January – the month of new

Many people tend to say that January is the longest month of the year, which I think is great as it gives you long enough time to prepare your mindset for the year. This month is beneficial to plan and prepare for the upcoming year. January also gives us time to work on things we might have missed during the busy harvest season.

The wheat harvest occurs in November, and during that time nothing stands still on the farm. Everyone has their responsibility and works together as a team to make the harvest process run smoothly. After this buzzing month, we as a family enjoy going to the Garden Route for a beach holiday. There we can shut down and just enjoy the sunshine and cool weather. When we come back in the beginning of January we are overwhelmed with the heat.

In the farming industry there is never a time that no one is harvesting. When we are finished with the grain, grape farmers start their season. Our farm lies in between many grape and viticulture farmers, so we are always blessed with fresh grapes and our fridge overflows. This is always the beauty of a farming community – everyone loves gifting of what they have in overflow. It is a common concept to gift your neighbours with fresh fruit, and we always accept it with a thankful heart. We also have our own vegetable garden, and we delight in our oddly shaped tomatoes and oversized cucumbers.

Things rarely happen exactly the same way on a farm, and we are yearly thrown with new “lemons” and need to adjust a few things to make lemonade. Therefor we love the month of January. It gives us time to think of new plans as well as solutions. Plus, we get to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables while we make plans.