On the final week of Summer Share deliveries, I feel overcome with gratitude. Gratitude that the good earth has provided us with a bountiful harvest to share with our faithful CSA community. Gratitude for the crew of amazing helpers who made the harvest, wash, pack and delivery possible. Gratitude for our health and minds that we were able to do the work we love that keeps us at home with our family with capable bodies and minds yet another year. Grateful for winter and that we have a built-in season of rest and recovery so that we can prepare and plan to do it all over again yet another year.
In our virtual community where we have found one another via the world-wide-web we have united under the common, yet ancient values of supporting our local farmers and neighbors. We have come together wanting food security and fresh, local, organic vegetables to feed our families with all year. We remain bound together via the trust we have for one another in fulfilling the bargain we made in the Springtime. Even though some of us have never met, I feel a connection with you deeper than I may ever have with some of my closer neighbors simply because we agree on these foundational principles.
Much honor and gratitude is due to our hard working crew of helpers this summer. I am eternally thankful that they drive their cars out to the farm each morning and show up with their fresh enthusiasm for work on an organic farm. They willingly haul heavy bins of peppers, tomatoes, and carrots back to the truck again and again without complaint. I am thankful that the community they find here is nourishing to them in some way. I am thankful that the work they do here fulfills their body’s need for physical work in the sunshine while munching on fresh veggies. The work here fulfills their heart’s need for community building and purposeful work.
Finally, I am thankful to my family and my own body for sustaining the intensive farming roller-coaster ride. I learn to care for my body with healthy, brothy soups, nourishing oils, fresh foods and protein-rich home-made meals to keep my joints strong and my mind alert. Twelve years into motherhood, I am deeply thankful to finally be getting restorative sleep again. Thankful to my children for their resilience for the when mom and dad are tired at the end of the day Thankful to my patient, devoted, hardworking husband for his undying dedication to our farm and his family. Lord knows he handles much more than his share. I am thankful for the life perspectives that 40 years on earth, raising children, running a farm and being a community member has given me that I could have achieved no other way.
In this season of harvest and gratitude I feel the good earth become cold. I watch the landscape look less and less green and alive. I watch the bees stop buzzing, the birds fleeing, and the burrowing animals burrowing deeper as the chilly winds blow. The time has come to gather our harvest, start our fires and share our meals together. It’s time to count our blessings, acknowledge all that we have worked towards and revel in the feeling of gratitude, because without it, what is the purpose? On week 20 I am grateful for you, our supportive CSA community. Without your support of a local, small business, little farms like ours would not be possible. In a world of convenience food made possible by large-scale agriculture with cheaper options available to you everywhere, you chose us, and we are thankful.
Honey Roasted Carrots and Parsnips
Senegalese Mafe (with Rutabaga, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Cabbage and more)
Butternut Squash Lasagne with Sage
Parmesan Crusted Brussels Sprouts
