Summer Break 2011

Summer is here and we are between seasons.  A time for cleaning up and planting cover crops in to add fertility and decrease weeds in the vegetable plots.  This is the time when we are both looking backwards and forwards and I feel giddy like a kid on summer break from classes.  It is not easy to farm and a small reprieve when the demands of the weekly pickup diminish puts me in a mood reminiscent of school days when you know the summer is ahead and classes are behind.  I am hoping to get some much needed maintenance done on the greenhouse, equipment, and fields.  We will see how that goes.  I am also starting to take stock of next year's crop plans and experiments. Aside from feelings of levity I also feel a tinge of loss from not hearing the weekly goings on of all our members.  Jennifer and I really love the conversations we have with our "extended" farming family and I miss the interactions we have on Saturday.  We really feel connected and in some ways can tangibly feel the community surrounding the farm and I like to hear how our produce creates stories.  How members cook it or share it or eat something before they even get to the house.  I don't tire of these anecdotes.  Eating is so central to life, family, and friends and I am grateful that we can provide the centerpiece (or at least a side dish) to that endeavor.  I also know that some of the members won't be returning and we may never see them again after the season and we will miss them.    I hope you will enjoy whatever rest you can get this summer and take time to renew and refresh.  I think that I won't blog again until I have something to talk about and will rest a bit this summer as well.  Until we return in the Fall; live well, eat right, pray, play, love, rest, and enjoy your summer.