We are now 4+ weeks into the 2021 CSA season, what is without a doubt the hottest growing season that I’ve experienced in 25+ years at Featherstone Farm.
Those of you who have read my writing in this newsletter over the years know that I dread rainfall as much as anything else as a farmer; excess moisture has caused more crop disease, crop loss and overall calamity at Featherstone Farm than I care to think about. This year has been dry, and Featherstone Farm is flourishing as a result. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen crops as uniformly healthy and vigorous, as they are this year. You have a bounty of fantastic fruits and vegetables headed your way in upcoming boxes (the headliner photo is a glimpse of one of our gorgeous melon fields!).
Moreover, I can’t say that I’ve ever been more delighted and inspired by the work of the Featherstone Farm team as I am this season. For the past 6-8 years there have been few new additions to the farm’s seasonal crew of ~40 employees; most of this group have been working here for at least 5 seasons. The key decision makers have been here for 6-8+ years. Individually and as a whole, this team is doing such a fabulous job, just watching their work unfold for the first three months of the season has been a source of great joy in my life.
Plus, I’ve eaten some of the best kohlrabis of my entire lifetime this spring. And I can see that the upcoming tidal wave of warm season crops- sweetcorn and melons, tomatoes and peppers- is poised to set all time records for productivity and quality (IF it stays dry!!!).
And yet I’ll admit to feeling a new, unfamiliar kind of personal ambivalence and disquiet this season. A large part of this is undoubtedly the heat. I’ll admit that I lose perspective when the dew point is over 70. But a bigger part of this may also be that I simply have more time to read, to think, and to contemplate the world beyond Featherstone Farm; the above mentioned “decision makers” have taken so much responsibility off my shoulders (so successfully!) in recent seasons, that I am seldom preoccupied with pressing daily tasks as I was for the past two decades.
What a total blessing this has been! And yet…
A year ago I was in Sioux Falls SD, with my son Jasper’s AAU basketball team. I have a clear memory of the sharp South Dakota sun in a coffee shop courtyard where I sat writing for this newsletter. I remember feeling a sense of urgency in that writing… this was in the wake of the George Floyd killing and civil unrest in the very communities in South Minneapolis where we sell much of the farm’s produce. I remember pledging to you (and to myself!) that I would do more writing- do more as a community member- on issues of social justice. I remember thinking that, as Featherstone Farm’s daily survival became less tenuous, that I would start to pick back up on the community activism and advocacy that had been so much of my life in an earlier era.
Flash forward 12 months, and today Jenni and Jasper are preparing to head back to Sioux Falls for the very same AAU tournament, 2021. And I’ve written… precisely nothing. Yes I’ve read more and thought more about all the issues, from climate and biodiversity, to the fragility of our democracy, to farmworker fairness and human rights. Reading The Overstory (recent novel about trees and the tragic relationship between people and the environment) was just the most recent kick-in-the pants.
And still, I’ve written and done little (we did manage to plant a couple hundred trees this spring and keep them alive during the heat of June. But now the deer seem to be getting them, bad!). Hence…the personal ambivalence and disquiet that I feel, even in the midst of such brilliant crops and teamwork and the ecological exuberance of midsummer in the Driftless. Perhaps it’s not in spite of these riches in my life that I feel so restless, but because of them. The thought of becoming complacent makes me deeply uncomfortable.
What we are doing at Featherstone Farm is necessary but not sufficient, full stop. More on this, and soon; I pledge myself to writing more and to doing more. Even as we may have bin-busting yields of watermelons and sweet corn to keep us all more busy than ever in the coming weeks.
Gratefully Yours-
Jack
p.s. here are some photos of the melon and tomato and pepper fields around the farm
Tomato field loaded with green fruits. And we wait!
Cherry Tomatoes starting to ripen!
Another melon field FULL of flowers, which will turn into tiny melons!
It won't be long now till we're all enjoying summer melons together!
