The winter
countenance of Restoration Farm is a silvery apparition of the buoyant, green
landscape of spring and summer. It is ethereal, yet still familiar. While the farm appears dormant, there is a
sense of quiet energy – a sense of life simmering beneath the camouflage of
mud, wood chips and rainwater.
Flocks of
small birds huddle in the bare trees, and even a robin redbreast darts across
the fields, suggesting that spring may be closer than it feels.
While the
past growing season is long concluded, one notes evidence of indefatigable kale
and kohlrobi.
A cold frame protects rosemary from the chilling temperatures.
The old red
barn stands stately in any season, a storage house for garlic and root
vegetables.
Donna Sinetar's hens keep a watchful eye.
The sheep,
kept by the historic village, huddle in their wooly winter coats.
Tractor
marks suggest evidence of human intervention.
Indeed, even
in January, the farm crew is hard at work, making repairs and building a new
frame for the blueberry bushes to replace the one damaged during Hurricane
Sandy.
At Apple
Trace, the heirloom saplings have shed their leaves, but the naked branches are
dotted with buds of optimism.
Far from
desolate, winter at Restoration Farm is a season of anticipation.
“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit
tree in winter. Who would think that
those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.”
Johann Wolfgang won Goethe
©2013 T.W.
Barritt All Rights Reserved
I love the old red barn!:
ReplyDeleteAlways winter is difficult to farms but after this arrive the spring and all is blossom:)
Is a lovely place. I dont know if you know when we arrive here a little yard (about 2 hectareas) only we had stones and hierbs and was in summer really difficult!
Now we have apples trees, almods, apricots trees, pears and grass of course and I love my roses that I plant.:)
Good Morning T.W!
ReplyDeleteRestoration Farm is looking quite comfortable while in winter's embrace. I was strolling through my garden just yesterday, and it too is quietly gaining the energy to once again explode with life.
Thank you so much for sharing...
P.S. A little birdie tells me it's your birthday tomorrow:) Wishing you a very Happy Birthday! Louise
I have this vision of you walking the Restoration Farm grounds with a heavy coat and boots, listening to the ground crisp under your feet. That was one of my favorite things about living in Pennsylvania growing up, while taking a winter hike through the woods. It'll be spring before you know it and all that brown will turn to green!
ReplyDeleteGloria, Thanks for sharing the story of your yard - it's nice to know there is hope for my apple trees!
ReplyDeleteLouise, Many thanks for the birthday wishes! It's amazing how you always remember! I think there is afternoon tea on the menu tomorrow.
Zany, You pictured it right, although in the end, the boots were pretty muddy and wet!
What a nice walk on the farm. I enjoyed it all.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many days I wake up and wish I wasn't in the city. Farms are insane work but what a joy to have the air and the satisfaction of growing things. Lovely reflection.
ReplyDeleteThe farm does look nice...so different from our orchard that has been covered in snow all month. Happy Birthday, T.W.
ReplyDeleteFun to see Restoration Farm at rest, T. W., even though there's plenty of human activity.
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed when I look at photos like these: no snow in the middle of January. I don't remember winters like that when I lived in Michigan! It's been a warmer winter in Florida as well.
I love the red barn. I have a thing for red barns. The farm looks so peaceful, as if it's taking a long nap until spring.
ReplyDeleteSam
So fun to see that, even in the midst of winter, there's so much activity and growth going on at your farm. And I second Louise's birthday wishes. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteForgot to wish you a Happy Birthday!!!
ReplyDeletePromise not to laugh. I find winter spare 3100farmscapes to be beautiful. Ours are usually shroud in mist but the fields begins to green in January and the birds come out of hiding - a sure sign that something we can't yet see is going on. Your photos are lovely. I hope all is well. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteI wish that we had a farm like this close by~it is the only way to get the best produce! As bare as it looks this time of the year,there is a lot going on! Even the chickens are supervising!
ReplyDeleteMother nature is always busy even if it appears dormant and quiet....Love this farm.
ReplyDeleteVelva