Grow Where You're Planted

.The jam kitchen.

.Honey, eggs, and jam for sale at the farm.

.My house.

.Our chickens are artists.

Saying goodnight to a clean kitchen.

I drank a pint of maple sap. So what?

Poor guy.

.Making seedless raspberry jam.

.Steaming black currants for jam.

.The cidery is dormant.

.Tying up grapes.

"Grow where you're planted". This kind of hit home (no pun intended) when I read it because of the whole back and forth from city to farm thing. It can be so unsettling, but the adjusting is building my character more and more. My dad sympathized with me in recognizing that instead of rising to the occasion and saying I have two homes, I'm feeling like I have none. I'm going to make the best out of this; It's kinda the best of both worlds really. ..

I think I've done pretty well with creating my own sunshine and staying positive this winter, but honestly I'm struggling a little lately. February and March are by far the hardest months to get through in Upstate NY. That said, It was so nice to go home and work with the fruits of our labor (from the freezer); steaming black currants, seeding red raspberries, and making jam. Spooning this thawed berry mush into my mouth made me smile; food for the soul! Knowing that my family and I planted the baby raspberry canes, that Linford and Brother John (who are now in Jamaica) picked the berries, and that Noelle, Marissa, and I sorted and smashed them makes me pretty emotional. I love working in the jam kitchen- blasting music, drinking too much coffee, and cranking the seeder round and round until my arm is numb; steaming up all the windows in the process.

I also tied up the grapes, already pruned by my mama while listening to two chainsaws in the apple orchard either side of me. Last year when I did this I was in my bikini, having a beer on St. Patrick's Day ( I know I was pushing it, but it was warm enough and my skin was thirsty for sunshine). What does this mean? We're ahead of schedule and Talea is a machine!

We're not making any syrup, but Adam did tap a maple tree by the pond for his "water break" when pruning. I found the jar overflowing with sap, so you better believe I sipped on it. Isn't it funny how we close our eyes when something feels or tastes good? Like if we eliminate one sensory element, the others are intensified? Anyway, I closed my eyes and "mmm" 'ed so enthusiastically, two little birds should have landed on my shoulder like in Disney princess movie.