2009 Summer CSA Week 3: June 29 - July 3, 2009
Hi folks,
This from one of our shareholders:
"Fabulous first summer share! Thank you. Need to do a Reverse Rain ceremony."
Yes, it has been somewhat rainy. Perhaps the longest span of rainy days that I can remember in the summer - but then it rained most of 6 weeks last year. But, with chins up we appreciate the days of no or little rain. Some of the onions and garlic have some rotten bottoms and in some of the wetter areas the outer leaves of the brassicas are yellowing. And the warm weather crops - tomatoes, squash, cukes, melons, eggplant, peppers are so wishing it would just warm up so it could grow.
Well, the good news is that we have great transplanting weather for the hundreds of lettuces and brassicas we put in each week. And we are using our time wisely to weed as much as possible, so that the weeds don't grab the little sunshine that we do get.
So stuff is coming slowly still. But it is coming. Soon you will be wondering what to do with everything, so for you new folks who might be wondering when you will see squash or tomatoes, or broccoli, or green beans, be patient and enjoy your greens. Those greens are the staff of life - the keepers of all the Omega 3s that every one is screaming about. Farming is about patience, really. And celebration of seasonality and what gifts we are given today.
So here is what you get this week:
- Lettuce - of which we are very proud, especially in this difficult rainy year
- Kale - for week two - vegetable number 1 on the list of nutritious vegetables
- Strawberries - ½ pint - I hope they make it all week
- Cilantro - we are onto our second bed - this is a most potent detoxifier
- Beet greens - we will be thinning our next set of beds
- Parsley - extremely nutritious flat leaf parsley
- Onions - another week or two on green onions
- Garlic scapes - enjoy these Dr. Seuss vegetables
- Chard - our most glorious crop this year
- Oregano - back for a second round, this is a perennial herb
- Peas - still slow as we await the giant sugar snaps, sorry
- Mint - um um
- Radishes - back again
Pick up issues - we had another mishap this week. The Sommers' bag was taken for the Collective A Go Go. They ended up coming out here to pick up another bag of food Friday night. Please, please, please - read the labels on the bags and take only yours, whether it is here at the farm or at your pick up site. The labels are big this year. If they are part of a coop, they list the coop town and are highlighted. Thanks for paying careful attention to this.
Bags - thanks to all of you who bring us the reusable grocery sized paper and plastic bags. We much appreciate your kindness.
Enjoy the holiday week end. We will be holding a quite beautiful 4th of July concert on the Barre Common on Sunday night at 7 should you like to take in some Copland and other outstanding American music, courtesy of the Quabbin Community Band.
Julie
Guest Editorial - Becca Miller
Becca Miller
Today's guest editor neglected to mention that she has lined up more CSA members for us than anyone previously ever has. She takes 24 shares back to Holden for us each week, is a tireless supporter of our work with former prisoners through grant writing and personal support, and is a high performer in the fields on Wednesday mornings. We are very grateful for Becca's presence with us.
My name is Becca Miller and I live in Holden with my husband and eight-year-old twin sons. I've been a CSA member at Many Hands for four years, two of which I've spent as a working shareholder. When I tell people I work on a farm, most people seem very surprised. Actually, I'll be honest, most seem downright shocked. Why on earth would this stay-at-home mom want to work on a farm and spend the morning hunched over weeding, harvesting, hauling hay, or digging furrows? Why would this college-educated environmental engineer chose this physically demanding outdoor work instead of a more lucrative (not to mention drier and cleaner and less tick filled!) option as a teacher or a writer?
The answer is simple: I love it and I find it meaningful. It has helped me to unearth some simple pleasures that I did not even know were missing from my life. Things like running my hand through some of the richest, fertile soil I've ever seen or picking a perfectly ripened and impossibly delicious strawberry. Or sitting in the back of a pickup truck with the wind blowing my hair as Clare tries to get enough speed to make the hill without getting stuck. Or the satisfaction of cutting the hugest head of lettuce knowing some CSA family will be eating it at dinner that very night. Or the joy of watching my family fight over the last asparagus spear that I helped to grow and harvest.
Working at the farm has also helped me to appreciate my food more. Pre-Many Hands, I used to eat vegetables (albeit a much more limited variety) without much thought about where the vegetables came from or the work that went into growing them or getting them to me. I can safely say that I no longer just eat vegetables. Instead I savor them, crave them, and celebrate them in all their wonderfulness: the crunch of the radishes in my salad, the smell of the mint in my lemonade, or the mouthwatering taste of the beet greens stir fried in a little butter. I now know first hand how much work goes into creating those nutritious vegetables from tiny little seeds and I am thankful for them.
Life is a journey. Sometimes you travel down a dead end or a particularly curvy side street that leads you in the wrong direction. Other times you travel down a very-pot-holed-dirt-road-soon-to-be-tarred road only to find you have chosen the right path. I am so glad I journeyed to Many Hands. Not only has this experience transformed how my family eats, but I have grown in the process. I have made new friends, developed new skills, and learned to appreciate some simple things in life. Many Hands has nourished not only my body but also my soul.