Pruning trees gets old fast for Louis Lego.

It is pretty fun to cut the branches off of the first five or six trees, especially since it signifies the beginning of nicer weather, Lego said. But after that, he still has hundreds of trees to finish.

“As bad as it gets, I wonder about what else I would do,” Lego said. “It does get into your blood.”

And pruning is only one of the dozens of tasks Louis and Merby Lego have to complete during the spring. They own Elderberry Pond, an organic farm and restaurant just outside of Auburn. Like many businesses in the area, the restaurant is seasonal, meaning it is only open between April and December.

While the schedule allows for some time off in the winter, it also means this is the busiest time of the year for business owners like the Legos who are gearing up for a new season.

“We absolutely need the break by then,” Louis Lego said last week while taking a break from pruning.

Elderberry Pond is unique in that it combines the agricultural and food service industries. The Legos grow and raise on their 100-acre, organic farm almost all the food that is served at their restaurant.

But the business is similar to most local, seasonal establishments, which tend to be related to tourism, food or leisure. It makes sense to close for the winter, Louis Lego said, as people are often not as willing to drive out and visit your establishment in the snowy weather.

That means he and Merby have a couple months to rest and regroup. They attend organic farming conferences, submit an annual farm plan for organic certification, ponder the menu and carry out other tasks. Perhaps more importantly, they are able to take some time to rest for what is always a busy opening to the season.

“The spring is crazy,” Lego said.

Springtime is also crazy for Susanne Wheeler, who owns and manages Pumpkin Hill Bistro in Aurora. The restaurant opened for weekend hours the second week of April, though it will switch to a full schedule in June. This spring has been especially busy so far, which Wheeler said was a bit unexpected.

“We've had a great couple of weekends,” she said. “People want to get out. They want to be in that great weather.”

Wheeler made the decision to run a seasonal schedule five years ago when Pumpkin Hill opened. She said the decision makes sense financially, as the food service business tends to be slower in January and February even in warmer weather locations.

“You can lose money in January, February and March,” she said. “You can do that or you can close. That's definitely a benefit of being seasonal.”

Another benefit, Wheeler said, is the opportunity to take care of the restaurant's physical needs. This last winter, she did some work on the floors, installed some touch-up paint, worked on some equipment and made other improvements.

Even when Wheeler takes some time on vacation over the winter to warmer destinations, she's still working. She is constantly looking for new ideas that could be introduced to the menu at Pumpkin Hill.

“I try to get the creative juices flowing,” Wheeler said. “I'm always trying to expose our customers to new things out there.”

But while businesses like Wheeler's and the Legos' offer a little downtime when the weather is at its worst, they also result in added pressure when it's time to gear back up. The first inventory orders of the season are always big investments, Wheeler said. And you also have less time to make money for the year, which is becoming more important these days.

“There are so many different things that go into this, especially in the economy we have today,” Wheeler said.