Ah, August, with your fruiting and flowering plants, smoky air and threat of wildfire. The sun is already rising later and tracking lower toward the horizon. We are transitioning out the remains of earlier crops and planting out the last late summer varietals along with the early fall vegetables. Soon we will sow fall cover crops and as we begin the journey towards winter shutdown. The rhythm and cycle of the farm continues while our hearts go out to those who have lost their farms or homes because of the fires.
On the farm, we have been recognizing the importance of fire-preparedness more now than ever before. We attend fire training for our volunteer Bell Springs Fire Department and work to ready the farm for fire defense. It is clear that fire is a “when”, not “if”, reality. It is important that we citizens are prepared and capable when fire arrives. Making sure that we have the ability to fight fire and understand how it works is necessary, as climate change and desertification continue to exacerbate the dry, Mediterranean climate.
One benefit of our dry, warm summers is the ripening of crops that won’t grow in cool, foggy weather. As a farmer, you take the wins where you can get them, and we are glad for the arrival of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. These harbingers of summer are a bit later than normal for us this year because of a snowy spring that already seems a lifetime awa. Our early seed trays of hot crops failed to germinate, leaving us trailing behind our normal harvest windows for these warm-weather delights.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) means many things to us. It is a sharing of human commonality exchanged through nourishment, food for families from our farm and farms like ours. This sharing of produce and the journey of seasonal harvest is foundational for us as farmers; it provides rhythm and structure to our lives.
To be able to provide quality food to people we know and love creates a feeling of sacred work that is both a joy and a responsibility to hold and to honor. To know that our work goes out into the world to be consumed by fellow humans is a positive feedback loop for the embodiment of the good energy we strive to create.
There are many difficult times along the path, and the journey is fraught with things unknown. That we share the journey is part of what makes the bad times bearable and the good times that much sweeter. As farmers, and as humans, we strive to engage in right work; to evaluate and consider our actions and thoughts. Do our beliefs match with the manner in which we conduct ourselves in the world?
Theory and action are entwined in the concept of Praxis; ye shall reap what ye sow. We strive to offer ourselves as servants of the land, that she may bring forth a bounteous harvest that we may share. We draw meaning and understanding from the cycles of sun, moon, season; planting and harvest define our calendars, guiding us through the pathway of life.
As stewards of (and servants to) the land, we undertake a vow, a sacred contract. We promise to love and to cherish, to see Presence in the first rays of sun that break over the ridgeline. To bask in the caress of the breeze, and delight in the song of the birds. The body works that the spirit may rejoice. Much love and great success from us at HappyDay 🙂