Farming in the shade

For well over a month now, those around me have been wishing for spring and grumbling (yes, GRUMBLING) about winter. I have been enjoying the slower pace of winter--I actually read a few books, and made a small dent in my magazine pile. I wove a bit (and cut up a lot of blue jeans) and even managed to get sick and need lots of rest at least twice. So it hasn't been me doing the Come Hither, Spring! dance. While I have to admit that the longer days and sunshine and singing birds have been working me over, one of the main things I really don't like about Spring is the in-between stage. The messy, muddy stage. Like when you walk into the back of the sheep barn, and find water. No animals live in the flooded part, but floods tend to get worse if you ignore them. So The Farmer went hunting to see if he could help alleviate the problem. Ah, yes. The ditch was full of snow, which didn't allow any of the standing water to drain off. It was time to start digging. This ...