The Way We Like It

The Winter season is that time during which the wounds of the previous season scab and heal over.  Part of the process of healing includes, oddly enough, wounding ourselves again by looking at pictures of things that did NOT go well during the prior year so we can make plans to avoid those same problems.  On the other hand, we follow that viewing with one that features pictures like this one.

The row of tomatoes at the left features German Pinks and the zinnias at the right are the County Fair blend.  The paper mulch appears to be holding up well and the tomato cages are all doing their job.  We'd just recently cultivated, hand weeded AND got the weed piles pulled out.  It's a hopeful picture and one that shows us doing a pretty good job of what we need to do on the farm.

There are several things about this picture that are not obvious to people other than the farmers.  The tomatoes are far behind where they should have been for this moment in time.  Wet June weather forced delays in planting them, much to our chagrin.  The wall of corn is dwarfed by the bush line we are nursing along at the far end of this plot and we have cleverly framed the picture to avoid showing some less wonderful looking areas in this same plot.  It's all part of the reality of recording our farm's progress every season.  Each photo has the ability to feel both success and failure, even if the photo is meant to show a success (or a failure) because we know a bit of the history that goes along with the picture.

But, perhaps that is exactly why we like photos such as this one.  We can see that things can be made to look pretty darned good on our farm.  This picture (and others like it) are evidence that success is obtainable.  It's our knowledge of what it takes to reach this goal and the obstacles that got in the way that gives this photo additional meaning.

Here's to a 2019 growing season with abundant opportunities for photos that show things just he way we like it.