Impatiently Patient - April

It happens every April on the farm.  We get a batch of warm, dry weather.  Or, at least the weather is warmer than it has been - enough that we start believing that the upcoming growing season isn't something relegated to just the future.  Instead, we see that it could begin right now!

And yet, we are perfectly aware that impatience only yields disappointment.  The sweet corn we planted too early that led to no better than 10% germination.  The succession of peas that waited to pop out the ground at the same time the SECOND planting also broke the surface.  The transplanted crops that were covered with four inches of snow.

Yes, we've done all of these things over the years, but it can be so hard to keep the hand off of the plow and out of the dirt.  So, we do it all anyway, knowing that, most of the time, we'll only sew a failure.  But, sometimes, we have a breakthrough and we gleefully pull a special treat out of our fields far earlier than we know we should have.

I have a new plan for the coming year.  I will show myself this picture in August to remind myself how I feel when it has been many weeks since I worked the soil.  Perhaps it will motivate me to get out there when I CAN do the work, even if I am feeling hot and tired from the work that has gone on since I started in earnest during the month of April.

Or, more likely, I'll just roll my eyes and tell myself that each feeling comes with the season, and that's where it rightfully belongs.