“Mark and I took a farm walk this morning [around Essex Farm], and it felt like the launch of the 2012 growing season. Here is what we discovered. This morning’s rain carried the softness of spring with it. The frost is out of the ground now, all trace of snow is melted. The tulips that Barbara planted at the end of the driveway last fall are peeping out of the ground. A bull calf was born to one of the Highland mamas this morning. He was a good size boy, still wet, but he was already up and alert and suckling enthusiastically. The four acres of winter wheat flooded by Irene is turning green and just might make it. The ice is off of both ponds, and the ducks and geese have wasted no time moving in. The bluebirds are busy with spring nesting. A grouse flew through the double-paned window of the lower guest cabin at some point this week, which wrecked both the window and the grouse. In the greenhouse, the onions and leeks are up, and so are the first flats of lettuce. The un-drained stretch of Monument Field is deep in mud and spotted with lagoons but the drained acres are so beautifully firm that Mark and I taunted each other with the idea of working them this week. They really aren’t even close to ready yet but the contrast was striking, and I can’t wait to see what they do this year. The forecast calls for a warm and sunny week, with temperatures reaching the high 70s. It’s impossible to complain about a week off of mud season, even if this blast of warmth is coming creepily early…” [Continue reading.]

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