Farming: a discipline in organization

When I was a high school teacher, I remember a colleague (who in addition to teaching, ran a small farm with his family) pointed out that farming does not begin in the spring. It begins in late fall and early winter when planning begins. That phrase struck me.

Planning and farming must be friends if the farmer wants to succeed. He cannot shoot from the hips and hope that he will succeed. He must plan and organize his farm in order to achieve the goals he hopes to achieve

Winter is a great time for the farmer to hibernate. And this past year in particular, I appreciated greatly November and December as a time for relaxing without the extra weeding, growing, and selling. Wow! for the first time in my life, I appreciated winter. (I am a summer girl—I love the sun and the ground in between my toes). When late December hit, I was raring to go. But the ground was covered with snow. That is the moment for energy focused planning!

I delved into the planning which included both improvements for this upcoming year as well as the normal plans required of any farm no matter how long it has existed. Ordering seeds for example can be done early! I also will be starting plants indoors and so I set up and indoor start lights. Soon I will be starting my tomatoes and peppers!

I also started composting—something I regret that I did not start last year. But the topic of composting will be another post.