“Lucy’s belly started dropping yesterday,” Jim told me in a text. “She might start kidding soon.”

My heart skipped a beat. This was the coldest morning of winter. Temperatures were around -15. Wind chill warnings had been in effect since noon the previous day. Not the best conditions for a goat to give birth in a barn, nor for a man, however strong, to hustle a soon-to-be mama into a birthing space where it was warmer but isolated from the rest of the herd.

Still, the sun was shining, and the winds were supposed to die down by noon. And even though the day was expected to remain frigid, the next day was forecast to be much warmer.

“I hope she waits a day or two when it’s a little warmer,” I texted back.

I knew such hopes were futile because in life as well as death, when it’s time, it’s time.

Last fall, the Saratoga Farmers Market experienced a bout of profound grief. Three longtime farmers who were dear faces within the loosely knit community of vendors, shoppers, and the general public passed away. Nate Darrow, owner of Saratoga Apple, suffered a heart attack on September 20, 2022, and died that evening. Bob Pratt of Elihu Farm died about a month later, on October 27, from leukemia. One day later, John Otrembiak of Otrembiak Farm lost his fight against cancer and passed away peacefully. As news of these losses traveled via obituaries, condolence cards, and word of mouth, it was hard not to feel the heaviness.  

As many regular market customers remarked, it seemed as if an era had ended.

Indeed, one had. But life and death are parts of a shared cycle, as those who live close to Nature know. Losses of some, yield space for new beginnings for others. And, as spring approaches, we invite you to embrace the beginning of a new season – if not a new era – for the market.

The time of year when goats, lambs, cows, and other farm animals birth babies reminds me all too well of a statement that characterizes farm life: “Where there’s livestock, there’s death stock.” Every year of raising goats produces both.

A week before Lucy’s belly began to drop, Lily gave birth to healthy twins. But just before that, two others were born prematurely. 

Jim got them in blankets and with the help of a vet, they were able to suckle and take in milk. Jim kept them warm and bottle-fed them. They gained weight. It seemed that they might make it until their third day of life when their bodies gave out. 

I like to think less about their early deaths and more about their full lives of love, care, attentiveness, and warmth. For three days, their entire lives, they had it all. Their spirit lives on in all the other kids born this year, robust and strong. 

That was the message Nate’s family wanted us to take away from his Celebration of Life at the end of apple harvest season late last fall. That was part of John Otrembiak’s visitation, and a way to remember Bob Pratt’s kind eyes and soft voice. They lived full lives of love, care, attentiveness, and warmth – due at least partly to all who help make the farmers market community what it is. That spirit remains strong in the market’s new season.