“I had to reply to say that I am sorry you feel there are only two paths to finding life‘s meaning and purpose. You left out a major consideration that there is a being larger than us who can help find meaning and purpose. That being can also bring comfort in those hot July times when you are at the end of yourself. Maybe He is the meaning and purpose you seek.
I find that the Holy Spirit can bring comfort and help to find God’s plan for my life. I hope and pray you find that too.”
Thanks, Chris, for your thoughtful response. Just to be clear, I don’t believe that there are only two paths to anything. I was just juxtaposing meditation vs. action. I call on my Protestant Christian upbringing all the time, especially when times get tough. Sometimes I think that it is a question of terminology and that many folks draw on the same inner strength, and outer strength, but give it different names. What I feel I need to do is to drop judgment of others as they follow their paths to their meaning. I do believe that we are all on a journey, for sure.
Julie
Ed. Note – Chris is a CSA shareholder
“loved this letter Julie. I read every one of your letters and your work astounds me.
Keep doing it! I find July is hardest for our farmers too!
Thank you for keeping us so informed on what is in your mind and going on each week on the farm.
In gratitude,
Linley”
Thank you, Linley,
I appreciate that you enjoy our newsletter. Though it seems to take more time than I think I have some weeks, it serves my soul in a way. I am glad that it is useful for folks.
July is a funny one. I ponder why it seems so hard every year, and try to prepare for it by being more organized each year. There will always be more work to accomplish than it seems possible to manage, and there will always be weeds and lost crops, it seems, when we are pumping out so much food and keeping successions running all spring, summer and fall. And I noticed this year that we were better organized and have been managing successions better than usual, with the real outcome of that meaning more work than usual with all of the mix of older, younger and baby crops all needing attention. The sun is still driving things so unrelentingly in July, so it will never be easy. Regardless, August is here now and we can all leave behind the thoughts of getting out of farming for sure next year and just enjoy the shorter days and cooler nights.
Julie
Ed. Note – Linley is Associate Director of the Real Organic Project and farms in Durango, CO
“Hi Julie
August 27th is fine for us to partake in a MHOF supper. We appreciate the invite and look forward to seeing you and Jack and sampling your fresh organic farm fare.
I enjoy receiving your newsletter and particularly delight in your ruminations on health, nutrition, nature, community, energy, truth to power issues, one’s purpose in life and life in general with its routines, surprises, rewards, disappointments, moments of crystal clarity and love in its many configurations; seasoned with a dose of whimsy and serendipity.
Your own “life of ACTION” leaves me breathless (and out of breath!) Maybe you can’t meditate for more than 30 minutes but what you accomplish in the course of a day, through your form of “working meditation”, warrants the blessing of the Buddha and Mother Nature herself.
Frank”
Gosh, Frank, thanks, and you are in the calendar. With the newsletter and our videos that various people remark on weekly, it seems that we are farming in a fish bowl here with so many people egging us on and supporting the day in and day out interface with nature that we actualize almost every day of the year. I used to feel more lonely, especially in the summer when it seemed that all of our customers were taking restful vacations and we usually weren’t. Now it feels that we have this large cheering section that allows us to grow more high quality food every year, and have more fun with it. I know that when it is over 90 degrees out or 50 degrees and raining (or 33 degrees and snowing) on a CSA picking day that many of our readers are thinking of us. That is very powerful support. Looking forward to seeing you and Denise.
Love, Julie
Ed. Note- Frank was the manager at the Living Earth before we started selling to them in 1985 up until they closed in 2019.
CSA Updates This Week
Coming up this Week
No lettuce this week – a small hiatus and you can count on it back next week
Kale – I think we will serve up Red Russian kale this week – check out the beautiful purple stems
Chard
Parsley
Cabbage, broccoli or collards
Fennel – that is the frilly stuff – I like it best in salads, but it can be lightly steamed with other vegetables in a stir fry also
Basil
Summer squash and/or zucchini – check out the food preservation video coming out this week that Christy and I did on this crop if you are feeling overwhelmed
Cucumbers
Green beans
Beets
Celery – I am super proud of this celery this year. Enjoy this highly nutritious vegetable
Carrots – nothing to write home about yet this year, but after we clean out this early bed, we are still crossing our fingers for later carrots in October and November
¼ cup oil of choice for frying (lard, bacon grease, olive oil, etc.)
Directions:
Shred zucchini with a hand grater or food processor. Place shredded zucchini between 2 layers of clean kitchen towels or paper towels to absorb some of the moisture. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Remove shreds from towels.
Heat oil in a skillet on the stovetop until it sizzles when a drop of water hits it, but not so hot that it is smoking. (350 degrees F.)
Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Add nutritional yeast, arrowroot powder and salt. Mix. (The mixture will be thick like heavy batter at this stage, but will water down when vegetables are added.)
Add zucchini, chard, corn and garlic. Mix just until combined.
Scoop ¼ cup of mixture and place gently into hot oil. Press down gently with a fork to spread vegetables evenly. Fry for about 2 minutes on each side, flipping with a spatula once golden brown.
Remove fritter from oil and place on a plate to cool. Enjoy!
Right now, we have extra zucchini and summer squash. It is $3/lb., but if you buy 25 lbs. or more, we will sell it to you for $2/lb. Give me a call if you would like some for putting by as dried squash or squash puree. (978) 257-1192
Working Shareholders Always Welcome
The weeding is easier now and we are doing more mulching and long-term management of crops as we work our way through the picking list for the CSA each M, W, F. If you are more interested in what we do on the off days of the CSA, you are welcome to come on a Tuesday or Thursday. Breakfast at 7, or join us at 8, for four hours and then lunch.
With a short staff we moved a little slower this week. But on Friday, with Stetson here for a second day, and Clare, Paula and Peter back from vacation, we finished the CSA in record time and had time to prepare 5 beds for planting out a fall crop of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.
The guys prepped all those beds while the dolls picked green beans
Kamarin and Jonathan and I finished weeding the peppers and celeriac, and Kalina and Jake helped us weed a leek bedand weed and mulch our second crop of new green beans. On the second shift Dan, Raffi, Doodle and Jack and I finished up 5 gallons of blueberry picking on Tuesday.
Thursday’s crew that includes Stu and Scott was able to weed the yellow house melons, weed and mulch the blue house melons, weed and mulch the new chard bedsand almost get the tulsi weeded. We did skip that last week as it seemed too young. Probably it will show up in share bags in another week.Check out the horse radish in the lower left
Maria and Clare and I stopped to weed our little flower bed on Friday
We moved the turkeys out, turned the meat birds around to head back closer to the farm, and edged the layers up the hill in the west field finishing our 2nd time around the outside of that field. The birds are now in 13 movable pens and take a real chunk of time each day to move.
We upgraded our spraying this week with more in season correction foliars and drenches to help the crops pull through these times when they are growing quickly and needing lots of nutrition.
