Freezing temps and snow have returned to the farm this January afternoon. I've been thinking about our garlic and how this unusual winter might affect our harvest dates. We are careful to plant the cloves by Halloween to give their roots a chance to grow before the ground freezes and, then, cover the beds with straw mulch to keep the soil from freezing solid deep for too long a time. Garlic roots contract underground during the winter, pulling the cloves even deeper for protection from the cold. If garlic leaves emerge in the fall and freeze during the winter, the plant won't be harmed as garlic leaves grow from the base of the plant unlike other plants that put out growth from the top. I'm always amazed at how garlic grows and these survival mechanisms seem like a miracle to me.
There are lots of miracles on the farm if you take time to think about it and don't take the farm for granted. Veggies start as seed, grow into plants, put out fruit to reproduce (and to feed the farmer), and when they're done, the plant composts into soil that seeds left behind will grow in. Hens lay eggs, get broody and sit, then hatch babies. They will lay their eggs every day for weeks until they think they have enough eggs, sit on the eggs for four weeks and all the eggs will hatch within 24 hours of each other - another miracle.
One of the not so pleasant realities of the farm is dealing with death, either intentional by butchering or the unintentional when an animal dies unexpectedly. My head understands the physical part but my heart always aches, especially when a death seems senseless. One year a neighbor's dogs maimed every turkey in that small flock. There was nothing to do but put them out of their misery. I was angry and sad at the senseless death of these turkeys. The dogs weren't hungry, just had an instinct to kill. When we raise meat chickens, I understand that their death is to feed my family and, while I don't like the process, we make sure the birds have the best life possible until the very last day when we make sure their death is as humane and swift as possible.
Death is part of life. Winter is the end and the beginning. As I sit here watching the snow pile up, there must be 15 seed catalogs piled up on the table and I'm optimistically thinking about starting seeds for the spring garden.
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Garlic Girl is waxing philosophical! Winter on the farm can do that to you. I didn't know about garlic pulling itself in to the ground like that. It's kinda neat.
ReplyDeleteSlaughtering day is always a little depressing. Even with poultry, but even more so with the furry ones, like rabbits.
Dog attacks seem so senseless and are infuriating. My instinct is to give the dog a humane and swift death, but the fault actually lies with the owner that lets the dog run free.
But there is nothing like getting some seed in the ground and seeing it sprout to lift the spirits. And the anticipation the catalogs bring is almost as good!
Email notification worked this time. I actually got the whole article via email. Keep blogging!