New Seasons
Written By: Peter
Spring is God's way of saying 'One more time'
These are strange times indeed, like something out of a movie, perhaps; but the COVID 19 scare has the world shutting down, tensions are high, and peoples' reactions run the gamut from panic to denial. The most apparent fear in all of this is uncertainty. "Did I sanitize my hands before scratching an itchy eye?" "Did I just contaminate my whole family by going to the grocery store?" What should I do with my retirement saving in the market?" But the biggest uncertainty it all is the question of; "How long will this all last, and how far will it go?". Right now, we are getting to know our families, dogs and coffee makers better than ever, and toilet paper seems like outdated technology for the times; and who knows how long that is going to be around. Quarantine, Social Distancing, Isolation, or whatever term is most appropriate to you, is no joke. Although this is serious business, we have got to find balance so the engine of life keeps humming at idle, rather than stalling out.
The picture at the top of this newsletter is from 2017, when we put in the lavender field here and first started farming at Star Bright. That felt like a strange time as well. Sure, I'm smiling in the photo, but behind the veil, I'm terrified. I had just moved back from Oregon, three weeks prior, to run a farm with my family; had never grown as much as a few house plants in my life, and I hadn't read anything about growing lavender until the last two days of the road trip from the west. So here is a picture of an unfinished field, ambitions plans and an uncertain future.
We held it together though. Even though I was a bit naive, and our plans, disparate, we had enough knowledge to direct where we needed to go. Soon enough, the field was planted, the plants grew perfectly, and a few months later we had a second field planted with blueberries; we felt like pros!
A year later, our victories took a hit after losing 80% of the field to an unfavorable winter. What an outrageous way to go down, failure due to factors out of our control; except, that it wasn't out of our control. It was a lesson. The environment taught us that the weather will always be uncertain, and the job of a farmer is to find a stride that walks along with nature. So, the field was re planted, with a few strategic changes, acknowledging the volatility of growing conditions. The next summer, 90% success; plants mostly made it through, and there was a wonderful lavender bloom that summer.
But it's all not perfect, the same challenges keep coming back every year. An unexpectedly warm winter has everything breaking dormancy early, leaving it at risk of damage or death from a spring frost; pests and soil borne diseases were likely not killed off by prolonged cold; and our now beloved fields overgrown with weeds that are loving the unseasonably warm weather. Again, the present mess is a moment, and with a little patience, sacrifice and hard work, we will be looking over clean, healthy fields. There have been plenty of times we could've lost it all, if we could not looked optimistically past moments of unprecedented uncertainty.
We've said this story a lot of times know over the last two years, our little farm story has provided us a great example of of growing despite naivete, fear, uncertainty and forced optimism. Presently, things look pretty grim around the world. This virus seems like a rampant act of nature, out of our control. The economy? Yes, it is hard to keep jobs around and rent paid if customers can't come in the door or clients are shutting their doors too. And, while our families, pets and coffee makers are nice to hang out with, social isolation can have a huge emotional toll after a while. The uncertainty of the situation is very difficult, and often clouds the optimism of discovering a cure or getting back to work soon. But there are people out there, many of them, working on solutions to get us through a seemingly unprecedented crisis. Staying home is doing our part, to help keep this beast in check; we can either do it gloomily or optimistically.
In farming, bad seasons pass. There is a Robert Orben parable hanging in my aunt and uncle's house that reads "Spring is God's way of saying, 'One more time!'" Sayings like this may be cliche in a public sphere, but in a farmer's house, that means something. Farmers often deal with numerous natural disasters every year, and the emotional tumult of nearly losing home and livelihood takes its toll; uncertainty is the name of the game. But that little saying describes how, despite all the worries, unprecedented bad weather and loss, next season will be different.
Please stay safe, stay healthy and enjoy the beauty of this living world in the ways that you can; we will do what we can to help where it is appropriate.