November 15th, 2021
Since dropping off the last fall share in late October we’ve slowly been tucking in the farm for a winter’s rest. Dan’s been focusing energy on building a 100ft x 30ft high tunnel we received through a $10,000 NRCS grant. Before we can receive full funding, the tunnel must be completed, so we’re hustling to finish it by December 1st. For better or for worse (worse), I’ve been fostering an intimate relationship with the mice around the farm, and they’ve become a bit of a metaphor for me. First of all, they seem to suddenly be everywhere, desperately creating nests, hiding in underbrush, sandbags, tarps, the space between logs on our woodpile. I kid you not, the other day, I noticed an abandoned mouse nest inside a sandbag, and as I picked it up, muddy water splashed on my face and in my nose, and I wondered, “do I have mouse water in my nose now?” It was not a question I thought I’d ask myself in this lifetime. Anyway, these mice are urgently getting ready for the cold months ahead, and so are we. There is an urgency to cleaning up the farm, building structures before the landscape freezes, making sure we have enough wood to heat our house, carrots, garlic, onions to eat until May. I admit, some of this work has been done begrudgingly, with cold toes and fingers. The happy sunshine and energy of workshare, crew, and bustle of delivery is over for now, and it feels like it’s just us and the mice out here. In those moments I attempt to muster the energy of the season, and think of all the food that came out of these now mostly bare fields.
So, what really inspired me to write this newsletter today was in fact not the mouse water in my nose, but a talk we went to last night at a fundraiser for the Ney Nature Center. This beautiful nature center is pretty much right next to our house and hiking there is one of my favorite weekend activities. When we heard award winning cookbook writer Beth Dooley was going to speak at the event we bought tickets. She has written and co-written cookbooks such as Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland with Lucia Watson, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen with Sean Sherman and The Perennial Kitchen. I was so struck by Beth’s enthusiasm, passion and focus on the importance of local food and healthy farms. She has a 40 year career in the food industry and she truly could have chosen to talk about so many different topics, and she chose to focus on farming, soil health, local food systems and values. It was incredible to hear her pertinent, prescient message. Her resonating question “What do we value?” is sticking with me this morning. She shared the statistic that in the U.S. only 15 cents of every dollar is spent on food, compared to Europe where food is more expensive, somewhere upwards of 80 cents of every dollar is spent on food. In addition to that, under 10% of an average American diet comes from local food systems. I happened to be sitting next to one of our CSA members at the event, and couldn’t help but tap on her shoulder and point out the obvious - for families connected to local farms, this percentage is way, way higher. This holiday season, it is my goal to put my money towards items that are not stuck somewhere along the supply chain and focus on local goods, local gifts, -resist amazon and plastic and opt for something way more sustainable. For me this starts with food of course, but quickly transfers to pretty much everything. Beth’s words were inspiring, affirming and hopeful - I wish we could have all been there together.
I’ve included some photos below of what’s happening around here including high tunnel, employee dinner, third of woodpile, and a selfie of me immediately after the mouse incident (note how dirty my collar is lol). I hope this letter finds you all well, settling into a new season. I’ll write again sometime in December with some info about signing up for the 2022 season. Sorry to sound cheesy, but, we’re all in this together and we appreciate you.
