Happy Agrarian New Year!

 A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about why the old agrarian calendar makes more sense to me than our modern commercial calendar. The roots of that old calendar go back to the ancient Hebrews and Babylonians, and trace their way up until the mid-1700s, when the new calendar was finally adopted by the last of the hold-outs—farmers. Follow the link above for details. Because most of what Dan and I do is so seasonal, this old calendar makes sense. Plus, I confess that the commercial new year in January holds no emotional significance for me. So, the agrarian calendar just feels right.

In my part of the country, March 1st makes a good beginning of the food growing year. We’re roughly six weeks out from last frost, so it’s time to get in gear. We’re just coming out of winter—the season of rest (Ha!)—which is a good time to reflect and evaluate. It’s also a good time to plan. When March dawns, spring is in the air and it’s time to get busy!

Everything revolves around seasonal chores, of course. In spring, it’s soil preparation and planting, which includes both garden and pasture. Summer is busy with harvest and preservation, and is also when Dan works on wood for the following winter. Toward the end of summer, there’s a fall garden and winter pasture to plant. Harvest and preservation finally taper off in autumn, which is the season to prepare for winter.

After the week’s seasonal chores have been tended to, it’s project time! Here’s what we hope to accomplish this year:

• Fencing. This includes maintenance, repair, and new. The new is around the buck barn and chicken yard. Maintenance and repair are everywhere else.
• Outdoor Kitchen. We’ve talked about this for years, and the ideas and plans are finally coming together. Details soon.
• Heat stove. We’re looking at replacing our soapstone stove with a masonry stove. More on this one of these days.

Of course, everything is weather permitting. However, we have a nice mix of both outdoor and undercover projects to always be working on something. That’s a good feeling.