A Salute to the Family Farm

 

If you read this blog regularly, it’s probably already occurred to you that I’m on a bit of a vacation.  Blogs will rather sporadic until September. 

 

But I would like to share the joy of something very simple that occurred today.  It’s been a rather cool summer here in the Seattle area (for those who are now saying, “Well, duh.” a reminder that some who read this blog don’t live in the Seattle area).  It’s taken quite a while, but today I was at last able to harvest a good crop of snow peas and snap peas in my backyard.

 

Peas are my favorite veggie.  This spring I found the sunniest spot in the backyard and created a seven foot long three foot wide planting box.  Along the north side of the box I planted snow peas.  Along the south side I planted the snap peas. 

 

I used organic seeds.  Monsanto had never been near them.  They were not genetically modified and came from plants that had never tasted an unnatural fertilizer.  And, of course, I used only organic fertilizers and no pesticides. 

 

(A quick side-bar.  There are people who eat organic because they believe organic foods are healthier.  They may be.  They may not be.  Though it may be logical to conclude that eating foods that have been genetically altered and that may well have soaked up pesticides may not be the healthiest thing to do, the truth of it is that except for a few specific examples, the science is still out.  I eat organic because organic is earth-friendly.  But that is a whole other blog in waiting.)

 

The joy was planting the seeds.  Dry, little seeds.  And then watching as the first sprouts  pushed up through the ground.  And then more.  And watching them grow.  And then stringing more and more line to provide ladders for the vines to grow and be supported upon.  And watching that, as the pea vines grew, thin little “fingers” shot out, perpendicular to the vine, ready to latch on to whatever support they could find.

 

It was only a few weeks ago that the first flowers at last appeared.  And then baby pods.  And now a lot of those little pods had become bigger pods and ready for harvest. 

 

I’m not a farmer.  I’ll never be one.  I’m a city-guy.  But the joy of watching the miracle of plant-life unfold, the joy of planting the seed, watching the results and then eating pea pods freshly picked, this was truly grounding and uplifting at one and the same moment. 

 

I am unimpressed with “Big Agriculture.”  But in many ways I envy the family farmer, the man or woman who no only owns the farm but is truly a part of the joy of growing. 

 

We are so enamored of “big.”  I am well aware that our culture has made it harder and harder for a family farm to be profitable.  Mega-farms are so much more efficient.  They can make food so much more cheaply.  But I want to hold up the family farmer, the farmer who gets his/her own hands into the soil.  This growing season helped me to re-establish my own roots.  I want to go to “Farmers’ Markets.”  I want to meet the people who grow the food.  I want to tell them how appreciated and wonderful their work is.  And if I have to pay a little more than I would at the local supermarket, so be it.  I want to help keep these people in business.  More than that, I want their business to prosper.  Of course, I’ll be looking for organic.  But happily more and more small farmers are growing that way.

 

Whether you are roasting in the mid-country or east coast, or praying for sun in the Seattle area, I wish you a good and happy summer. 

To Life!

 

My pea-patch is aswarm with vines.  Some of them are nearly six feet high.  And, after this rather cool, damp spring, there are at last some flowers.  There will be peas!  I will confess it here, just between us, fresh peas are my most favorite veggies.  One side of the pea patch has snow peas.  The other side, sugar snap peas.  Both are not only tasty, but are eaten pod and all.  No muss.  No fuss.  No waste.

 

All are (well, you know me) grown from organic seeds.  What does that mean?  It means neither Monsanto nor any of the other Frankenstein wanna be companies have “modified” the seeds.  Some day, we must talk about the ethical challenges involved in developing and patenting a seed.  But today, we’re simply speaking of leaving the earth alone and enjoying real, honest to goodness peas!

 

So the soil too has been organically handled.  No synthetic fertilizers.  And the only “pesticide” used has been an organic “snail bait” that can be used around children, pets and birds, and simply decomposes into the ground.

 

Can’t wait for the first batch of seeds.

 

But what really called to me today were my sunflowers.  Yes, yes, organic all the way as well.  For me, organic is much more about treating mother earth with respect than it is worrying about what I eat.

 

But those sunflowers.  They are about a foot high now.  I had “guarded” them up to now with inverted tomato cones covered with bird netting.  It kept both the birds and the squirrels away.  Sunflower greens are evidently quite tasty, and my first attempt at growing sunflowers fed the local animal population.  But covered by the netting-wrapped tomato cone “teepees,”  four of the six second-round sunflowers made it.  I uncovered them yesterday.

 

Yesterday afternoon I noticed something simple but wonderful.  The sunflowers had all bent to watch the sunset.

 

So this morning I was curious.  Sure enough.  The sunflowers straightened up over the night and were facing east.  As the sun has moved over the sky, the sunflowers have moved with it.  Wow. 

 

So I’ve gone out every couple of hours to see the changes.  It’s approaching noon.  The sun is almost over head, and the sunflowers are nearly straight. 

 

At this point you’re either with me and smiling or wondering what on earth I had to eat last night.  J

 

But life is beautiful.  It is beautiful to watch.  It is beautiful to be a part of. 

 

I remember planting seeds.  I remember the joy of see the little sproutlings pushing their heads above the soil.  Such a struggle! 

 

I’m not saying that sunflowers are more important than children.  They aren’t.  But I am reminded that all life is beautiful.  All life is sacred. 

 

We humans, like it or not, have an intense responsibility.  We have that responsibility because we can affect all other life. 

 

Sometimes it seems too hard even to accept responsibility for other humans, too hard to remember that we are indeed our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.  But what we do affects ALL life.

 

God-given or not, it is a responsibility we really ought to take seriously.

 

In the meantime, I so love watching those sunflowers!!