The NEW Thing

There is a brand-new, pristine calendar on the wall in the kitchen.

Those un-marked pages seem to taunt me…demanding I come up with something to change…or at the very least some plan to make. It seems like there should be something NEW for the New Year...

Lots of folks spent yesterday reviewing the past year and sighing over bad things that happened, and resolving to take charge of 2016 and make it their year. I’ve seen a lot of articles on hopes and dreams and wishes. 

But, I’m not a big fan of resolutions. Life has a way of interfering with even the best of intentions and you end up in a completely different place than you may have anticipated. Not that there aren’t things about myself I should/could change. I guess I just don’t want to.

I’m just not a big fan of change. My motto is generally “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. And, right now, things seem to be running fairly smoothly here on the hill.

…and I am trying NOT to borrow trouble by anticipating all the things that could possibly go wrong in the next 12 months.

So, as I sit here thinking about that brand new calendar and all the possibilities and potential that its blank pages hold, I do wonder about the upcoming year.

Much of what happens here on the hill can be predicted with amazing accuracy. I can assure you that many things will look just like last year and the year before that...

2015 looked a lot like previous years

Farming demands that many things remain relatively unchanged. (and that’s just fine by me) The seasonal rhythms of farm life hold a comforting sameness.

January is always about planning and repair, the annual Farmers’ Market meeting…and the earliest lambs.

first lamb of '15

newborn lamb

February’s focus is more lambing…and planting those very first seeds for summer harvest.

sunbathing lambs

lettuce seeds

In March, we start garden prep and early season planting.

a few seedlings

ready to plant potatoes

The first weekend of April sees us at the Farmers’ Market. This year marks our 19^th season as vendors!  

artwork from one of our youngest customers

By mid-May we have finally reached the last frost date so seeding and transplanting can begin in earnest.

squash plants after rain

June/July/August all roll into each other as we try to keep up with the choreography of summer harvest, weeding and planting. Throw in a little food preservation and our annual trip to photograph the fair, and before you know it…

baby green bean

early season Market

mid-summer garden

hauling hay

a good Market week

hillin' 'taters

planting lettuce

at the fair

canning green beans

September brings the first hint of autumn colors and more harvesting. We begin preparations for winter.

just a hint of color on the ridge

the first fall broccoli

October is more of the same, with a nip in the air as we get the last chicks arrive and we get the garlic planted for the following Spring.

layer chicks are SO cute

fall in Mbrk

November brings our last processing dates and the end of the Farmers’ Market for another season.

last Market morning

unusual December grazing

And, before you know it…December has arrived!


Time for bookwork and filing and all those end-of-the year things. Our “off-season” sales start then, too.

chard for sale in December

This has been the cycle for quite some time. It seems to work (for the most part) And, as I said…there is a comfort in the sameness.

final sunset of 2015

So…

  Nope. No big changes here on the hill in the New Year. Nothing new...

Oh, there will be new animals and we may even get daring and try some new vegetable varieties. And, I’m fairly certain that the weather will give us something new to talk about at some point.

but, for the most part…the only truly new thing here on the hill is indeed

                                                                   the kitchen calendar.

                    Here's to a great 2016!