It has certainly been an old fashioned winter on the farm. We have been covered in snow since Christmas and it seems to be just accumulating. The drifts are higher than my head and I don’t remember when the temps were above freezing. It reminds me of my childhood winters in buffalo. I grew up in a corner house of our block and the snow plow would leave his massive pile right on our lawn. There are pictures of me with snow mountains two and three times my height. My children are going stir crazy inside. We take them out for ten minutes at a time, bundled up with barely and inch of skin showing because the wind chill on the hill is so bitter. We sled down our driveway until we cant feel our finger tips and then run back inside. We warm up some hot cocoa and take turns huddling around the word stove rotating our bodies like rotisserie chicken until we are back to normal temperature. Its fun but its also exhausting.
Chores are kept abbreviated, lots of extra bedding for the animals, extra grain for the horse and thawing the waterers. Sometimes the tractor gels up, sometimes parts of the barn will freeze and then milking chores take a little longer.
I haven’t started planning my garden yet, I am later than usual but my mind just isn’t ready yet. Embracing the home-stay that winter demands I have enjoyed more luxury activities like writing for fun and re-watching old movies.
In the farm store we have kept busy. Our single origin coffee is brewing on the regular now and it is such a treat. Fresh baked goods arrive every Tuesday and the smell of the cinnamon raison sourdough is divine. We also started bringing in fresh cut flowers to make up for the lack of sunlight. Every other week a large box arrives with vibrant blooms from a greenhouse that remind me of summer. Pink carnations, white roses, delicate greenery, babies breath and sprays of berries all delicately arranged into a stunning table arrangement.
As the fresh milk abounds we are so thankful for all of you that have braved the winter to come visit us on the farm. The dreadful cold makes it hard to travel yet our customers have only increased in this cold” year-long” month of January. You bring so much warmth to our hearts with your smiles and friendly conversations.
It won’t be winter forever. The days are already stretching a little longer, and soon the sun will climb high enough to soften the snowbanks. For now, we settle into the season, embracing its stillness and its demands, knowing that beneath the frozen ground, life is waiting to stir again.
Thank you for being part of our farm family, for braving the cold, for sharing your stories, and for filling our little store with warmth when the wind outside howls. We look forward to the days when muddy boots replace snow boots and when the first green shoots remind us that spring always comes.
Until then, we’ll keep the coffee brewing, the fire crackling, and the milk flowing, ready to welcome you whenever you find your way up our snowy hill.
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