One of the many benefits of the House Wren is – like a morning Rooster – they keep you from sleeping in too long. However, having had many roosters over the years, I prefer the chatty voice of the morning wren. In actuality they are not the first to wake; robins are the harbingers of dawn. Some mornings I swear they get going before dawn! And in the evening, robins are one of the last to bid the day farewell. A bird of many moods and voices, the Robin never ceases to amaze me with its beautiful songs. It’s evening song at times can be the most urgent, and sorrowful at the same time. Alas, here we are with the birds again…
Birds can tell us a lot about the health of a place, as fish can with a stream. When I see a multitude of birds out in our fields it gives me a boost, and makes me think that the soils are alive and things are “good in the hood” so to speak. Time will soon tell because as I tap these notes as the full Flower Moon begins to fade, I recently finished sowing our first field of our Einka einkorn for the Spring. I always try and use the power and pull of the full moon in hopes the high energy within will give the seeds extra vigor. Once again, we worked the select out our top grade seedstock here at Bluebird – mostly in thanks to our lead Steve White who has perfected our seed-cleaning line – and made sure I had top shelf, high density grain to fill our grain drill with.
Given the mild spring, soil temperatures are plenty warm enough for germination despite sowing seed. The first week in May is on the earlier side for us up here against the North Cascades. Combined with all the residual moisture from the heavy late-fall rains, ground that never really froze and following our heavy cover crop of winter peas, I expect a great stand to pop up here any day. Of course, Mother Nature could once again prove me wrong. I will soon let you know! There is also the off-chance that it may start raining one of these days, too! We didn’t get a drop the whole month of April after the first couple days. Not unusual here. Our spring rains often come in the second half of May, and in June.
Spring in the Methow is rivaled by nowhere that I know of. This marks my 33rd year farming here in the Methow and with the varying green hillsides of bunchgrasses, the lime-green of fresh popping aspen leaves, the full bloom of balsamroot and lupine the air is filled with the sweet, poignant smell of the earth’s juices. Blessed we are. It is an easy reminder to this farmer to treat our Earth with the up-most of respect and grace and this is sometimes conflicting as I have mentioned before because “farming, per se, is an invasive activity. While this is not lost on me, it is one reason we began Bluebird with the ancient emmer and soon added the even more ancient einkorn. These are wild varieties and are gentler on the earth for the nutrition that they give us. While not big yielding grains that our modern farm systems strive for, nutrient-wise they are a power punch of vitality per gram. Truth to tell. This is one reason we coined the phrase here at Bluebird: Ancient Grains for Modern Times.
Farm Bill update… Argh! I will try not to sink here. It is no secret that “modern Agriculture” is up against the wall for a madrid of reasons. However, the recent 850 page version of the 20326 Farm Bill has passed the House as of the final day in April, and is on the way to the Senate. Some refer to it as a “skinny bill” but it contains 12 titles and endless provisions and sections and… well, in large, continues to prop up a broken food system with our tax dollars even as 41% more farms went out of business last year than the previous.
One bright spot is the li-service paid to Local Farm to Community Program wherein where the USDA must enter into cooperation with groups that support local producers with the distribution of fresh and frozen produce – at least 25% of the time. Funding this remains unclear? Meanwhile, how about organic provisions…? Ha, even the small cost-share program some of us Organic Farmers partook in so far has disappeared. That is, help with our certification fees, or as I like to say “penelty” for growing organic! I would say the very best news from the bill is that many of our legislators held strong and did not let Bayer Crop Sciences off the hook with all the Round-up lawsuits by passing the provision that would lay the blame on the users. Complicated, but this would have been a huge loop-hole. As MAHA stands in the shadows, both at odds, and caving into the current Administration. And, so forth.
Meanwhile back at the Ranch…