Zinnias in the evening.
IN THE FLOWERS
This Week’s Flower Challenge: This week, we’d like to challenge you to spend a few moments thinking about someone in your life to whom you’d like to give flowers. It could be a surprise, a doorstep drop-off, a reason to set a lunch date, or an opportunity to invite them to the garden with you. There is a special pleasure to be found in making a bouquet for someone else, and a sweet, grounding humility that comes with picking flowers while thinking of those you love.
IN THE HERBS
Oregano, Marjoram, Thyme, Chives & Garlic Chives, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Chamomile, Tulsi Basil, Purple & Green & Bi-color Shiso (aka Perilla), Mints, Italian Basil, Purple Basil, Thai Basil, Green Coriander, Dill Flowers, Anise Hyssop, Sage, Tarragon, and Vietnamese Cilantro, Culinary Sage, Sorrel, Husk Cherries, Lemongrass.
Herb Spotlight: This is the moment to enjoy the ephemeral delight that is green coriander. Did you know that coriander is actually the seed of the cilantro plant? Next time you’re in the garden, try tasting a single green coriander seed. They’re like a playful, citrus and hops-tinted take on cilantro, with a wonderful green pop! Try throwing them in a dish, or atop a savory tartine to take your meal to the next level.
FAQ
When does the CSA end? Exact dates are TBD, depending on the weather. The flower and herb garden will starting winding down in October and we’ll put her to bed in November. But expect some good blooms all the way til then. The strawberries will usually wrap up a little earlier, producing through the end of September.
If I go away can a friend use my share? Yes! If you’ll be out of town or unable to come pick strawbs and flowers, feel free to send a friend or relative in your stead. Please verbally orient them as to the directions and how things work as we are not always around.
The harvest share from the first week of September 2020
FARMER’S LOG
THE FOX
An osprey flew over the farm this week. We couldn’t help but watch it fly over and think of the privilege and responsibility it is to farm in such a wild place.
The first day Kayta and I worked in these fields was a stormy day in December 2016. I was taking out an old livestock fence in the middle one of our fields, when out from a tiny tunnel in a thicket of grape rootstock and blackberries, popped a juvenile grey fox just a few feet from my leg. I froze. She didn’t know I was there. It was raining so hard that her keen smell and hearing must have been dampened.
She scanned the open ground ahead of her and sniffed the air; her black eyes were alert, fresh, and clear; her torso bounced up and down in a quick rhythm as she sniffed; her heather grey fur was matted from the rain, the wet tips black. She stayed there for so long I could imagine she was my puppy and we were out on the hunt together.
She must have finally caught my scent, froze, and deftly vanished back into the bramble.
Seasons turned. Years passed.
We’ve farmed that meadow for five years now, doing what we can to ensure it remains a home for our wild neighbors that make their home here. And we are often heartened by who we see (or see sings of) making the fields part of their lives. Owls hunt the fields at night; diurnal raptors and myriad songbirds accompany us throughout the day; bobcats play with their kids by the spillway; coyotes leave their digging holes for us to find in the morning; an egret lived in the field for a whole season once; not to mention Mr. Heron in the pond and the myriad skunks and raccoons…
But when I’m in that spot where I stood with the fox, I think of her.
The fox spot has newly flowering cannabis now. And the farm on this warm September afternoon was a bustling, dusty, loud place — a far cry from that serene winter morning I met that fox. If she missed me then, she wouldn't now. Is she still alive? Does she still slink stealthily through this meadow? I’ll never know, but I’d like to think so.
The other morning Kayta was up in the garden checking on a new planting. Some markings caught her eye.
Fox tracks on the landscape fabric.
This place is still wild. Let’s keep it that way.
See you in the fields,
David and Kayta
