11/30/2025
We spent the first part of this week digging our nursery trees and it would seem, none too soon. After digging in a t-shirt on Wednesday, we woke up to the first few inches of snow on Friday morning and next week may very likely have our first night in the single digits.
This time of year is always a difficult transition for me. As much as I want to embrace the impending cold and dark and hunker down by the wood stove, there always seems to be a long list of tasks I MUST complete before snow flies and the ground freezes. Digging trees is almost always at the top of the list and if I am lucky, we are graced with enough mild weather in December to complete most of the rest of the tasks on the list.
But in years like this, when winter makes an earlier than expected arrival, “must get done” often turns to “could get done” and then finally to “won’t get done”. I find myself at odds with the seasonal transition I used to love. As a child, I always felt excitement and wonder at the first snow. Now, more often than not, it feels like an inconvenience. I don’t particularly enjoy this antagonistic relationship I have developed with the changing seasons and the weather in general.
I find myself wanting to farm in a more harmonious way, where I less often feel like I am working against the weather and instead moving with it. Some of this may mean changing farming practices, but I have a feeling a good deal of what needs to change is in my own head. Acceptance of what is and meeting myself where I am instead of where I think I should be. I’m not going to lie, it’s a struggle. I welcome any other farmer folk out there sharing how they deal with the change of seasons and the unpredictability of weather.
For now, I’m just happy to report that almost all our trees are safely tucked away for winter (we’ll dig the last 100 or so tomorrow). If you are dreaming about planting already, you can find our complete spring 2026 bare root inventory on our website (link in bio).
To cap off the last big day of digging (and maybe fall as well), we got a rainbow and a stunning sunset. Here’s to embracing the inevitable!
