Stunning, crisp, cloudless winter days closed out the long month of January. The holidays are past, daylight lengthens, and the solitude of mid-winter permeates the land. Deep and star-studded night skies: owls at dawn and dusk; lively chickadees, nuthatches and finches in the brilliant afternoon sun; coyotes throughout. Hard as winter is on many creatures, I can’t help but love it as much as any other season. One season, of course, is not the same without the others.
With the late fall rain followed by the snow cycle that lasted until January our soils are cozily tucked in and insulated for the remainder of winter. Weather cycles tend to last a long time in the Valley here. Although high pressure with zero at night; teens during the day was the norm for much of January, snow is beginning to fall again here to start the short month of February. Hard to know how much precipitation we will get out of this incoming cycle, but we remain grateful for what we already have. This month’s full Wolf Moon is less than two weeks away. Maybe if we are fortunate we will finally get to hear the howl of a wolf from our back steps, to go along with the other nighttime sounds I previously mentioned?
Here at the Farm we’ve held off running any of the milling equipment most days until late morning or afternoon as equipment always is more fretful once the mercury drops below 10.
Our daily schedule typically shapes out to be packaging and shipping in the mornings, and milling and filling in the afternoons. So far, we’ve been able to keep up with orders, and the cold will moderate sometime this month I suspect.
I didn’t miss the constant snowplowing and yard clearing last month! Trucks are able to get in and out of our yard easily now, taking our Bluebird goods far and wide. Our website continues to be busy and our faithful wholesale customers keep us cranking along on bulk orders. We are thankful to all. As more and more folks think about where their food comes from, and look to a consistent, reliable supply of a quality product, I feel we are well staged here at Bluebird to meet this demand. We have always promoted, and continue to support this sort of food ethic.
Meanwhile, “Big Ag’ is facing many challenges with well known equipment manufacturing companies structuring vast worker lay-offs; meat processing and packing plants closing down; government hand outs in question… uncertain times indeed. The Farm Bill extension will come up again before spring, and tariff talk could play a significant role in export/import. While this all feels a long way away from Bluebird as I sit and type these notes while watching the setting sun, “Farm Policy”, I realize, affects us all. Again, I’m grateful so many of you know the importance of sustainably raised, fresh foods. Fair labor compensation, community-base decision making, and embracing change is all part of true Regenerative Agriculture. As we enter our 20th year, Bluebird looks forward to continuing its role on the leading edge of farm to table food. This was our beginning; this is our future.
Embrace the calm of the season. Breaking bread around the family table – the friend table – the community table couldn’t be any more important than it is now as we move full-swing into 2025.
Cheers,
Your Farmer, Sam