Country Dreamin’

Sunset, overlooking my neglected asparagus!

A bright, crisp midwinter day at Berryridge Farm…a red-tailed hawk sailing overhead, air so pure you can almost taste the sweetness, the peaceful quiet enfolding you…but right now, I can only dream about it.

I’m back to caregiving, staying in the middle of a bustling town. There’s a busy state highway only 2 short blocks away, and all day long you hear sirens, the rumble of trucks, the hiss of the tour bus as it squeezes down our narrow street. Less than 2 feet separates this house from the neighbor’s, and you can hear their dog barking through the walls. 

My least favorite part of city life: Tuesday is trash collection, with the banging and crashing of bins getting dumped before 7 am…but happily, that will soon be over. 

Any other January, I would be fretting about all the fall chores I never got around to. Beds unweeded, compost piling up that I didn’t get a chance to lay down, piles of leaves ready to grind up for mulch. But this year, heading into February, I’m eager to get to the jobs I couldn’t do earlier…and since I’ve been away so much, there are far more of these tasks than ever before:

Clear away the dead asparagus ferns, spread composted chicken January over the rows;

Weed the tomato beds, which have had exposed soil all through the worst winter weather;

Gathering up the brush from newly cleared ground, that we should have done last spring;

Clean the chicken coop and pen from stem to stern, and lay down fresh wood chips…

John took on the double Douglas fir

And that’s only the beginning. I should be stressed about all the work I’ve got to tackle, but I actually can’t wait! John bucked up the double-trucked fir that the winter storms took down, which created a new task. 

But that’s okay, because there’s tons of fir boughs to collect for the chipper. My coop housecleaning job will need LOTS of wood chips, and the fragrant fir will help freshen up the coop.

By the first of the week, I’ll be back in my tatty but trusty Carharrts, digging in!

Thanks to John for the pics!