Spring Brings Joy

“Finding beauty in a broken world is creating beauty in the world we find.” – Terry Tempest Williams

Growth in the Garden Including The Sounds of Spring

There is so much that occurs in our Biodynamic® gardens in April. Each day, I am in awe of the shift of growth that the garden undergoes in Spring. Early in the season, I find myself gently pushing aside plants that yesterday are still shaking off their winter dormancy. Bird songs have increased in volume, accompanied by the hum of native bees, and the zip of hummingbirds. In late winter, it feels like a hunt for all the small treasures in the garden. I marvel at the simplicity of snowdrop flowers and the emerging daffodils. During April in the biodynamic garden, I am showering in the exuberance of flowers with tulips, hyacinths, and cherry blossoms all jostling for my admiration.

Symbolically, Spring is often a time of renewal, a season of rebirth. With longer days in April, I find myself spending most of my time outside immersing myself in the abundance of growth of the biodynamic garden. When it starts to rain, I tuck into the greenhouse. I observe all the changes to what I have planted. Hope greets me in the form of emerging seedlings, with fresh green shoots and newly formed leafs signaling a promise of harvest. I set out the kohlrabi and cabbage seedlings, planting them into the fresh compost of the garden beds. This makes space for the basil and squash seedlings that will take their place in the greenhouse.

Gardening, Like Life, Requires Balance

For me, Spring is a surrender to all the joys of the season. With the garden growing so quickly, I take time to look carefully at all the corners of the garden. Maybe this way I can catch the snap pea in the act of climbing the trellis? As I write this, I am sure that the unruly hops have already clambered over the marjoram in the herb garden, waiting for me to patiently untangle its shoots. The adage that “time flies” is never more present for me than in Spring. It is a sweet melancholy that overtakes me. Nostalgia is born from the wish to slow it all down so I can truly give thanks for each tulip and each hyacinth.

As we tend to our gardens, we are constantly in a balancing act of enjoying the blooms and songs that surround us, while also planning for the future growth of plants and the garden as a whole. If I am to sit all day and enjoy the tulip blooms, forgetting the patch of weeds that have overtaken the garlic, my garlic harvest, come June, will be stunted. However, if I am bogged down in all that is to be weeded, forgetting to lift my head to admire the hummingbirds drinking from the pink flowering currants, then I forget what pulls me to the garden in the first place. This balancing act is true in all facets of life. We must enjoy the present while taking time to plan for the creation of meaningful lives.

Farm to Table

This month, our tasting room menu features the following items from the Brooks Estate garden: kale, parsley, carrots, radish, mint, flowering mustard, and spring greens

With love from the Garden- Shannon