August-Sitzfleisch
A string of visceral memories were drummed up on a sweat-soaked summer evening, three days into a heat advisory, when the chills percolated through me. I was rows-deep in one of the tomato high tunnels, leaning and trellising our 700 tomato plants. While trellising, pruners are at the ready in the waistband of my shorts for those wily runners that threaten to weigh the plants down or obscure the pathways we use to navigate them. Greedily, I left runners on the sunrise bumblebee cherry tomatoes which are less productive, but utterly delicious. Big mistake...I can hardly weasel my way through that aisle and I anticipate the day Rich picks for me and discovers this indiscretion, "what happened with the bumblebees?". Ninety-two degrees and I don't want to know what the heat index was reading, not to mention being inside the warmer microclimate of the high tunnel, I felt a sort of desperation that requires every bit of Sitzfleisch to assuage.
Such a physical state bordering on delusion brought me back to a high school tennis court on an oppressive Ohio Valley afternoon duking it out as an underdog against the district's best team. I didn't grow up playing tennis. Making up for lost time and a lack of childhood tennis lessons, I tagged along on my sister's lessons and trained with a benevolent, local tennis pro who took me under his wing to get the fundamentals down and develop a competitive level of play. But really, it was the Sitzfleisch in me, the stamina to run down balls and just get them back over the net, to keep a point going and to wear out my superior opponents. I was able to make the team and even secure the third singles position with my unconventional game, but the rest of my team would often have to wait for my match to finish on a given match night. Long, frustrating matches that would drag out into third sets. The points which I won were usually not earned by "winner" shots, but by outrunning my opponent. And those girls knew their game was more refined, more developed than mine...which evoked some sass and frustration and maybe even embarassment from them at points I won. Sensing or presuming their entitlement to win the match seemed to fuel me.
One particular night, matched against the third singles player of our biggest rival, the sun beat down on the court, conspiring with the humidity specific to the Ohio Valley, to make conditions rather miserable. Between the thick air, sun squinting and tendonitis in my knee, I began the match accepting I'd likely experience a quick and rather painless loss. But in those days, I was a bit too competitive and determined for it to play out that way. We played, switching sides, taking water breaks, meeting our coaches at the fence to gameplan, and the battle waged on until that same flavor of physical desperation I felt in my hot tomato trellising session, overcame me: the shiver of chills, clothes wet from exertion, and the compulsion to finish the job. If you've gotten to that peak of desperation, you'll know that you could almost cry as a response to the energy expenditure...likely a desire to release in one way or another. That night, I pulled it out and won the match, which I attribute wholly to dogged perseverance and that resolute Sitzfleisch.
It's a word that doesn't quite translate in the English language which is why we steal it from the Germans to express the power that overcomes you to endure and to see something through. It can also be translated to buttocks which I think emphasizes the idea of sitting your rear end in a situation until it is resolved. Donkey-ass-stubborn-buttocks-steadfast. Call it what you want, but it's what got me through the most challenging nights of service working on the line in restaurants, and through laboring with two kids. To be honest, there is a bit of a thrill to it for me, which is perhaps why even though I work for myself and could pause my trellising until tomorrow, my stubborn buttocks instead think, "just four more rows" (and tomorrow I can take on a new project).
On the macro level, Rich and I harnessed our Sitzfleisch when we started the farm. Relying on Foxhole for our livelihood, we were highly motivated to get the engine going. We acclimated to pulling off massive projects or field days when the sun was shining, so that by winter we could rest assured we had what we needed until spring; and to pounding the pavement working three markets a week to be sure we secured a place in the local market...all the while with child or nursing one. These days, we engage Sitzfleisch when needed. It could be that we have a very short window to get our fall crops in and we power through before torrential rains strike again, it could be that heat wave upon heat wave descend upon us all and we have to step up our irrigation and coddling of the crops to see them through it. And I've found there to be more energy in the reserves when those times call for it, now that we aren't habitually abusing the power to pull out all the stops. It's sustainable this way. There are less, desperate tears ;). And maybe with more fuel in the tank, I'll head to the tennis court this fall and wield my Sitzfleisch once again.
Updates from the farm:
-Oakwood Market Continues: The season is in full swing. Tomatoes, peppers (CARMENS!), honeynut squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, and so much more will be on our table. We are so grateful to have found a home away from home at Oakwood Market. We love the folks we get to spend time with there between those who visit our booth and our fellow vendors. Thank you to those who make it a part of your routine :).Market runs from 9-noon on Saturdays and is located at 22 Orchard Drive in Oakwood. Good news for you all and us...starting in 2026, the Oakwood Market will begin in May (instead of June).
-Garlic? Bread?: We have been hustling around here to the point that I failed to communicate a few things. The growing conditions have been challenging this year between the dramatic/heavy rains and the heat. Every year is different and we have ridden the wave fairly successfully. But we did lose our garlic crop :(. It all grew into big beautiful bulbs, but the stem running through the middle of each head browned, obliterating shelflife and making them unsaleable. It was a hit, but that is exactly why we are diversified. On another note, Rich made the decision not to bake sourdough bread for market until he has the time to do so. This season is another sort of sacrificial growing season spent building while farming (not ideal), which we really don't have time for if we are managing the field well. We built the second walk-in refrigerator/cooler and are still working on transitioning the field from cultivated blocks of vegetables to a living pathway bed system all while operating the farm/market/wholesale deliveries. Weekly bread for market was one of those things we chose to pause in order to keep up. He hopes to get back to baking sourdough for market in the fall!
-Fall Crops: Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, beets, kale, and kohlrabi are all in the ground for fall harvest. Watermelon radish, radishes, spinach and turnips will be seeded soon. Acorn, kabocha, honeynut and trombocino winter squashes are ripening!!! The fall veggie forecast is looking promising :).
-Local Eats: We love our local partners and have been delivering the good summer stuff to their kitchens weekly. Check out these awesome spots if you haven't: Last Queen Pub, Jollity (closing soon as their new concept is coming), Salt Block Biscuit Co, Grist, Three Birds (new spot in Kettering), Little Fish Brewery and Restaurant, Pretty Picnic, Mulberry and Main (Brookville), Rays Wine and Grill (Englewood), Iggy Ragu's (Food Truck), and Dorothy Lane Market
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