I’ve had my head buried in seeds these past days. Visions of summer fields swaying with color and the abundance of the summer table swim in my head. The winter mood outside my door is demonstrably lightened on these cold and quiet January days. It’s as if the warmth and smells of the summer descend, if only in my mind, to kiss my cold, winter body.
The temptations of seed ordering are endless, and the choices boundless. I am particularly taken with the flavors and colors of the solanum family - tomatoes, eggplants and peppers - which signal the late summer harvest. To the tomato order, I’ve added a yellow beefsteak this year, Dr. Wyche’s Yellow, which the seed provider says offers a “robust flavor and meatier texture…gorgeous fruits to command attention on your BLT”. Ah, the pure, sensory joy of summer.
The flower category is even more confounding. I love the summer annuals and their vibrant color palettes. I’m somewhat overwhelmed by the beauty of all of them. And then, there are the very important purposes they play, providing food and pollinator forage. I want to plant them all, in masses, in neat rows in our field, if not to sell, then for our own enjoyment and the enjoyment of our neighbors, whose daily walk to the River bears witness to the growing efforts we cultivate with such abandon in the summer months.
It’s no secret to my family that I have a hard time selecting anything. Here, in the seed catalogue my indecision is on full display. I am left to let a rational understanding of what grows well in our soils and adds beauty to our summer farm share boxes as my guide for seed selection. I can’t help but stray, though, into new, as yet untried varieties. My aspiration to be disciplined is no match for the seduction of the seed.
And so it begins. With time and the change of season, our farm will begin to unfold its lush summer character, and we will again enjoy the cycle of work that defines the growing season. If you live in Columbia County, watch here for news, particularly the launch of our Grown and Gathered farm share program next month. And if you don’t, watch anyway. It’s sure to be a beautiful, ebullient, and enthusiastic glimpse of life as it unfolds on our Hudson Valley farm; a story of a season told countless times over centuries by the generations of farmers who work and live here.
