Bramblings: Moving forward

By BECKY NELSON
By Becky Nelson

Despite yesterday’s snowfall, the lingering rampage of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic with big numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients still on the board, and the fact that some folks are still not back at work without resolution for some terrible and horrible social situations here in our country, things are actually looking brighter.

Vaccines have protected a portion of the community and those who don’t want the vaccine will be at risk of serious illness in the coming months. Young children must still be as well protected as we can until vaccines are approved for them, but this too is in the works.

Accountability for those in the driver’s seat of battles on our social front glimmer as a ray of hope as our nation struggles to right wrongs and create a diverse and open society that can shine as an example of good faith and good will. We will still have lots and lots of challenges and economic hardships as we go forward, but there is, at least, some hope.

Warmer temperatures are just around the corner and the sun will shine. The recent rain and snow has given a boost to the drought situation in our area.

Folks who want to work may have to take jobs they wouldn’t have considered before, but businesses are reopening and in need of help to keep the economy moving forward and recovering. Better days are ahead.

Here at the farm, we are finishing up the pruning process of the apples, blueberries,m and raspberries and are planting in the hoophouses. Plantings of greens mix, lettuce, radishes, and spinach are up and growing and a planting of peas, squash, and cucumbers bred to grow in high tunnel conditions are in the ground and germinating. The tomato and pepper seeds we planted about six weeks ago are almost ready to put in the ground. Beans and more peas and beets for greens are set to go into the soil next week. Things are promising. We are moving forward, which is a good feeling.

We will soon turn our attention to preparing the outside fields for planting of corn, beans, more squash, melons and pumpkin s in the coming weeks. We also will be trekking through the woods to un-tap the maple trees and clean up all the maple equipment to store for the summer, fall and winter season. The snow is just a blip in the pattern of farming, and the nitrogen-rich flakes may actually be a boon to soil health — “poor man’s fertilizer” as my family always referred to late snow. The forecast is for warm temperatures again in just a couple of days, so all will be well. We do pray that the tender buds on the apple trees will not be damaged now or in the coming weeks, as late freezes can kill the baby apple inside the blossom or destroy the blossom and the potential apple if blooming. But that is a worry for another day.

It’s hard to come out of our rut, so to speak. The past year has been one of daunting predictions, terrible death counts, and in some cases hopelessness as folks lost jobs, felt trapped in their homes, and depressed at the isolation the pandemic has created. Families with routines formed around school activities were forced to try to balance teaching and coaching their kids at home while also trying to carve out a workday at the computer screen. Other folks had to keep on working through the trying times with health and safety protocols replacing their daily routines. Those in healthcare took the brunt of the hardships with their very lives on the lines as they tended those in desperate shape at the beginnings of the COVID-19 crisis and are still working in the trenches today and for months to come with those who fall so ill from this horrible virus that they need to be in a hospital for a hope to survive.

Lots has changed over the last year. Some things will return to “normal,” some will remain changed and we will have to adapt to the “new” today at each and every turn. I hope we can use the hardships as stepping stones toward a better world in which we care for each other and are not so selfish that we think only of ourselves. If we have learned nothing else, we have learned how intricately connected our own health is with the health of others and our responsibility to care about the other guy as well as ourselves. Let’s keep stepping forward in faith and good will with great expectations for a brighter future, whether it is plants coming up or illness numbers going down.

Becky Nelson is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, New Hampshire. [email protected].