As Good as it Gets

Friday shareholders will pick up on Thursday, July 3, this week. Enjoy the 4th!

I felt I was back about 30 years when Brandon, Justin, and I were tooling around in the truck Tuesday afternoon. Although it was 99° at that point, I was having the time of my life listening to them banter back and forth and hopping out of the truck to put the killer mattress back in after it popped out 200 feet up the road. Successfully delivering a dead freezer and the mattress to the dump, we moved on to Higgins Powersports to buy some 3-to-1 gas. If you have ever been to Higgins, you will know they have over 100 ATVs. The boys were like kids in a candy store. Next, to RJ McDonald’s to get 5 gallons of diesel. And a quick stop at the gas station to get 1 gallon of regular gas.

As Jack and I raised three rather rambunctious boys, and I followed that by doing 10 years of shows at Quabbin Regional High School, followed by 12 years of working with a number of recovering addicts on the farm, I have been surrounded by lots of male energy all my life. Not only do Brandon, and, particularly Justin, get lots of stuff done quickly. It is always done with a sense of fun. What a blessing.

Gratitude

Thank you, Jim, Marcia, Danny, Paula, Devra, Justin, Brandon, Matt, Marissa, Nick, John, and Agatha, who came on one or two of those awful days of Monday and Tuesday and worked through the excessive heat. It was terribly hard on all of us, yet no one flinched at the work that we had to accomplish despite the weather. Hopefully we won’t see too much of the 99 degrees that was still with us at 7 pm on Tuesday night. But I can’t say enough thanks to all these folks who were here and gave full measure early in the week.

Full disclosure, I am lying on the floor with an ice pack on my swollen right leg while Jack types the rest of this newsletter. We have come to guess that my leg pain in my right leg for the last two weeks is due to a recurrence of staphylococcus from 2002 or the two bouts of Lyme disease I had earlier in the 2020s. Special thanks to Ellen, who arrived Wednesday from England and has been taking care of me, the chores, and the cooking. Timing is everything.

The Latest from Jack

The Pharmaceutical Age
Jack Kittredge

Over five years ago now, when Covid was raising its ugly head, I thought I saw a silver lining glimmering around that public health crisis. I was to be disappointed, as it turns out, but at the time I said to myself “what a wonderful opportunity this presents, with everyone’s attention on personal health, for us to focus education on the value of good food, exercise, sunshine, vitamin D, the immune system and the body’s internal health care mechanisms.”

Instead of endorsing my faith in healthier behaviors, however, our leaders opted for shutting down many activities, wearing masks, and relying on the pharmaceutical industry for new drugs and vaccines. On our farm we attracted people who, despite public pressure, wanted to work and eat together, maskless, and who went largely vaccine-free. Those of us who did get Covid were down for a day or two at most, some who tested positive never felt sick at all. It was a tiny experiment, but one that encouraged my faith.
Since that experience I’ve become interested in the role of pharmaceutical use as a means of replacing behavior modification in our lives. I worry that we are adopting practices, when prevention is called for, which instead are not viable longterm and carry worrisome side effects.

For instance, according to the CDC, approximately 7% of US adolescents are treated with psychotropic behavior modification medications, with antidepressants and stimulants being the most common. Around 17% of adult Americans take such psychiatric drugs, which translates to roughly 57.8 million adults.
I am also concerned that pharmaceutical company profits have grown rapidly based on this trend. They more than doubled during the pandemic and the industry is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030. With so much money available by promoting drugs instead of real behavior modification, I wonder: do we have the fortitude to honestly evaluate and resist this trend?

I finally decided to raise this concern last Friday when the American College of Cardiology (a medical association heavily supported by the pharmaceutical industry) issued a guidance promoting the use of Type 2 diabetes drugs (the ones that have become so popular for promoting weight loss such as ozempic and wegovy) for obese cardiovascular patients. The ACC says that: “Prior guidelines have recommended trying lifestyle interventions [dieting and exercise] before beginning medication, but this new guidance recommends considering these medications as a first-line treatment option for eligible patients.”

These drugs are also very expensive, running from $500-$1000 per month, and can be required for long periods to provide satiety. The ACC journal remarks: “An essential future priority will be providing access [to these drugs] through policies and systems to ensure that individuals with adverse ‘social determinants of health’ have access.” If approved as a first-line treatment you can be sure these drugs will be covered by insurance, spreading the cost to us all.

I am certain there are plenty of deserving patients whose lives may be saved by one of these drugs who would not have been able to save themselves by relying on diet and exercise. But I wonder if we really want to cross this Rubicon. Are we ready as a general principle to exempt people from an effort to save themselves first?

2025 MHOF CSA

Share from week three

This week we will have…

• Lettuce

• Cilantro for all
• Arugula 
• Green onions 
• Radishes
• Kale or Collards or Swiss chard, hopefully
• Oregano
• Mint
• Beet greens
• Peas
• We should have some Summer squash and Zucchini by the end of the week
• There will be a dribble of Strawberries for some

• Beet greens – I had decided to let these go for another week after carefully checking our first planting, and then checked the second planting and found that they were almost caught up; these are a wonderful green for stir frying, or soups – very tender and quite nutritious; use the entire thing and cook only slightly
• Chives for some

This list all comes from memory as I am not very mobile at the moment.

2025 CSA Order Form

Volunteering at MHOF

Agatha was our newest volunteer this week. Already a paying shareholder, she showed her stuff on Monday –one of the hottest days of the summer. Thank you, Agatha, for working with us this week.

Staffing – Em is Back

Em is back. She is a Quabbin student who worked all last summer. Wednesday was her first day back, and boy, did she come back strong, with all of her lessons regarding being a fit, fast, and efficient farmer well tucked into her belt. She adds so much to our multi-faceted staff. Welcome back, Em!

Jennifer’s Recipe of the Week: Cooling Summer Guacamole with Tomatoes

This guacamole isn’t just a crowd-pleasing summer snack—it’s a bowl of Ayurvedic balance in every bite. Avocados, rich and unctuous, are ideal for calming Vata and soothing the nervous system. Limes (distinct from lemons) bring a bright, cooling sourness that pacifies Pitta without overheating the liver. Fresh cilantro adds not only an herbal burst of flavor but also acts as a natural detoxifier and Pitta-soothing herb.

Tomatoes, when used in moderation and in season, are fine for most constitutions—especially when balanced by the grounding fat of avocado and the digestive support of lime and garlic. Green onions and garlic scapes bring in a bit of gentle pungency to stimulate agni (digestive fire) without inflaming it, making this guacamole a well-rounded summer support food.

From a Western perspective, this recipe is high in healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants, with a zesty, herbal profile that cools the body on hot days. Serve it with veggie sticks or seed crackers for a nourishing snack that satisfies both body and soul.

Get the Recipe at Jen Zen Living

Farm Doins

On Monday, we raced against the sun, trying to get green things picked before the sun was on the field. After the CSA, we did one of our big chicken moves. The layers moved from behind the south field into the pond orchard. Then we moved out our 200 broiler chickens to live next to them. At present, we have 6 mobile homes. Moving the babies in the heat and then cleaning out their brooder house seemed like a tall order. Brandon jumped into action as the main brooder house cleaner. I have never seen anyone get so excited about cleaning up chicken shit!

We have been trying to make significant progress in getting the west field weeded and mulched, and were able to finish weeding and mulching all of the winter, summer squash, and cukes. We then moved to the basil and two tomato rows.

We weeded and thinned one bed of beets and one bit of carrots next to them and cleaned up the flower bed. We also weeded and mulched two beds of cabbage.

Matt raked Jim’s latest cutting of hay, and numerous folks got that all picked up on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, bringing it directly to the mulchers. We finished weeding and mulching the red and black raspberries

 and took off the last tarp in the garden and put it away. By Saturday, we planted a bed each of beets, carrots, and lettuce in the garden.

Coming up on July 1, we are further ahead in our field maintenance than we have ever been, but we are still way behind the 8-ball in this heavy growth period.

Julie