Well, it does from time to time with me, and usually around this time of year when we are working non-stop to stay ahead of the sun, and the farm is still not producing a bounteous harvest for the CSA. There is likely a little adrenal exhaustion going on. What follows is the appearance of one of my challenging issues – worrying about not being as successful or as ‘good as’ I should be. And then my overactive psyche comes up with a long list of my insufficiencies. Couple that with the conjured-up assumption in my runaway mind by the imagined CSA shareholders that they have been sold a pig in a poke. Finally, the shame of being a “bad farmer” radiates through my jaw.

Expressing Gratitude this Week

But there is hope. I have been meeting over the phone with Carol Smith, Integrated Manual Therapist – https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolsmithinspiredbylife for over ten years. I worked with Carol this week over my Solstice anxieties and by the end of the session was reminded that life will go on and the CSA too, and it will be bounteous and prolific in due time. And I was also reminded that perfectionism is a very counter-productive way of life. We do have “everything that we need” inside (“an inside job”, to quote Michael Singer). Try this move – one hand on your belly and the other one on the back of your neck. Lie down and enjoy the collection of power back into your body. She charges $100 for an hour and I have yet to walk away from a session with her without a huge sense of inner calm and often healing of one physical complaint or another. And for all you perfectionists out there – I feel your pain!

Jack’s Guest Editorial on GMO corn and Mexico

Consumers of small farm organic food, like you readers, are helping to build a food system that is healthy and local. But you might be surprised to learn that, as U.S. taxpayers, you are also supporting the production of genetically modified (GMO) corn on industrial farms where it is sprayed with the carcinogen glyphosate, then shipped to Mexico, made into tortillas and fed to millions of people.
This is because America, to help our big corporate growers, has made trade agreements with many countries like Mexico that prohibit them from barring food imports they consider unsafe. Then, because Congress has passed many generous subsidy programs to “help” big farmers with tax dollars, those farmers can sell their corn (raised with glyphosate) for less than the cost of producing it. (The term for this is “dumping”.) This undercuts Mexican corn in international markets, those farmers leave their villages for jobs in the city, and have to buy U.S. GMO corn flour to feed their families.
Mexican President Obrador has tried to stop this use of GMO corn, but the US is threatening to sue him if he does. How is this possible? Those “free trade” agreements both the U.S. and Mexico have signed say that to prohibit imports which they consider damaging to their people governments must prove such damages in court. Special courts have been set up to adjudicate these issues and guess who the experts called upon to testify in them work for? The big agrochemical companies like Monsanto and Bayer who make glyphosate and GMO corn!
Obrador knows that not only is GMO and glyphosate-laced corn flour killing his people, some of it is planted as seed in Mexico and contaminating natural corn via cross-pollination. Eventually, he fears, no clean corn will be available any longer in Mexico, the home of all corn.
Because of these facts, president Obrador is determined to ban GMO corn entering Mexico for tortillas. Last week on June 2, however, the U.S. government initiated formal “dispute resolution” proceedings against Mexico to stop such a ban. If you are interested in learning more about this, go to https://www.iatp.org/food-sovereignty-trade-and-mexicos-gmo-corn-policies
If you would like to help fight this you can donate to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy go here. https://instituteforagricultureandtradepolicy-bloom.kindful.com/

Would you like some turkey poults?

Walter Anair of Horse and Buggy Feeds in Winchendon has 75 turkey poults he would like to sell. Contact him at 978-297-2518

“We have about 75 day-old turkey poults available at $7.95 each. At this time we are feeding organic turkey starter from Green Mountain and will do so for at least two weeks or until we are sold out.”

CSA News Week 3

Yes, it is true. I wish we had more for you, but not yet. We are truly scurrying each moment right now to bring you the best food possible. I could blame the erratic weather – freezes late, excessively hot weather, then plunging into the 40’s at night for over a week – but that and a quarter used to buy a cup of coffee. . . . . .
Best guess on what will be in your share bags this week

Full sized Lettuce – 3 for larges, 2 for mediums and 1 for smalls
Salad turnips – hakurei
Beet greens – we plant our beets thickly and then harvest the thinnings for a tasty chard-like experience. Eat the whole thing, first steamed or dropped into a soup for a short boil before serving. These greens are of good quality,
Lambs’s quarters – yes, these are weeds, and they are not only incredibly tasty, but also hold high marks for many vitamins and minerals. I like them best lightly steamed before eating them.

hey have the heart shaped leaves with white centers

Kale
Oregano
Reliable green onions

Working Shareholders Always Welcome

This week we had a wonderful visit by an alum from 2020. Ariana was actually here as a WWOOFer that year. It was great that she came back and we got caught up on life. We could use another working shareholder each on Wednesday and Friday 8-12 where we focus on the CSA for the first 2-3 hours, followed by progress work on weeding, mulching, planting, etc. You can join us on a Tuesday or Thursday and spend the morning doing field work. It is not too late to join us.

Ariana planting melons

Shantel is back with Alexandria and now Theo, along with Sam – our Saturday crew

Ways to Donate to MHSC

Worcester Community Fridges

We are now providing 14 summer shares to these folks and only need $1300 more to provide 14 fall shares to the Worcester Community Fridges.

If you would like to donate for shares you can make a check out to the Many Hands Sustainability Center and send to 411 Sheldon Road, Bare, MA 01005 or make a donation on line here –

Donate

Workshops at MHOF

The Permaculture Farm and Agroforestry hedgerows – we will postpone this one until fall as Jono is too stretched right now.
Cooking with your CSA share – July 22; Clare and Julie to do this one. -noon with complimentary lunch; $25-$75
Food preservation– September 16, Julie, Clare and Jack; 10-2 with pot luck; $50-$100

Farm Doin’s

Every week now we are balancing getting more crops in, weeding and mulching, picking and packing the CSA, managing our now burgeoning livestock operation (mature layers, young layers and young meat birds), cutting and making hay for mulch, managing an ever more intricate spray program, and deconstructing the chicken house. The list is endless, yet we made some good progress.