Photography!

Finally, I'm posting again.  Woo hoo.  Here are some photos taken by Alan while he was visiting us this past week.  He really knows his way around a camera.  Some of these shots are extraordinary!

A World of Grace

My friend Nicole in New York, whom I miss like crazy, sent me a copy of a poster she received in recognition for her work at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project.  The poster is titled A World of Grace (from Yes magazine) and it lists different ways some cultures go about pausing before a meal to give thanks.  Here are some that rendered me speechless.  Across the globe and throughout time, people have been trying to figure out how to remain grateful for the food they have.  What the earth gives us is so worthy of respect.

Buddhist

This food is the gift of the whole universe. Each morsel is a sacrifice of life, May I be worthy to receive it.  

May the energy in this food Give me the strength To transform my unwholesome qualities Into wholesome ones. 

I am grateful for this food.  May I realize the Path of Awakening, For the sake of all beings. 

 

Ashanti, Ghana

Earth, when I am about to die I lean upon you. 

Earth, while I am alive I depend upon you. 

 

Hindu, India

Before grasping this grain, let us consider in our minds the reasons why we should care for and safeguard this body. 

This is my prayer, oh God: May I be forever devoted at your feet, offering body, mind, and wealth to the service of truth in the world. 

 

Coptic, Egypt

Bless, O Lord, the plants, the vegetation, and the herbs of the field, that they may grow and increase to fullness and bear much fruit. 

And may the fruit of the land remind us of the spiritual fruit we should bear. 

 

Sioux, Native American 

I’m an Indian. I think about the common things like this pot. The bubbling water comes from the rain cloud. It represents the sky. 

The fire comes from the sun, Which warms us all, men, animals, trees. 

The meat stands for the four-legged creatures, Our animal brothers, Who gave themselves so that we should live. 

The steam is living breath. It was water, now it goes up to the sky, Becomes a cloud again. 

These things are sacred. Looking at that pot full of good soup, 

I am thinking how, in this simple manner, The Great Spirit takes care of me. 

What We're Up Against

We're pretty much starting from nothing out here.  Most of the time it doesn't feel this way because we're surrounded by tons of stuff like old farm machinery and hoards of my grandfather's tools.  We also, of course, have the several years of agricultural practice we earned while working at the organic farm at Rutgers.  A somewhat strong knowledge base in farming and old equipment doesn't start a business though, and it certainly doesn't keep the groundhogs away.  

We have many people rooting for us, even the ones who think organic farming is just a punch line.  Conventional farmers up here have already asked us if we want help spraying our crops and others have told us that they give us a year.  I'm learning that a glimpse into the typical American farmer's mindset is at once practical and depressing.  Yet I still think they are hoping we succeed.  It's not us against them - it's us against the almost microscopic flea beetle.

We are growing in pasture land that has had perennial grasses growing on it for decades.  We don't just have the standard pests found everywhere in fields growing vegetables, we have pests that live in grasslands.  We have ants ! ?  And they are eating our cabbage ? !  We have tilled into a nest of miner bees and there now are thousands swarming around us when we're in the root crop field.  Some of the main weeds we've been conquering are orchard grass and timothy, also known as hay.  We have fat groundhogs, poison ivy hiding around every corner, and hungry deer.  We've got asparagus beetles, cabbage moths, and flea beetles, to name a few.  And then there's the heavy rains, which cause so much erosion that we must rebuild and replant row after row.  Nature is definitely to be respected, but where is that warm fuzzy feeling organic farming promises when it gently claims to be about working with nature, not against it?

Herb Jardin

We decided early on in this venture that we'd have our perennial herb garden out back behind the house.  Always nice to have easy access to the oregano for pizza night.  We planted nitrogen-fixing alfalfa as a cover crop on that plot this year.  Starting next year, we will have a full-fledged English garden with meandering pathways, arbors and plenty of sage patches to roll around in.  The perfect place to read a book or fake a British accent.  We couldn't help but have a temporary herb garden though.  We chose my grandpa's old vegetable garden plot right in front of M/M Hors Ease.  It'll be a place for our herbs to grow big and tough and strong this year.  Next year, we will have them pack their bags and make the journey to the far side of the house where they can make their permanent home.  Charlton will pretend to be an immigration officer/ border patrolman at the carport and will make sure they are not smuggling any thistle or pokeweed in their bags.  Once they pass the security check, he will stamp their tiny passports and teach them the elephant smackdown.

 

Soap Expose

Today I realized we have 13 different soap options in our shower

List of soaps:

  1. EO lavender castile soap
  2. Saint Ives collagen elastin body wash
  3. Dove body wash
  4. CVS cleanser
  5. Random soap bar no one uses
  6. Lilac glycerin soap
  7. Dove bar
  8. Oil of Olay sample body wash we received in the newspaper
  9. Oatmeal exfoliating bar
  10. Pine tar soap (possibly containing jewel weed for poison ivy relief)
  11. Bronner's lavender castile
  12. Bronner's almond castile
  13. Bronner's peppermint castile (it will make you know what tingle)

You might think we are overdoing it.  The castile soap trilogy in the one corner is a little excessive, but we think that peppermint oil fits if you want an invigorating morning shower and lavender fits if it's late in the evening.  Pine tar soap is used if you want to mask your scent and go out and see wildlife (or go hunting).  Oatmeal soap makes us want cookies.  The random bar no one uses is always soggy for some reason.  Probably cause it sits in no mans land in the middle of the tub.  We are not your average soap users scrubbing clean the grit from the office keyboard.  We are filthy and need variety.  There's not just one kind of cheese in the world.  Why would there only be one kind of soap.  Who wants to put Kraft singles on their bagel.  Wouldn't you much rather have cream cheese on that?  Exactly.  Farmers get very dirty.  Farmers need to get clean.  And being clean is the American way.

P.S.  We grate Dial around the perimeter of the farm to keep deer away.  We hear Irish Spring works better though.  Please send us all of your Irish Spring.

Irish Spring can be sent to :

111 Old Trail Road

Duncannon, PA 17020