Most people think the farm shuts down in winter. It slows, yes — the harvest gets leaner, the rows go quiet, and there's snow where there used to be tomatoes. But for us, winter is one of the most productive seasons. It's just a different kind of productive.
Winter is when we fix fences that broke in October and never got patched. It's when we drag out the seed catalogs and circle varieties we've been meaning to try for three years. It's when we plan crop rotations for spring, decide which beds need to rest, and lay down cover crops that will feed the soil while we rest our backs.
Our animals still need care every single day. The chickens don't know it's cold. Neither do the cows. So the routine continues — just with more layers, frosted water buckets, and a general appreciation for anyone who invented insulated barn boots.
There's a stillness in winter that forces you to think. On a farm, you can get so caught up in the doing that you forget to ask why. Winter gives you the quiet to ask those questions. Why are we growing this? Are we pricing it fairly? Is this sustainable — for the soil, for us, for our customers? We always come out of winter with better answers than we went in with.