It feels good to be outside alongside Mother Nature as she greens, casually, lovingly transforming from those calloused, wobbly, winter-time ways into something indescribably perfect. April in Pine Mountain makes us proud to belong to a place so gracious in spring. The season matures slowly affording us the time to take a deep, emerging breath at the beginning and then gradually engage the body, both spiritually and physically, through refreshing work. There is no season so sensually gratifying and no other time of year when just being outside is like witnessing a miracle performed. We are grateful that at the start of farming year seven we are granted another spring to turn soil, to plant real, life-giving food, to commune personally with creation, and to have the stress- free walk across the street as our commute and the holy work of growing food as our vocation.
Some Georgia winters transition seamlessly into the world’s greatest springtime climate and we audaciously shout from the fields, “oh spring, you give in abundance like grandparents and dog forgiveness.” Other years, transitions seem less inclined to offer such fixed, feel-good answers like thoughtful priests, parents, and friends. We can all relate. As farmers and customers of local farmers we must choose to embrace the unforeseen and thankfully, sprinkled maybe with a healthy dose of animosity, eat the food provided from whichever spring we encounter.
This post is reprinted from Chris Jackson’s “Good Food News” newsletter. You can find their farm here.
