Spring is Here
It is easy to feel joy when the first day of spring comes, especially one like today. We are on the cusp of the season of new life. That is easy to see as I walk around the farm. Everything is new and in infant baby stages. I paid attention to the three new baby calves running around their paddock with their mothers slowly helicoptering after them. I noticed the yellow crocuses that are in full bloom in my backyard, the purple ones in my front yard, and the new green shoots that always announce the arrival of daffodils, tulips and hyacinths. Today, I listened carefully to the bird songs, the gentle warble of the red winged blackbird, the honk of the geese couples in our stream buffer, and the trill of bluebirds beginning their mating dance. It is hard not to be mesmerized by nature when it shows signs of warmer days to come.
Beyond my walk around the farm, I decided to celebrate the first day of spring with my own giving back to the wildlife around me. I started a baby tree section of my garden. I have hickory tree seeds, wild berry bush seeds, acorns, and pussy willow shoots that were given to me, so today, I planted these seeds marking each spot with a painted rock, so I don’t pull out the baby seedlings when they begin to grow. We will see if they grow or are eaten by hungry birds. I am a lackadaisical gardener, but as often is the case, nature is far better at that work than I am and I am okay leaving some responsibility up to her.
As the weather gets warmer, it is hard not to hold my breath as I anticipate watching our grass grow. It is a funny concept, considering the saying “to watch grass grow” usually means something tedious. There is baby grass spreading throughout our pastures and I can only watch in excitement as it slowly gains height. When you are a grass fed beef farmer and you see the enjoyment your cattle get out of grazing grass instead of eating corn or hay, it is hard to wait for the grass to be tall enough to graze. Put the cattle on grass too early and the grass growth for the year will be stunted, so I must patiently wait.
The cattle are already acting differently with the change to spring. They are spunkier, kicking up their heels and watching me like they know grass will come soon. They have started to shed their thick winter coats which leaves them looking somewhat patchy and comical, but I know that with time their coats will be the sleek and shiny black or red of summertime. The three youngest calves, born in the last three weeks, are instigators. They run and jump and play when they aren’t sleeping in the sun. This excites their mamas who join in before realizing that they are not as spry as they once were.
They know, with the change of temperature, with the angle of the sun, with the smell of the wet earth beneath them that better days are right around the corner.
How did you celebrate the first day of spring? I hope you had some time to bask in the beautiful sunshine today.
Hibernation and the Anticipation of Spring
As I write this, another 5 inches of snow is falling on the farm. As many of you know, this month has been the winter of snow every few days. Our first snow of 22 inches has been replenished with three inches here, 5 inches there, another 8 inches here. It has been both beautiful and isolating. Quiet and lonely. In a year where many of us are staying at home due to the coronavirus, this winter has felt a lot like hibernation in both good ways and harder ways.
Last Friday, my tractor got stuck in the snow as I was taking a bale to my bull and his friends. The back wheels spun and spun, digging deeper into the snow until approximately a foot down, I could see grass. The green of my pasture was shockingly vibrant against the snow. It was a visual reminder that as we approach spring, the snow will begin to melt. The grass with the earth around it swollen with the plenty of snow melt, will feel the sun, and our pasture in the heat of spring will grow inches in a day. The hibernation of snow makes that spring growth and life possible.
As I choose to appreciate the snow, I want to remember that spring is right around the corner. That winter days make spring sun possible. So, today, as I warmed my hands from shoveling and taking another load of hay to my cattle, I made an advent calendar of sorts…a calendar that marks the advent of spring. Spring is when the piglets arrive, small and squirming, the calves are born, soft and sleepy, when the chickens roam, scratching and busy. We only have 26 more days of hibernation. Spring will soon here.
Want a copy of my Spring Advent Calendar? You can print it here: Printable Advent Calendar
