We
now have a snow spiral punctuating the
landscape. Not a crop circle, but a snow spiral. I paid a visit early this sunny
morning on snowshoes, essential footware for this wild winter of ours. The
winds keep on blowing, and the snow keeps on falling and drifting. In the open
fields the cover is not that deep – ideal foundation for a snow spiral to
meditate upon from the upstairs reading room window.
So,
what do I as an organic farmer without heated greenhouses do in the winter?
Of
late: research food and farming, post blogs, muse on nature and political
manipulations, promote my book High Up in
the Rolling Hills with a blog tour, dream of the Greek Islands, watch Zorba The Greek in black and white on TV,
read Report to Greco by Nikos
Kazantzakis, share convivial dinner with friends, bone up on soils, minerals
and micro-organisms, chop wood, feed the woodstove, clear the heavy snow off
the greenhouses, nursing sore leg muscles navigate the way through the drifts
of snow to the car by the road and the outside world, bring in supplies of
Seville oranges, lemons, sugar for marmalade making, and bottles of wine for
sustenance, take in the opening of the Sochi winter Olympics (shaking my head
at hearing of Canada’s new “swagger”). Stuff like that. Oh yes, and look out on
a snow spiral glittering in the rising sun. With hard work for ten months
combined with rest, snow and sun to recharge with over the two main months of
winter, it is a wonderful living.
Armed
with our fresh batch of Seville orange marmalade (currently suffusing the house
with its citrusy aroma), grass-fed beef and dried herbs, spices and teas, we do
aim to be at Evergreen Brickworks farmers market next Saturday, February 15,
then weekly from March 8 on. Hard to believe that a month from now, it is
traditionally time to turn over the thawing soil in the greenhouses and plant
the first of the spring greens. I think we may be still skating on thin ice by
then and putting off the growing season for a week or two. We’ll just have to
see what Nature has in store for us next…
