The start of it

To see the shades of early Spring light, grey and oranged on bare branches, dazzling electric green on grasses. The leaves of last Fall have sunk into the soil and now smell of it - new dirt, fresh earth, soon to be planted, soon to sprout with seedlings sown. Seedlings to feed us, and those we know, and those we don't and may never will. Light lengthens upon light, stretching each day wider, till it shifts enough to be sensed, enough to name otherwise. Dormancy over, Spring has arrived.

This Spring is something different for David and I. The kernel of the idea we've shared - to work with our hands, growing and tending - has been watered and weeded and nurtured and, in short, experienced just the right conditions to finally break the surface of the soil. This year will be our first year farming! We don't have any land yet. We are borrowing, with the greatest gratitude, the two acres on which we will grow basil, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celeraic, cilantro, collards, cucumbers, dill, fennel, fava beans, green beans, kohlrabi, kale, leeks, mustard greens, parsley, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, radicchio, salad greens, scallions, sugar snap peas, sweet onions, Swiss chard, winter squash, zucchini and more! We are learning the ins-and-outs of GST returns, over-the-border brokerage, net worth statements, web design and the difference between vector and raster images. There is crop planning, soil analysis, the search for compost, ordering walk-behind tractors and hoes and harrows and seeds and salad spinners - every kind of tool we'll need for the intensive, organic kind of agriculture we aim to practice. Right now we're still in the theoretical realm - planning, scheming, dreaming.

But, the sun is starting to send out whispers of Spring. Soon, we'll be in the thick of it; plans put into action; our bodies, not just our heads, hard at work. I don't know what Spring will be like in Agassiz - if there will be cherry blossoms or daffodils. I don't know about Summer either. I expect it will be hot and humid and that the corn will reach sky-high and I hope there are a good deal less mosquitoes than in Alberta and I know that I'm looking forward to it, however it will be. 

Can I quote some Tom Petty?

There's somethin' lucky about this place
There's somethin' good comin'
For you and me
Somethin' good comin'
There has to be.