Second Spring

It seems that we always go through the second spring around August and September. In our temperate climate we are given a second chance to keep working. Yay! More to do. When many farms may start to wind down and head into winter, we are just getting "warmed up"(cooled down) either way, we have done so this year. It seemed I was losing steam and motivation toward the end of July and beginning of August. Seasonal effects of heat stress on the crops affect the the physical, mental, and spiritual state of the grower.

I desperately wanted to escape from my responsibilities and a few weeks of neglect on the farm, equaled firework events, late night jaunts into Onomichi, and Kayak honeymoons can cause the place to spin widely out of control. I never physically left however, but dealing with typhoons, wild boars, the end of the semester grading papers at my off farm job revealed that sometimes its a bit too much to handle.

A magazine recently visited for an interview and in explaining my last few months/years on the farm, he commented that I was "Superman"...well I think it was Doomsday that killed Superman and Dooms days come to farms from time to time, and sometimes that doomsday is a Natural event like a boar or a typhoon, or the death of an animal (this year suddenly one of our male sheep Little Boy) and others can be of a growers own doing. The second spring; however, is a reminder that there are still many things more to grow and plant. The "you reap what you sow" parable is as true as the sun, and surely cannot be denied at this point, year after year and yield after yield Pitchfork Farm continues to grow. So here's to a Second Spring, and a blog post better late than never. (P.S. Superman returned, so can you)