March-There IS Another Way
Rich and I live in a precious bubble which floats just beyond reach of the pricklier realities of life and the darkness of our world. Anytime we drift a little too close to the sharp edges or far enough from the light, we seem to be blown back into the safety of the open air. A windfall here, an encouraging conversation with a customer or friend there, and we defy gravity again. You see, we have somehow surrounded ourselves with good people through our work: our customers, our partners, and even our suppliers. We experience a collective of people who respect and lift each other up, and quite frankly, we don't do much business with those who don't. Or maybe the farmer's market stand or a delivery of freshly dug carrots just brings out the best in people? The other day at our weekly retail order pick-up, a darling regular brought me a quart of his homemade coleslaw whipped up with our savoy cabbage. And that coleslaw changed my day.
"That coleslaw was everything", I found myself saying to the darling the next Saturday when he and his spouse came to pick up their weekly produce and bakes. It wasn't the just-right sweetness of the dressing or the tenderized crunch of the veggies bathing in it, it was the gesture of sharing food with us. Spontaneously thinking of someone outside of yourself and acting on it can restore the belief that humanity will pull through a dehumanizing era, one in which aggression and hatred are condoned by those leading our country. I find these small, precious acts to be ones of defiance, bucking the spiteful system in the best of ways. Because just as a wedge is being driven between people by the media and the political system it supports, you're refusing to buy what they're selling by perpetuating civility and goodwill. Resentment toward your neighbor is misdirected and unproductive, spurring on this division of our population, which weakens it and lends to chaos and dysfunction. When it seems hopeless and I feel powerless, I remember how I got over other humps encountered in life so far: I found another way.
Even in an overwhelming time like this, there IS another way. The tribal warfare route, pervasive as it is, is utterly dangerous and self-destructive. The power of the individual (and collectively of a people), lies in choices made at the polls, in the goods and services they support, in how they contribute to and participate in their local community, even in how they interact with the people around them. I don't underestimate the significance of parenting either: raising open-minded children who think for themselves, seek the truth, and understand that they contribute to society for better or for worse. Personally, I feel compelled to instill the idea in our kids that there is something much greater than the self, and that perhaps we are here to contribute to a greater good and to love. We are each dealt a different hand in life, and those with the deck stacked against them deserve empowerment. I refute the every-man-for-himself, covetous way of life that this stage of capitalism encourages. The pursuit which has kept my heart and head on track is that of finding a way to plug myself into the world, a world which offers me so much, and which I have a responsibility to. Selfishly, I have found my way to farming and parenting, which feeds people and my soul.
So in our true fashion, Rich and I found our own way to live this life, one which is exceptionally unmodern and simple and one in which we don't altogether have to play by the rulebook. So long as we are able-bodied we will be here, generating something exceptionally simple and fundamental, the common ground over which humans gather: food. This month we will begin more seeds than ever as we carry on into our eighth season at Foxhole. Despite the upsetting nature of the news cycle, the suffering and the unknown that abounds, we will find our own way to be productively and positively active. And when occasions present themselves to advocate for and defend the collective good, may we harness the bravery it takes to rise to them. From a most fantastic story written by Claire Keegan, "was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there"..."and face yourself in the mirror?".
Updates from the Farm:
-Propagation house complete: As with most moving parts of the farm, we took on the rebuilding of the propagation house ourselves. Rich developed the plan and spent the last month and a half leveling the ground and then putting together our one heated growing space: the propagation house in which we start our transplanted crops/seedlings, and grow our microgreens and shoots during the cold months. From engineering, to the many hardware store trips, to the wiring of the vents and fans, he took on quite the project. It is such an improvement from our slapdash building we used since 2018: bigger, better insulated, automated and much more efficient. Hats off to Rich.
-First crops seeded: We are on our usual track with field crops. Brassicas (kale, broccoli, and even chinese cabbage) have germinated, alliums (onions and shallots) too. Salad mix, carrots, turnips, radish and spinach are seeded in the high tunnels for early spring picking. Peas will be direct seeded within the next few weeks too. This will be the most bountiful and earliest spring planting thanks to the three 72-foot high tunnels we have to work with now. Harvests are likely to start in April, dependent upon how fast it grows/weather conditions...stay tuned.
-Online ordering continues: We will be continuing to bake sourdough, granola and weekly bakes for you this month. Microgreens and shoots join the menu with our other veggies. As usual, you can order online Monday-Thursday each week and pick up your goods on Saturdays in the Oakwood Market lot.
-Deliveries to DLM: If you aren't able to order and pick up on Saturdays, I have begun weekly deliveries of our shoots and microgreens to all three Dorothy Lane Market locations and you can find them there.
-More Construction on the farm: As we are anticipating a much bigger harvest this year, we are going to be rigging up a second farm cooler to store it all in. It'll be another DIY project that we widdle away at and hopefully complete before we are running full throttle in June/July. This has been a huge investment year in the farm which will pay off for seasons to come. In the fall we were able to complete the installation of our irrigation lines in the ground, as well as the construction of two high tunnels with partial cost-sharing through an NRCS grant. The propagation house and this second cooler will set us up with the infrastructure that we need to accomodate our growth. Phew! Here we go!
-The Fam: May and Rich attended their first father daughter dance and Jack has preschool senioritis and believes that since he is five he should be in the big kids' school already. The other day he said: "I'm ready for the diploma".
Thank you for reading.
My writing is free for all to read. If you would like to support it you can do so below: