Did you get frost at your house? Probably not unless you live out in the country where the nights tend to get colder. We did get some frost this morning, but we had dutifully covered the outdoor tomato plants, and, like any farmer, my first priority when I got home from the CSA pickup was to check on those plants. No damage! Whew!! Maybe one more frost Sunday night and then we'll be really blowing up the fields with green beans, peppers, squash, etc! At least that's the plan as long as we can work it in between rains! Looking like a wet week coming up so we'll play it by ear!
You know, one thing I've learned from farming is something I think we are all learning from this Covid-19 crisis and that is the fact that we are not in control! Just like a field of beautiful carrots just about ready for harvest can drown and rot in the field from a a couple consecutive days of heavy downpours, record low unemployment can go to Great Depression unemployment levels in a matter of weeks!
I think there's something in human nature that wants to grasp onto the illusion of control. We use clocks and calendars to schedule our days and pack them with various engagements. But even with the often frenetic pace of normal American life, even in that we often lose control to our daily activities. No time for the things we want to do because we've become slaves to the things we think we have to do.
But now, most of that busyness is stripped away. Most folks are spending way more time with family (maybe more than they ever wanted), and realizing they had been missing something. Sitting down for family meals is a wonderful experience that we had all but lost in America! Now it's back! Maybe that's what led you to our farm and our veggies. A desire to eat wholesome and healthy and enjoy "slow food" together!
TOGETHER!
Maybe that's the hardest thing about this crisis, that so many of us cannot be together with those we love! What do you miss about your pre-COVID life? I bet it involves friends, or family, hugs, handshakes, smiles (for crying out loud we can't even see those in public anymore under those masks!). If it involves going to the movies or baseball, I bet it really involves going there with your friends!
So, Covid-19 made us lose control. We've lost control of our ordered lives and maybe found some new good things and maybe realized some things we never valued enough in our lives.
Maybe being in control isn't what we really need because maybe we don't really know what is good for us. Maybe we need to relinquish control to realize the life we never knew we needed or wanted. Maybe. Just maybe....
Thanks for joining our farm community! We are so enjoying just starting to get to know some of you! The Facebook group is a great way to meet up online and share all those amazing tips about enjoying those veggies. Why you might even meet another member with the exact same name which happened this week! Not sure how we'll know whose box is whose, but it'll be fun!
Sheri and I are very honored to be your farmers and so excited to be on this journey with you! It's pretty fantastic that even with stay at home orders and whatever else comes up, we can still get a chance to exchange a few greetings and a masked smile each week. I hope you love knowing where your food comes from because we love knowing where it is going!
Your farmers,
Dave and Sheri
