November is a time we think ahead to as a great vacation month, a time to wind down and recollect ourselves after a full and busy season. That idea held true when we lived in Alaska or worked on other people’s farms. But this year, we are setting our sights on January instead. Though seeding, transplanting and weeding have come to an end, cold-hardy greens and carrots are tucked under low-tunnels in the field, growing ever so slowly while protected from frost for our winter CSA. In the field, turkeys still gobble and wobble on pasture, though their time is coming soon: on Monday they will be processed, the last of our Thanksgiving food harvested. Our Icelandic Sheep are now split into two groups: one in the barnyard and one on pasture, each with a ram for breeding. And of course, the layers still cluck away, giving us eggs daily. The big project keeping us moving, though, is the barn. All the rafters are up, and now Edge has turned his attention to the roof, ordering materials and getting ready to close the building in. Meanwhile, I have just started working back at High Mowing Organic Seeds three days a week.
As we work, Waylon grows. I savor Thursdays, when we are together again after I work at HMS early in the week. He is almost rolling over, looking around constantly, exploring the world more each day, and smiling all the time. Next year we joke that we’ll have a little farm helper, though secretly I envision Waylon pulling me away from the work of the farm to explore all the life in a summer field and forest. But we are not there yet. Now we are here, a cozy family on a November morning, wood stove crackling, eggs and tea filling our bellies, the work of the day yet to begin.