Winter on the farm, or what do you mean I don't have winters off?

What do farmers do during the winter "off" season? Well let me first start by saying that I was tricked when I said I wanted to join the family business and quit teaching middle school Literature. You see, I am used to having a job with set hours of 7-4, except for the few crazy months when I directed/choreographed the school musical, I would be home in time to make a decent dinner and I always had at least 8 weeks off in the summer...until I moved back home to TN from DC and my summers "off" were working on the farm. Farms don't have set hours- you work until the job is done, even if it's 10pm and you've been working since 6am. When I began work full time on the farm (not just summers) I stupidly assumed that I had switched one off season for another and that I would have winter as my new summer. Not so. Yes the days are shorter, and I'm not doing four Farmers markets during the week, but as Dad pointed out recently, the warehouse has electricity, and with electricity comes lights, so really we can continue working after dark! Darn. I have learned a hard lesson: farmers don't get summer OR winter vacations. This winter we have been busy with Whole Foods orders, restaurants, grocery stores and Saturday Farmers Markets. We planted in the hoop houses last Fall and yesterday I weeded the lettuce and kale in the smaller one while the farm crew put new plastic on the larger ones. It took about a week to complete installation of the plastic roof, doors and sides in the one acre hoophouse. Today we began construction on a new greenhouse. It will take a few more days to complete and then we have two more to build. By the time all the greenhouses are built it will be time to begin seeding the Spring and Summer plants.

Brandon, my fiance', began work full time on our farm this week. We wrapped up the cleaning of his farm and leased fields last week in Gallatin where his grandparents will take over the business. Brandon was terrific today in the building of the greenhouse. He brought fresh ideas to the table and ideas that he tried on his farm that were successful in greenhouse production. This evening after a long day we all went out to eat and afterwards Brandon said, "Amy, I love your family, they're good people." Yes, I agree. Maybe farming makes good people. You can't work the land and have such literal back breaking days that leave you sore all over and still want to get up the next day and do it all over again and not come out of it unchanged. You learn to love the land, despite the challenges nature sometimes throws at you (ie floods or droughts), you care for nature, you care for the work, you care for the people who will benefit from that work. That's what makes good people, and I'm proud to be a member of the farming community.
-Amy