Planting and Harvest

This song is meant as a tribute to long enduring relationships, to love and partnerships that last through thick and thin. “I vow to love you even through planting and harvest” is a saying on a little hand painted sign that hangs in the kitchen of my family’s farmhouse. I first spotted the sign at a western goods store in Missouri several years ago while driving back to New York from Moab, Utah, and bought it for my parents’ anniversary that year. I stared at that sign every time I came home to visit, and knew there was a song in there somewhere.
Growing up on a farm, planting and harvest are the two most stressful seasons of the year, with the longest hours (even by farming standards!) and the most intense time, weather, and financial pressures all converging at once. The window to get crops in the ground and the window to get them harvested are pretty much make-or-break, and the results can determine the success or failure of an entire year’s hopes and efforts. Needless to say, this puts a great deal of strain on any relationship during those times (I’m sure other industries have equivalent situations – I know the music business does)!
The song is from the point of view of a couple looking back on all they’ve weathered together, reminiscing about the past and wondering about what the future holds: “…guess we’ll keep on working ’til there’s nothing left to look after, though the winter’s getting warmer and the summer’s never been more strange. But the swallows are still shoving mud up into the rafters, and we’ve been weathering storms since back before they all had names…”
It’s an ode to resilient love and the work that goes into making a lasting relationship, about commitment to the land, to the lifestyle, and to each other through it all.
The song features Leigh Gibson (The Gibson Brothers) on harmony vocals, Cody Kilby (Travelin’ McCourys) on mandolin and resonator guitar, and Abbie Gardner on dobro.