I am a parent of five children. Each child is unique in their own way and as a parent, I need to be continually learning and adapting as I navigate each child's strengths and weaknesses which are out of my control. The only factor that I can control is how I react and respond in each situation. Farming is a lot like parenting in this respect. The Davison Family has been farming the same piece of land for almost 90 years! As you can imagine, there have been good years and bad. Bumper crops of apples during years like 2019 when the sun shone, the rain fell and everything went well stand out against many mediocre years, and a few devastating ones.
The reality of farming is this: many of our successes and failures are based on factors out of our control. That’s not to say that using  sustainable farming practices, tending our crops with care and taking pains to eradicate weeds and pests aren’t effective. They are, and we strive to grow the highest quality of fruits and vegetables possible. But when the hail falls it doesn’t discriminate between well tended crops and abandoned ones. When the heat dome settles in, crops everywhere are stressed. When the winter is too cold for too long the ramifications are felt by all trying to make a living growing food. These are uncontrollable factors.
This year we are seeing the effects of last year's summer heat and winter cold. Fruit trees set their buds for next year’s crop in the early summer. This year we have a light apple crop because last year the trees were too stressed by the heat to set many buds. We also have seen a dramatic impact of last winter's cold snap in our soft fruit trees. The apricot crop was light and the peaches did not produce any crop at all. However, like mentioned before, these are all products of factors out of our control. All we can do is choose how we are going to react and respond. We are choosing to be thankful for the apples hanging on the trees. The trees are enjoying a well deserved break this year and we are hopeful for a good  crop next year. We are thankful that the southern Okanagan did not get hit by the winter cold, so there are still peaches to be had in our beautiful valley. We are thankful for the last couple weeks of heat that have helped our vegetables grow. And we are very thankful for you, who continue to support us through the good years and bad!
Despite having little control there are a few things we can count on. One is that, just like each child is different, each year is different from the ones before. We will take whatever next year brings and try to learn through it. Another is that when things are out of our control they are never out of our God’s control. We can rest in that. And finally, people will always need food. So when there are years that are not as fun, we can still sleep at night knowing that we are contributing to feeding many. This is the lure of farming.
Rachel, For the Family |
