Fresh snow on the farm in April
Farm friends in the Midwest… did you, too, look out your window this morning with an irrational feeling of betrayal?
Living in a region which truly embraces all four seasons has a certain charm. We fall asleep to birds and color—and awake to white. There are few moments more magical than that first moment of waking to a thick, heavy blanket of snow where only the day before there was none. So perhaps it is unfair of me to complain. Still, I cannot help but find the magic rather less… magical… in April, than it was in December.
Such was my general state of mind as I drove (slowly) to the farm this morning. Bitter. Annoyed with nature for teasing me with sunshine this past week. Aching for green, for Spring, for warmth and fresh life.
And then, the world reminded me that everything is not always as we see with our own eyes and feel against our own skin. To all of you who awoke this morning in a late-season Winter storm, take heart. Even here in snowy Northern Michigan, where no one would believe it stepping outside, there are thriving pockets of lush green life. Many local farmers are harvesting fresh produce from hoophouses and gearing up for a busy season. Here at the Light of Day farm, I trudged to the hoophouse and was greeted by a host of beautiful happy tea plants (Camelia sinensis) waving in greeting.
Camelia sinensis growing in our Hoophouse
We are in the process of transplanting our lovely tea plants from their pots in the greenhouse into the rich Biodynamic earth protected by our hoophouse. While those still in their pots may now have to wait another week before they can be moved without damage from the cold, those which have already been transplanted are settling cozily into their new home… which is really quite amazing. Tea, a tropical tree, the most labor-intensive crop in the world, is growing and giving life nestled right here in our snowy Northern Michigan landscape.
Tea Plant growing in the hoophouse soil
For me, knowing how happy those tea plants are to be outside, stretching their roots and preparing to grow, lends a bit of magic back to this snowy day… and I hope it does for you, as well.
With love,
Rosemarie (& farm family)