Twenty waxed boxes are piled next to the bin of moldy winter squash ‘seconds’ we set aside for home use, just next to the dozen dirty harvest bins and tangle of tools in the corner. This was the early spring scene inside our packing shed, a window into my state of mind at the end of the season. I remember saying many times, “I’ll get back to that later….later…later.”

Well, it’s half a year later and the exhaustion of fall has given over to the fresh energy of spring. Little projects that I couldn’t muster the power to tackle, now take only 10 or 15 minutes. I don’t know if you’ve experienced this revelation of “that wasn’t hard at all…why didn’t I do this earlier?” Like a plumbing issue you just ‘lived with’ for years, there was no reason for not fixing it earlier.

In April we started to turn over the idle engine of Lida Farm. Seedlings were growing to plants in the greenhouse, greens were germinating in the high tunnel, and we’re undertook the spring rituals to ready ourselves for summer like organizing tools and sharpening hoes.

Surprisingly, however, nature had other ideas. We went from snow on the group just three weeks ago to over 90 degrees last week. We’ve had to take it from leisurely spring rituals to planting at breakneck speed and irrigating. Hold on tight…