By Heather Retberg, Quills End Farm
The cold of December arrived this week, and with it a reprieve from the mud that has plagued us on the ridge for a couple of months. In warm and wet October and November, the coming cold seemed impossible, like the present was to remain that way forever.
No matter the season, I make adjustments that seem permanent. I don’t think of feeding hay in June, even though that is when it is made. It seems then that the grass will last forever. I gleefully move the cows through the fields and watch the beauty of ruminants being ruminants.
The wisdom of the seasons thwarts my complacency, however, and moves everything along as should be. And so I adapt. After a couple of days, what was new becomes normal and lends a sense of permanence in an impermanent world.
For now, the cold invigorates me and keeps me mud-free as I tend to the hogs. This is fantastic. For now, the cold also adds time to the day, as hauling water, setting up feed, and tending critters takes more time and care than in the summer and early fall. This calls me to patience.
Finally, the season seems as it should be. December ushers in the cycle of dormancy to our lives with its refreshing starts to the days, its stunning late sunrises and way too early sunsets to bookend the light and the darkness.
Editor’s note: Phil continues to write “View from the Farm” while Heather recovers from her surgery. Send her a card/note at Quill’s End Farm, 192 Front Ridge Road, North Penobscot ME 04476
Heather and Phil Retberg and their three children run Quill’s End Farm, a 105-acre property in Penobscot that they bought in 2004. They use rotational grazing on their fifteen open acres and are renovating thirty more acres from woods to pasture to increase grazing for their pigs, grass-fed cattle, lambs, laying hens, and goats. Heather is Vice President of Halcyon Grange #345 and writes a newsletter for their farm’s buying club of farmers in her area and has generously given us permission to share some of her columns with Grangers. Visit the Quill’s End Farm Facebook Page for more information.