With temperatures topping 90 this week the farm feels like it is exploding with life. The grass seems like it is literally growing as we watch. Lovett, Lewis and Racey helped me pull the shade cloths onto the last chicken coops. This is a few weeks earlier than we usually do it, since May can still bring cool weather. However, with multiple sunny days with highs in the 90s, we decided to bring on the shade.
Shade cloth is an interesting strategy I learned from veggie grower friends (and a common practice in the vegetable, greenhouse world) to keep a hoop house from getting too hot. The cloth is light weight, relatively inexpensive, and is like a woven fabric so the wind does not catch it and whip it around. This also means that the black cloth can block the sun without absorbing too much thermal heat from the sun. We have friends who raise chickens in Texas and they have water mister systems in their coops to keep the chickens cool!
The grass and the dandelions are shin high these days, and the dandelion crop in particular is prolific. Our usual first day of grazing on our farm is May 15, and I would guess the grass is about 1 week ahead schedule. Cattle arrive next week! Needless to say the buzz of spring is palpable. We’re preparing for our first chicken processing day next week, and eagerly await the return of all our chicken cuts.
In song of the vibration of spring I am reminding of where I was a year ago. The same tune and energy was pushing my body towards a herniated disc in my back and eventually led to me spending three months in bed, unable to walk. I can feel threads of the same energy this year. In the shrill call of the spring peepers, in the drone of the evening crickets, and in the morning shrieks of the killdeer.
Where is the balance in spring? Is it about riding the wave of growth rather than trying to harness and control it? Is it about enjoying the longer days on the porch with my family rather than eking out every last minute of daylight work time? Perhaps June will bring answers.
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