By Becky Nelson
BRAMBLINGS
The lilacs at the farm are in full glory this week, as they always seem to be on Memorial Day weekend. Chores on the farm are slowly but surely being completed. The raspberry patch is completely pruned, and the rows “strung” with supports to keep the fruit off the ground when the picking is good. Fields are fertilized and about ready to be planted. The blueberries are pruned and ready, with bees buzzing in the open blossoms. We lost a few blossoms to the freeze last week, but the damage doesn’t look bad. The apple orchard is a different story, but we need to tend the trees just the same, hoping for a small crop this year and keeping the trees healthy for the next. The grass is growing well in the fields full of soon-to-be-hay, and spring is really springing. Memorial Day is this weekend, and the traditional start of summer is here. It is hard to believe that the holiday weekend is already here, as the battle against winter and cold weather has stretched so long into spring this year that I have not adjusted to the calendar. We still have very little in the soil save the crops in the hoop houses, and as the freeze showed us, it has been too cold to support hot weather crops.
Crops may be late, but the work continues as we set ourselves up for planting. We are monitoring the grass growth and have sent the cattle into their pasture rotation and are waiting for the first opportunity to lay down some of that hay toward winter. Even the black flies and mosquitoes had a later start than usual, but the clouds of the annoying pests are still in full swing. The ticks are aplenty and the hen turkeys have disappeared to set on their nests. The lilacs are still in full regalia, and we are encouraged that things will get better, despite the political and economic hardships that may be rolling down the pike at us like a Mack truck.
Except for the ticks, this spring was a lot like some I remember as a kid. The lilacs would be in full bloom and the grass ready to mow when my Dad and Mom would plant the garden on Memorial Day weekend every spring, waiting for the chance of frost to be behind them. It was usually a little cool still, and the warm weather was a promise as the daylight hours lengthened. I can remember the smell of the dirt, the sound of the hoe, the warmth of the sun, the misery of the black flies. Mother Nature never plays by the book as she didn’t then, and sometimes we had early plants zapped by late frosts. It is always a time of hope with a shake of trepidation. With that hope and trepidation, we continue the planting process again this year as we did decades ago and look forward to a productive summer as Memorial Day rolls around and things look more summery than wintery.
Memorial Day is always a bittersweet holiday, with the promise of hot summer days and the sorrow of remembering those precious to us who have died. Remembering our military heroes who lost their lives in service to our nation, remembering loved ones who have passed and decorating graves in memory are both celebrations and sad events in this oxymoron of a holiday. We all have lots to do, lots to celebrate, lots to worry about with some angst and some sorrow heading into this Memorial Day. We pray for our military, we mourn the souls who gave everything for us, and we take pride in who we are, what we have accomplished as a nation and where we are going. For us farmers, it may not be a day we can take off, but hopefully we can gather with family for a few minutes or a few hours to enjoy a barbecue or pick some lilacs and take a breath to remember and to look forward. Pick some lilacs and celebrate in between your chores…and welcome summer!
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