On the cusp

I look around the property here and see that we are on the cusp...this beautiful time of year when the yard is vibrating with new life everywhere.  All the fruit trees and berry bushes are in full bloom and are just moments from fruiting.  The grapes, cherry, apple and pear trees, the gooseberries, currants, and even our little fig tree are bursting with hopeful blossoms - and for us too, this is such a hopeful time of anticipation for the new growing season, and a time of making lists of new projects and plans for the summer. 

Asparagus & cherry blossoms

We really count the beginning of the growing season when our asparagus is ready for harvest. Once asparagus season arrives, then new varieties of local foods begin again in abundance, week by week, both in our garden and the local farmers market. Last week there was new spinach, this week asparagus, and then it's fiddleheads, soon fresh lettuces, peas, chard, bok choy, cherries, strawberries, and other spring/early summer bounty. This week we noticed that the asparagus, rhubarb and cherry blossoms are all coming out in full force in our yard! Beautiful!

An urban homestead can feel like it consists of constant to-do lists, especially once the growing season begins, and warmer weather allows for outside construction and outdoor projects that have been put on hold over the winter. My partner likes to remind me that a homesteading life is not just about these to-do lists but also about savouring the moments, enjoying what we have already created, taking time to finding wonder in new discoveries, appreciating a slowing down of the pace of life, and finding joy in the process of doing the work (ie. the joy is in the doing, not only to be measured by end goals and results). We hope to take this approach to life this spring and summer, despite all temptation to leap into all the projects that are at hand. Some things will inevitably have to wait until next year or the season after that - after all to everything there is it's own season, and not necessarily when we plan for it.