Greetings from Against the Grain and welcome to the Third week of the 2020 CSA Fall Extension! Just like during the regular season, 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, November 1st. 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.
As for news from the farm this week, the crew was able to plant and mulch the garlic crop before hurricane Zeta arrived! Garlic is a crop that truly embodies the core essence of the ATG. For starters, it's a crop that's planted in the fall and harvested the next summer, so it's in the ground over the winter solstice and during the Earth's winter in-breathing period of early winter. In fact, it's the only crop that grows outside during this time without any covering, aside from the soil and straw mulch. (The farm also grows lettuces, kale and some other greens through the winter, but all under artificial cover). From the perspective of a Biodynamic farmer, the winter is a time when the farm is the most awake and open to receiving influences from the surrounding planets and stars. It's also a time when the humans on the farm are the most inwardly reflective and diving into the deep work of the self. It's a time for planning and rest, while simultaneously looking backward and forward. It's a time of learning from the past season, letting go, surrendering and also fortifying for the upcoming year.
Additionally, garlic is one of the crops grown on the farm from Against the Grain's very own seed stock. Holly traded some goat cheese for the original batch of seed garlic back in 2008, and the farm has been able to save enough garlic each year since to expand the garlic planting to one of the farm's 13-1/8th acre blocks. In this way, the garlic crop resonates with the intentions and vibrations of the farm and carries the gratitude and hard work from one year's crew to the next.
Garlic has also settled into it's role as a solid financial crop, providing stability in the world of finicky vegetables! It's also known on the farm as a "soil improving" crop, leaving the soil with improved tilth and vitality for crops which immediately follow it. For all of these reasons and more, garlic is a crop that really captures the essence of the farm and its place within the cosmos. Maybe that's why it has so many culinary and medicinal properties and is valued by so many cultures around the world. We hope you enjoy the garlic in your share this week!
Much love and happy eating,
Holly, Andy and the ATG Crew
