Spring Farming and The Spiritual Toolbox

Hey Farm Folks,

While running a farm requires the use of a variety of farm tools, it equally requires drawing upon one’s spiritual toolbox. At this time of year, most farmers are dying to get into the fields and plant up a storm. The earlier one gets seeds and plants in the ground, the earlier one can harvest the treasured spring crops. Certain crops do very well in cool weather, but not in the heat. Included in this group of cool weather spring crops are spinach, radishes, peas, bok choy turnips, and lettuce. Anyway, the limited window of time for growing these crops combined with the prevalence of cabin fever following the winter, tends to get a farmer ancy to get in the field and plant. However, this is when one needs to open up their spiritual toolbox, and pull out patience. When the soil is wet, one can damage it by stepping on it, and manipulating it. It can become compacted, clumpy, and you can really piss off the worms. The soil on my plot at the farm has been super wet thus far, due to the winter and spring precipitation. After a week of staying off the farm, I finally lost my patience this morning, and headed off to the farm at 6am, ignoring the rain. Well, I paid the price….the soil was so heavy! A job that would normally take me an hour, took me about 3! Anyway, every spring this tension, b/w wanting to plant and the need for patience, emerges…and there’s no exact right way to handle it. I am glad I was able to plant a 100+ foot bed of snow peas this morning. And now that I’ve scratched my farming itch a little, I can get back to practicing patience.

Otherwise, the mixed salad greens seeds I planted about 2 weeks ago have germinated nicely, and so we have a gorgeous 100 ft bed of salad on the way. The onions and potatoes planted recently haven’t yet emerged from the ground, but I am optimistic they will soon. AND THE GARLIC! 15,000 beauties have poked their way through the straw mulch, and look super strong and vibrant.

For those of you who are thinking about having their own garden this year, The Cutting Veg is offering a workshop called “Planning Your Organic Veggie Garden” next Sunday May 3rd, from 1:30-3:30. It will take place at 961 Eglinton Ave. West, Apt #1Toronto, ON, M3H 6A7. During the workshop, we will explore some of the core concepts of organic agriculture, such as plant propagation, plant care, soil preparation and health, pest management, and composting, while doing some gardening right in the workshop. If you are interested, let me know and I will let you know how to register.

Enjoy the Spring, and until next time “Keep Livin’ on the Veg!”

Daniel