This picture is for Katie in Montreal who wrote a kind note to say that I made her miss her island home!
Katie can probably tell you what that picture means better than I. And I expect she could even tell you how it smells. Really! There's something about opening the earth on the island in the early spring. The scent that rises after a long winter rest says, "I'm ready - let's get growing!" It's a mixture of mossy wetness, the final breath of last summer's grasses, the meaty tang of worms at work and just a hint of diesel from our little tractor.
I took my old plow out behind the tractor yesterday and made the sods turn over across the two acre field we started working several years ago now. Island farmers , the real ones in their big rigs, like to see the bright red island soil come up to greet them as they pass over the land. I like the intimacy of the open air atop my little John Deere and I've learned to read the soil as I pass over. I know now that when the sods turn from grass green to the rich color and texture of chocolate cake that I have a healthy field full of life.
A man who encourages low till farming once was asked, "Why do farmers plow?" He said, "Because they like to." He's right. And as eager as we are to reduce the need for tillage and to preserve soil structure, this field is in need of some help to repair my earlier mistakes. And so to get the ground ready for the effort to control weeds and feed the soil for another season, I chose the plow to prepare the ground for the green manure and cover crop that will hold down the soil and feed it until our next experiment.
Katie in Montreal noticed that I'm from the US and wondered how I found my way here. Well Katie, the answer is my wife and her, "kindred spirit", Lucy Maud Montgomery. As a fan of, "Anne of Green Gables" she cam to PEI with her grown daughter and they fell in love with the island. The next year we came back up from California and had the notion that we could find a little place for not too much money. Perhaps a cottage near the shore. We found this farm and after much discussion about how impractical it would be - we bought it.
Neither Susan nor I had any kind real experience that would lend itself to taking on a farm. Susan grew up in Wisconsin, and I fell in love with the country life as a part time hand on a cattle ranch in California. So starting with very little practical know-how, we jumped in. And here we are. Now our plans are to graduate our oldest boy from High School in Santa Barbara and then move our family full time to PEI.
It's an interesting life we've chosen. The challenges are many. We know we're fortunate to have the chance and so we're determined to make the most of it.
Well, that's all I have time for tonight. I have a green house waiting for me to plant full of seedlings and time won't wait. I'll post more as time allows. Till then, best wishes from Dunn Creek Farm, PEI.
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