Caledonia Hills Farm LLC, Portage, WI

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dancing with Nature

I'm always amazed at how much our lives are influenced by weather. I grew up on a farm and I remember my parents focus on the weather. I remember rushing out to close barn doors as rain storms began and walking out to the hayfield in the blazing heat to take water to my dad as he mowed hay. Memories blur together and in hindsight it seems like my parents had a well choreographed dance with nature. But now, as we plan and work, I've felt like an awkward dance partner who doesn't know the moves. I'm getting better, though. Yes, I listen to the weather forecast, but I also seem to be getting more of a feel for the moves. In past years we've found ourselves raking hay and feeling drops of rain on our shoulders, bewildered and thinking "it wasn't supposed to rain!"

I've learned that farming isn't about planning and executing plans so much as it is about participating. Farming is a team effort and our teammates are soil, chickens, plants, bacteria, and weather, to name a few. The weather is the teammate that really demands that we pay attention. I wonder if other folks got the lesson last year when rivers formed in enormous expanses of tilled fields planted in monoculture row crops?