Last fall, I spent half a day hiking the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. Never able to completely turn my mind off of hobby farming—even while on vacation—I asked our guide about southern Utah’s agricultural traditions and rich ranching heritage. He told me about some of the famous ranching families as well as the different Native American tribes in the area. Among the Native American stories was that of Kokopelli, the dancing hump-backed flute player prominent in southwestern artwork.
Kokopelli is known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller. His legend dates back thousands of years, and various tales surround this joyful-looking figure. A common Native American story is that Kokopelli is responsible for the end of winter and coming of spring. When he visits villages playing his flute, the sun comes out, the snow melts, the grass grows, the birds begin to sing and all the animals gather to hear his flute songs. Some legends say he carried seeds in a bag on his back—hence the hump back—and spread them on the fields at night. Looking at Kokopelli, I thought this myth of the coming of spring and planting of harvest was a good one. His playful appearance speaks to the hope ushered in with the new season. If you’ve had an unusually harsh winter, as many of us have this year, Kokopelli’s flute song announcing the coming of spring will be, no doubt, music to your ears.
Join me in welcoming Kokopelli in March and April with chick days—in addition to the arrival of poults, ducklings, keets and quail chicks to small farms everywhere. Find all you need to know to broaden your farm’s poultry bounds beyond chickens with “Choose Your Feathered Fancy.” Get these youngsters started right with “How Do I … Set up a Brooder Room.” And kick off the planting season by building the best soil for your crops and pastures with the less-traditional soil tests explained in “Put Your Soil to the Test.”
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