I am looking back to see if the barley is coming out of the shoots and being drilled into the soil – The 1950’s John Deere grain drill is over 60 years old. We are moving through drilling barley to an 18 acre field behind the farmhouse. We plowed this land and then disk harrowed 7 times. It is a very sacred process to see the earth transformed as we spread manure, a gift from the pigs, plow and disk harrow, always stopping to pick rocks and fill the bucket on the front of the tractors. We are constantly aware of the rain and how dry or wet the day will be. On this day, I keep driving through two thunderstorms, lightening on the distant hills. 7 pm, the first rain came hard, it was not expected until 10 pm and so I was moving though it, no raincoat. I was soaked and stood up on the tractor to stay a bit dryer, and kept driving as the soil was not being hurt yet by the impact of the tractor’s weight. We had to get this done because the seeds needed time to germinate, and the moist, warm soil was an ideal incubator for this. Barley has to be planted early, by May 20 Jack tells me. Through the day, the fragrance of the Balm of Gilead poplars kept drifting over the fields. The honey bees and the Order of Hymenoptera will be draw to this resin in the air. For a beekeeper, this is also intoxicating. Spring is here. This barley will be the second ingredient in our Thornhill Farm rye whiskey, a partnership with Caledonia Spirits, be sprouted for the pigs and enable us to grow all of their food, and also be offered to breweries and bakeries.
