~ April 7, 2025

Spring is in full swing at the Nursery, and we are going with the flow of the season! We are in the thick of harvesting our Spring and Fall crop, as well as finishing up tagging Spring orders to be dug. Our liner trees are arriving from our partner supplier nurseries out in Oregon, and soon enough we will be planting baby trees to grow in our field for the next few years! 

In many ways, this Spring is no different than other years  – our trees are growing and we are working hard to keep up with and adapt to their schedule. In so many ways, though, it is completely different. As a family, we are working on Finding Our New Normal in the wake of Joey’s accident and hospitalization. He has been an integral team member here for both the Nursery and Harford Farms, our family corn and soybean operation. While we have an amazing crew that has truly stepped up this season, Joey’s presence on the farm is definitely missed. We’re all looking forward to when he can be back among the trees and we will certainly have a celebration when he’s able to come home!

I wanted to share some excerpts from a post my mom, Becky, wrote on the CaringBridge blog site about this season, and why we have so much to Celebrate as a family:

“During my visit back home last week, I was able to spend some time in the woods walking a favorite and familiar trail. I was eager to see what spring wildflowers might be popping up and how the forest canopy is taking shape. I also have some Lenten Roses that I planted a few years ago that I particularly enjoy watching unfold this time of year. I was delighted to find that I didn’t miss anything back at home… Everything is still growing and slowly waking up from the long winter. I kind of feel the same way The Lenten Roses are just now emerging in my garden and the Bluebells in the woods have recently popped through the soil. The promise of their little purple flowers can be seen here and there on some of the larger clusters. Spring sweetness is just around the corner!

The trail through the woods comes out at my brother’s house near the goat playground. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this is the spot where my Dad was laid to rest. I hadn’t met the newest baby goats yet, so I paid them and Dad a visit. After Fern’s visionary encounter with the Healing stone, I wondered what the stones might be saying to me. As I approached Dad’s boulder, I noticed one of the stones tossed to the side apart from the others. It seemed to be shouting Celebrate to me. Celebrate what? Celebrate everything! I definitely have so much to Celebrate, and I have enjoyed reflecting on that these past few days since my walk in the woods and time back home. 

A few things I am Celebrating this week!

• Spring wildflowers popping up
• Baby goats
• Going to Fern’s Preschool art show
• Benji snuggles
• Friends visiting Joey while I am back at home
• Lenten Roses still unfolding
• Joey’s “contagious smile” as my friend Michelle pointed out
• Pam’s cookies that didn’t make it to Joey because we all ate them (sorry Joey, they were good!)
• The nursery bustling with life & spring energy
• Notes of support and gift cards from friends 
• Joey transferring from his wheelchair to my car!
• Impromptu Hot Pot lunch with Joey, Jamie, & Mom
• Fern & Benji visiting Uncle Joey
• Just a few… there are so many more!

Joey had a great week of healing and recovery. He enjoyed visits from some of our church friends, and he continues to gain more and more strength each day. He is now able to transfer himself from the bed to the wheelchair and move himself around the room freely. When Jamie and I came back up this weekend, I was astonished at how much improvement he has made in the last few days. His upper body and core strength are serving him well right now in his ability to gain back mobility. As Jamie & I were getting ready to leave and pick up lunch, we all decided to see what it would take for him to transfer from his wheelchair into my car. We planned to ask PT about this process tomorrow but wanted to check it out first on our own. Within 10 seconds he flung himself from one seat to the next and we were off! I am not sure we used the proper technique, and we will certainly need to be taught the “correct” way to do this by PT tomorrow, but for today it was a fun and unexpected bit of freedom for all of us! My mom happened to stop in for a visit around that same time, so she jumped in my car also and we all headed out for a nice Sunday afternoon drive around the neighborhood. We found a cool Korean BBQ in downtown Des Plaines – Galaxy Hot Pot. It is an outer space themed hot pot cooking experience, so it was about as outrageous as it sounds. Definitely a fun and memorable Sunday dinner for all of us!

Joey has several doctor’s appointments this week, and we are anxious to have these checkups and learn more about how his healing is progressing. From our standpoint, it seems better than expected. He has passed all of the cognitive tests so far, and his memory and personality are intact. His attitude is better than ever, and we have lots to Celebrate!”

~ Maggie Thomas Harper