Moving Forward

    It's been just a week since Justin and I buried Chase our New Zealand White buck and I have found that the time has passed rather quickly. There is still a lot to do on the farm, rabbit kits are growing well and it will be time to process them soon, kale planted a few weeks ago is growing steadily and will be ready to harvest in about a month. We have been harvesting raspberries at a break neck clip and the freezer now has twelve pounds of wonderful sun ripened fruit which will be used to make jam, iced cream and an assortment of baked goods. Decisions still need to be made as well, I need to decide if I'll breed the does one more time before the weather becomes too cold and this then would involve borrowing a friend's buck again since Issac is too young for the task. I also need to decide when the remaining plants should be pulled out, wondering if they have produced their last good crop. I am, at times, hesitant to make those choices simply because it's taken so much time and effort to get the good yields we have had this year. I love the taste of fresh vine ripened tomatoes and hate to give up on the last few green fruits, believing that they'll still turn that beautiful red orange color that indicates they'll taste wonderful. The forecasts have called for colder weather and this will slow all the ripening processes, the sun really isn't hitting most of the garden like it did during the peak of the growing season and I think to myself, it's time to move forward.

     I think time seems to pass more quickly this time of year because the days are now much shorter than they were in mid-June, three hours shorter. There is also still a lot to do, manure needs to be dumped on the garden plots and tilled in, the remaining garden plants need to be chopped up and composted, sun chokes need to go in the ground for next year's harvest. We have a chicken coop that needs to be assembled and feeding and watering vessels need to be purchased ahead of the planned arrival of six hens next spring. I sometimes like to linger on the patio on days when the sun is still high and strong enough to warm my skin and give me the impression there might be time for one more taste of summer. During those moments on the patio I also see the shadows growing longer by the minute and realize it's time to move forward.

     Kathy and I have done a lot during this growing season; we've learned a lot too. We are already having some discussion about what the garden areas will hold next year but Kathy usually reminds me that the time for such planning is January because there is still much to do now. We have also talked about our failures and successes and what we learned from them. We will replant some vegetables right where they were this year, it's hard to argue with success, but some will need to be planted elsewhere or abandoned completely. While I engage in these success and failure discussions in my head I still think about Chase. I have left the hutch door down where he lived all this week, the floor needs to be bleached and all his feeding implements scrubbed. When I walk by that open door I think about what I've learned, where I failed and succeeded. I have learned a lot about raising rabbits from Chase, not just having rabbits but raising them. I succeeded in producing good quality litters, we learned how to deal with crazy cold weather and keep all the rabbits alive. I failed to recognize when something was wrong with Chase until it became too late but that to is a lesson, now I know what to watch for and I will not be caught off guard again. I also learned that I have feelings for my animals and this is not all bad because it makes me care more about their well being. An animal well taken care of is an animal that will end up being good produce and it will not suffer in my care. I walk by the hutches and watch Isaac growing into a good looking buck and feel happy knowing that Chases' blood line was saved. I realize that farm is growing the way that we want it to and as I look at the empty hutch that Chase was in I feel happy about what I've learned and about knowing that this hutch will soon house a new doe from his blood line. I think about all of our lessons, failures, successes, and growth and I realize it's time to be moving forward.