It’s Juneuary on the farm!

It’s Juneuary!

Well, the farm is wet, the farmers are wet, and our crops are loving it! We come in for lunch un-recognizable in our mud-disguises with wrinkly raisin fingers, grateful for a warm cup of tea and a nourishing lunch. It’s times like these, when hearing is hindered by the echos inside the hood of your raincoat and your boots have collected a small puddle, that the sight of a tiny purple pea and a glistening almost-ripe strawberry send you singing for more rain!, well, maybe not quite…

It’s true! Spring is becoming summer even if right now it doesn’t feel like it. Our salad greenhouses have now become; a melon house, a tomato house, an eggplant and cucumber house, and a pepper and experiment (luffa! bitter melon!) house. Remember those carrots? They’re now as thick as a thumb! Remember the pea race to the trellis? They’re climbing and producing tiny peas! The highlight of the week came when we discovered four ripe strawberries!

We’ve been reading the following quote from farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka as we begin our days. While our farming practices differ from Fukuoka’s, his words offer inspiration, especially in the rain.

“When it is understood that one loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them, the essence of natural farming will be realized. The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” Masanobu Fukuoka, The One Straw Revolution