Age 5 at the time, our son stated his wisdom with such wide-eyed excitement and innocence: “Mom, the groundhog saw his shadow, and now there are 16 more weeks of winter!”
“What?!” I replied.
His older sister quickly corrected his statistics.
“Oh yeah, six weeks,” he said.
That sounded better but not much. While the kids may not fully embrace the harshness of that winter more than 10 years ago, the adults did. And I don’t know an adult who would wish for even six more days of that 2014 winter laden with high heating bills, busted water pipes, frozen livestock waterers and cancellations.
See more: Windy City Mushroom Spawns a Taste for Gourmet Mushrooms
Dad fought to keep cattle waterers open with accessible water in subzero temperatures. Our rural homes consumed propane heating fuel faster than calories at Christmas. And before Valentine’s Day, the kids counted seven weather-related days off school. The teachers repeatedly rescheduled the 100th-day celebration.
Aside from that year’s extreme chill, a typical late winter in Illinois farm country is like Mother Nature’s ninth month of pregnancy. She is uncomfortable, emotional and craves salt-tinged sloppy roads until she gives birth to the beauty of tulips, budding trees and green grass.
Farm
Q&A With Klein’s Farm & Garden Market Owner
Third-generation farmer Matt Klein runs Klein’s Farm & Garden Market with his family, growing a variety of vegetables and flowers from seed.
The temperature bounces between freezing and thawing. Our gravel roads turn into a soft and sloppy mess at every warmup. Snow melts to expose a landscape color like what my daughter would create when she dipped her paintbrush in every watercolor before touching the paper. That same color painted our vehicles, making motorists at the car wash less worthy in line.
But in anticipation of spring, boxes of corn and soybean seed sit in the shed ready for appropriate soil conditions. Every piece of farm equipment that operates in warm-weather activities, such as planting, spraying and haying, takes turns in the farm shop for maintenance. We notice the daylight hours grow longer and sense the renewal of life as we enjoy early spears of asparagus, Easter egg hunts, the annual FFA banquet and calves in the pasture.
The feelings of hope and faith in this new season bring spring to our lives faster than a shadowless groundhog.
See more: On the Farm, Spring Renewal Starts Before the Equinox
About the Author: Joanie Stiers farms with her family in west-central Illinois, where they grow corn, soybeans, wheat, hay and cover crops and raise beef cattle, backyard chickens and farm kids.
