Greetings from Against the Grain and welcome to the ninth week of the CSA! Just like past weeks, the customization period begins once this notification lands in your inbox (which should be around noon on Friday) and will end at 11:59pm on Sunday, July 19th. Just as a reminder, if you'd like to change pick up locations for the share that is currently open for customization, please email Harvie support to request that change. Always feel free to double check with Holly to make sure the change was made. It is so important to the farm that CSA members have flexibility in their pick up location.
On another note, we will be taking a break from the CSA on Wednesday, August 5th, so there will be NO DELIVERY that week. We will have had 10 CSA deliveries prior to that date and we will have another 10 after. We built in a week's break for the farm this season so that we could focus plenty of energy on our "second spring" when we re-plant much of the cool season crops for our fall harvest. Of course, we'll still be at the farmer's market on both Saturday, August 1st and Saturday, August 8th, so you can find us there!
This week's newsletter contribution comes to you from M Mueller...
We don't often talk about behind the scenes matters in these blog posts, mainly because we're, well, pretty nerdy about farming. We go to bed thinking about it, wake up thinking about it, talk about it, read about it--don't get us started! But this past Sunday something very special (and very nerdy) happened: we invited a consultant to our farm to observe and report on our soils, crops, compost, biodynamic practices and whatever else we could get him to look at and comment on.
This consultant is Hugh Lovel, a polymath of biodynamics, organic chemistry, physics, psychology, quantum physics, Goethean science, farming of all types, orchardry, gardening and many more areas of understanding that fall under the broader rubric of the human being's relation to nature, both seen and unseen. You can see why we were very excited!
In the course of the day-long consultation we engaged with Hugh on all of the abovementioned topics, delving deep into soil analysis via laboratory testing, crop symptomatology and observation on multiple levels. Hugh dug in our dirt, stuck his fist deep into our compost, and stuck his nose (and ours!) even deeper into biodynamic farming. The good news and the bad news are the same: using biodynamic principles we can awaken even more life in our soil!
By means of the magic of mineral, herbal, animal and human nature, we can become ever deeper co-creators of the future of our lives and our planet by understanding and engaging in the great matrix (mater=mother, matrix=fertile mother, later Latin =womb) of life. What will that mean for you? Keep tasting the ATG vegetables as the season progresses! Our goal is not just to grow vegetables, but to grow food that helps give you the energy to do the physical and emotional and spiritual work that you want to do!
Based on this weekend's consultation with Hugh, we have already begun bringing life from a variety of sources into the soil. We are fermenting yarrow, nettle, and horsetail for injection into our irrigation system, improving our composting practices by adding even more green matter and manure slurry from our new Highland cow herd, and being even closer watchers and stewards of life in all forms--microscopic to macroscopic, microcosmic to macrocosmic.We hope that as we support one another we can become ever stronger and more loving inhabitants of this Great Mother.
Check out Hugh Lovel's books A Biodynamic Farm and Quantum Agriculture, Biodynamics and Beyond for more about this remarkable man and his observations and thoughts. And let us know how you feel the energy of different foods in your body!
Much love and happy eating,
Holly, Andy and ATG Crew
