CSA Week 11

~ Week A Half Share members + Full Share members ~

Aug 20, 2024

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

                     Swan 

Did you too see it, drifting, all night, on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air,
an armful of white blossoms,
a perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings; a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
a shrill dark music, like the rain pelting the trees, 
     like a waterfall
knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds -
a white cross streaming across the sky, its feet
like black leaves, its wings like the stretching light 
     of the river?
And did you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?

a poem by Mary Oliver

The jewelweed that lines the forest edge has begun to bloom. The orange flowers are striking, so charming. The fairy cup-shaped form holds the body of a bumblebee perfectly. Hummingbirds can be seen humming through the foliage throughout the day, dodging one another in territorial dispute. August’s morning dew catches the edges of each leaf, forming little water gems. Jewelweed can often be found growing near poison ivy, a native vine I have grown to appreciate throughout the years. In what feels like a gentle act of knowing, jewelweed can act as an antitode to a human’s poison ivy itch.

When we moved here the field was home to poison ivy that tapped my hips, an incredible network of root growth. The vines gently climbed the goldenrod & aster blooms, acted as groundcover near the cottonwood shrubs & young sumac trees. And while I know the labor of preparing the field for growing vegetables, the care taken in learning the soil, & the evolution of the farm as the season’s pass us by, I also hold closely the knowledge that the ivy’s berries are a feast. High in lipids, the berries are great sustenance for a plethora of migrating birds & offer a winter meal for those that know this home year-round. The eastern bluebird, northern flicker, carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, ruby-crowned kinglet, hairy, downy, & red-bellied woodpeckers… to name just a few.

When Mary Oliver was earthside she shared the concept “attention is the beginning of devotion” with the world. Her poetry has seeped into my body for years and certainly influenced my understanding of being a living being, death & grief, joy, smallness, humility, relationship. My life is attuned to the place we are at, what is growing in the field, what we will be growing next, what will be implemented next season based on current observations, what needs to be adapted to. Right now, it is August & us farmers are exhausted. Tis the season.

So amidst the vortex of long harvest days, I work towards channeling my attention towards the bigger picture. To the worlds occuring in the tulsi that I harvest just the same as the bee. Towards responsibility, which to me is a form of devotion, which will reshape me over & over & over again.

CSA Harvest Week 10….

Kade & Grace's CSA share week 10. Photos taken by Kade of Soft Spot Studio.

This is our best guess of what will be in your share! Harvest list subject to changes :)

~ Zucchini / Summer Squash

~ Eggplant or Green Pepper

~ Melon

~ Fresh Onions

~ Garlic

~ Cherry Tomatoes

~ Heirloom Tomatoes

~ Herb Choice

~ Kale

Bulk heirloom tomato flats are now available! Flats are offered with a $1.50 discount / pound. If you would like to pre-order for pickup at CSA email stillwindfarm@proton.me :)