERYTHING seems to need some sort of attention all at once!

There are things to plant, seeds to start, tomatoes to put in bigger pots, lambs to wean, sheep to get to market, weeding, planting, tilling, bugs to battle, broilers to process, market to prepare for and attend, shadecloth to apply, weeds to pull…. (oh, wait…I’m starting to repeat myself).


In order to keep from forgetting anything, we do a ‘walk-about’ on Sunday afternoons, with notebook in hand, identifying the things that need attention in the upcoming week. Once we get back inside, we attempt to prioritize the list.Sometimes the list gets out of control and we decide to shorten it. The ability to cross off completely jobs during the week really helps morale. (particularly on my part!)

A friend once suggested that a “got-done” list should be written instead of a “to-do” list. The suggestion being that one would wait until week’s end and compile a list of accomplishments. She may have had a point, invariably there are numerous jobs that escape notice during our list making that somehow become priorities during the week. I may just try that approach sometime soon. The only fault in this system is the number of accomplished jobs I would invariably forget…that blasted “senior brain”…!

This past week, we planted potatoes,
took ewes to the stockyard, weeded the worst of the garlic beds (the rest are waiting ‘til this week). Tom mowed all the grass surrounding the gardens, while I started LOTS of seeds; we picked up two new lambs, picked and packed for the Market, and then attended the Market. Somewhere in there, we also did the town/feed store run, went to the repair shop with the tiny tiller AGAIN, had a family gathering, attempted to keep up with laundry and farm book work, prepared and ate meals…and actually got some sleep!

Despite feeling somewhat frantic and frazzled, I really like this time of year. It is easy to see the accomplishments. I actually like the feeling of tired muscles, provided they are tired at the END of the day…and not first thing in the morning. We both enjoy having more and more variety and amounts for the Market come Saturday mornings. Best part…our customers REALLY appreciate our hard work!


A long time ago, another friend used to quote a movie line this time of year…I forgot the movie, and will probably misquote the line, but, it was something like….”Run more (or was it faster?)….sleep less!” Either way, it sounds appropriate for “sprint season”!

“Sprint season” may be a misnomer; we won’t begin to slow down until fall. Perhaps we are entering Marathon May (June, July, August…)!


The “to-do” list, even the shortened version, is growing exponentially, on a daily basis!