A month and a half now since we last posted.

We talk about writing more, writing our stories, about documenting our farming more.  We have eager readers telling us they love our blog and keep checking for the next post!  We have great intentions.  And then there’s life.

Recently I checked in with some farming blogs I like, and was comforted to find that many of them at times seem not to keep up with regular posting too, like us.  Or they take the summer off.  And then there are the familiar apologetic posts, mentioning how long it’s been, how busy it’s been, vowing to be better at posting…. And I slowly came to the lightbulb moment of realizing that if you’re really farming….you’re often simply too busy to compose an essay about it!

We took a few days off and went away for a break last week.  This has been a difficult year, and I badly needed to see something else…something like mossy boulders, water, sand, silent boreal forest.

We weren’t gone long, actually only had 4 days of not laying eyes on the gardens.  But when we returned at the end of the last day…..the place had turned to a jungle in 6 days.

It taught me how much I do in a day, and how much there is TO do in a day.  Day to day work, chores & activities make it hard to spot the differences we make, and it’s easy to focus on (and feel bad about) the things that don’t get done.

But stop doing any of it for even 6 days, and you really see it.  The weeds are miles high, the popcorn and squashes grew 2 feet.  The tomatoes I didn’t get to staking are horizontal on the ground, and nothing to do about that now.  The green beans were going past, and the chickens got to eat a lot of overgrown zucchini.  But it helps to remember that they were all just packets of tiny dry seeds just very recently. And, but for the invisible daily efforts, they would be still.

In this world, there are so many things and people telling us we aren’t doing enough.  We aren’t giving enough, we aren’t working hard enough.  We aren’t chipping in, going the extra mile, shouldering the pack, showing volunteer spirit, making the deadline.  I almost always feel like one of me isn’t enough.  I often feel guilty even for doing something for myself as simple as writing on this blog - when there are so many people wanting so many things out there.  I treasure these moments of perspective, before diving back in again.