Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column are not those expressed by The Mendocino Voice.
The length of a human life can be measured in different ways, one of which is in a small number of dogs. They say that there are seven dog years to one human year, but I think of it more in terms of seven dogs to one human life. Emma was the first dog that Amber and I got together almost thirteen years ago, and this week she took herself off into the woods to die.
It’s always surprising how much a loss that was expected and timely still hurts. For a large dog, Emma lived an incredibly long time, and her decline was evident. We all knew the time was coming, but that hasn’t made it easier. I’m realizing how much she was intertwined into the fabric of my life, from the farm basics of protecting the crops and preventing animal incursions to the deeper sense of companionship and constancy of her presence.
Last night I got home in the evening, and my eye caught on a silver and black hand truck out front and my first thought was “There’s Emma.” Then I remembered, and that realization hurt. The fact that she’s gone is still settling in, grief, sadness, and uncertainty about how to begin again. Do we get a puppy and deal with training on limited time schedules? We’ve been looking at shelter dogs, wondering if one would be right for our farm.
We’ve gotten lax about gates over the years because Emma was always on duty; she took her job seriously, guarding against deer, skunks, bears and all manner of other predators and hungry critters. She also took her job too seriously when it came to people, and her aggressive behavior was a lot to manage.
I have so many sweet memories of Emma that I will carry with me, just like I remember G’dye, the Australian Shepherd my folks had when I was little, or Hazel, the golden retriever who came next. Clancy was another Australian Shepherd, and then I briefly had a catahoula named Savannah. Emma was the first dog who lived out her whole life under my care, and I’m grateful for her time with us.
Though Emma is no longer here, the farm continues at full steam through the course of what we’ve come to refer to as May Madness. The full moon in May is when growth ramps up to a rapidity that surprises no matter how many years I’ve been through it. In a matter of a few days crops (and weeds) will change in size by so much that it can confound planning and overwhelm capacity.
We successfully scaled up our vegetable production this year, planting all of the cannabis terraces to veggies this spring and operating at full production earlier than ever before. I’m living the realization that growing more is only part of the puzzle, and there have been hard lessons for me in coordinating harvest plans and the time and space needed to bring it all in and get it packed for our market channels. The stress of added production rolls downhill, and I’m deeply grateful for the support of my friends and neighbors who come to help on the farm for bearing up through the added workloads.
The MendoLake Food Hub and the Farms Together grant-funded program to purchase from local farms and provide the produce to local food banks has made a big difference for us this spring. We’ve long made Laytonville food bank donations part of our crop planning and harvest plans, but the support of a broader program makes a big difference for the economics of our farm. This last week we did $2,500 between farmers markets, CSA and Food Hub sales, making a huge difference for us this time of year when we’re still facing heavy planting costs.
As May moves along, I’ll be starting the last rounds of hot crops this week with a few melons and a third succession of squash and basil. I’ll continue with the standard rotation of 10 trays of lettuces, Asian greens and salad turnips on 4” PaperPot spacing, then four trays of either scallions or beets on 2” spacing, and two trays of 6” spacing salanova lettuce and two trays of 6” bok choy, kale, collards or chard.
Once we cross the summer solstice, it will be back to starting heading brassicas again, and right now I’m waiting impatiently for cabbages to finish heading up in part so I have them to sell and in part because I covet the bed space they are occupying. I’m in a slight crunch with scallions and beets straining in their trays to get out into the ground, so I’m eyeballing crops that are edging towards the end of their life cycles to see where I can flip a bed and get to planting.
Despite the hectic nature of May on the farm, we’re also making time for enjoyment and celebration as we head off today to a wedding for two of our dearest friends and fellow farmers. I love living in an agricultural community, and I treasure the relationships that we build around shared values and the work of farming, tending, raising and the marketing and sales that must follow for the farm to be successful. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!
Casey O’Neill owns and runs HappyDay Farms, a small vegetable and cannabis farm north of Laytonville. He is a long time cannabis policy advocate, and was born and raised in the Bell Springs area. The preceding has been an editorial column. The Mendocino Voice has not necessarily fact-checked or copyedited this work, and it should be interpreted as the words of the author, not necessarily reflecting the opinions of The Mendocino Voice.
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