My whole life I’ve felt different. Different from the other kids at school. Different from my siblings and cousins. Of course this different kind of gal would take the road less traveled and find herself high up on some windy ridge down some country road far away from civilization. Of course she would find a way to work for herself, grow her own food and make her own bread. Her life choices would continue to be outside of the social norm and she had children she would birth them at home and school them from home and raise them to be birds of a feather.
While I’ve worked very hard to develop the social skills I need to be loved and accepted by my peers and family, I’ve always been acutely aware of my different-ness and have tried to be normal, I swear I have! We all want to feel connected and part of our families and communities. If we’re too different we can alienate ourselves from the people we love the most. I feel we’ve been careful to not go too extreme. I still drive a car, live connected to the grid and use tractors and heavy equipment to help operate this farm. So that means we fall in the ‘normal category’ still, right? I wonder if you might actually feel this way in your own heart too? Did you feel different from your classmates, siblings, peers? Have you ever taken the road less traveled?
Most of my life I have made choices that make my life harder rather than easier. When you make all of your meals from scratch and hang all your laundry to dry and grow all of your own vegetables and raise all of your own meat and eggs and milk a sheep for your milk, it ends up consuming all of your time. And when you run a vegetable farm and want to homeschool your children you need to take a moment to reflect and question your own sanity.
This time of year, especially at the back-to-school time of year, I feel especially reflective of our life-choices. Reflective as all the children of the world move into classrooms and my children continue to do what we do here at home and on the farm. I re-evaluate.
When I look into the deepest part of myself I know the answer. I know how intelligent and beautiful and skilled they actually are. I know that the life we are nurturing here is one that fosters the space and time needed to learn, read, digest, grow and explore at a pace that works for them. It’s a lifestyle that is certainly different. Historic even. But need we all learn and grow in the same way using institutional standards as the expectation?
I make a lot of life decisions with my gut and intuition. The big decisions and the little ones. In my 41 years on earth, it has served me well so far. My gut and my children both tell me we’re on the right path. I realize that what we’re doing is a privilege and a gift, not a dis-advantage or misfortune. But the hardest part of it all is simply being different. Being different takes bravery and valor. At times it takes humility and deference. But most of all it takes a lot of creativity. And creativity is rare and requires time and space-a homeschoolers most valuable possession.
The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Red Cabbage- One head of red cabbage per member. This is the last of the red cabbage for awhile. Stores best in a plastic bag or crisper in fridge.
Melon x 2- Two heads per member, mostly cantaloupe and Canary melons this week. Remember that the Canary Melons have a crisp/cucumber-like texture but with all of the sweetness and yumminess that a melon should have. A personal favorite melon!
Sweet Corn– Just 3-4 ears per member this week. This succession of sweet corn had a number of ears that may not have filled out entirely. We had a large wind storm earlier this summer that blew a lot of the corn down and it was laying on the ground. The ears that were growing on the plants that were still standing matured beautifully, but the ears that growing on the plants that had blown over did not fill out all the way. *Remember that sweet corn should be eaten as soon as possible. Once it has been picked the sugars begin turning into starches immediately. You can slow that process down with refrigeration, but we recommend just eating it up as soon as possible for maximum flavor and the best experience!
Onion– One white onion per member.
Carrot- One pound carrots per member. Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Green Beans- .58 lbs this week per member.
Cucumbers- Just one cucumber per member this week. Cucumbers are almost over!
Green Curly Kale- One bunch of green curly kale per member this week. Stores best in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Mint- Again this week because some of the every other week members did not get it last week.
Tomato- 1-2 Tomatoes. The tomato plants were pruned heavily this spring during all of the rain we had which set the plants bag quite a bit. There are still a lot of green tomatoes growing on the plants that are yet to ripen. Tomatoes are harvested with a ‘blush’ and should be allowed to sit out at room temp to fully ripen.
Eggplant- Either a standard or Japanese Eggplant per member this week.
Jalapeno Pepper- These ones are hot! Jalapeños will turn red when ‘ripe’ if allowed to sit on the plant that long. They ‘sweeten’ up a little when allowed to do this. So your jalapeño may be either red or green.
Sweet Pepeprs- 2-3 sweet peppers per member. The peppers could be either red, green, yellow or oragne. We try to only pick peppers with color because we know most people prefer a sweet pepper and they’re much harder to grow, but once in awhile a green pepper accidenatlly gets cut or breaks off the plant.
Garlic- One head per member. It will last until December without sprouting at room temp on your counter.
Next Week’s Best Guess: Napa Cabbage, melon, corn, brussels sprout tops, carrots, onion, sweet peppers, tomatoes, green beans
Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Mint
Roasted Red Pepper and Chickpea Salad
