Week 3

I’ve found that I’ve been writing less and less as the weeks go on, so these blog entries are a good way for me to sit down, focus, and reflect on the week.

This week I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. I know I’m a little late getting on this train, but I’d been hesitant to pick it up because I’d heard several people say that Gilbert as a narrator was selfish and rather annoying. I, however, lapped up Gilbert’s words like a thirsty puppy. Often times I found myself laughing out loud at her humor, with only the birds outside Sally’s Place to hear me. I can see how she could be viewed as both selfish and arrogant (and she admits to embodying these faults repeatedly throughout the memoir), but I also respect her for taking a year to travel, learn, experience, and discover. Oh yeah, and eat. I think everyone needs to be more open to the idea of enjoying themselves for more than just a short portion of their lives. We work and work and work so we can relax and enjoy ourselves when we’re old and retired. But what about now? Selfish or not, I don’t think Gilbert should be criticized for doing something that most people probably wish they could do. She certainly infused the travel bug in me once again.

At the same time, though, I’m happy and content on the farm. Monday was spent harvesting crops for Tuesday’s CSA. Mike and I picked kale, collards, French breakfast radishes (these are so good), beets, shallots, and garlic scapes. I weeded the gardens for most of the afternoon before going into town to help Maria and Mackenzie with a project called Campus Kitchens. Several other SLU students were there, helping to prepare a meal and then serve it at the local Unitarian church. Monday was also exciting because it was the first day that Mike’s homegrown Pohu Oyster mushrooms made an appearance. He drills holes in the sides of 5-gallon buckets and layers soaked straw or coffee grounds with mushroom spawn, waits for a while, and then—mushrooms come out of the holes in the buckets! I really wish I liked mushrooms. Maybe if I want it enough my taste buds will catch up with my mind.

On Tuesday, we picked leaf and head lettuce, basil, and parsley, packed up the CSA boxes, and set off to deliver. It was one of those days, though, so first we made a necessary stop at the Potsdam co-op for coffee. Upon returning to the farm, we prepared several flats of lettuce and broccoli, gave them a good dose of water, and stuck them in the greenhouse. Mike and I spent most of the afternoon playing guitar. I promise, I am working hard most days. Before we all sat down to dinner, I had the whole family grooving to the Mumford & Sons album I burned for Mike that afternoon. I’d call it a successful day.

Wednesday was an easy half-day of work. We pruned and tied up the quickly growing tomato plants and then transported a trailer-load of soil from inside the chicken coop to the upper garden. This was exciting because I got to drive the ATV for the first time—fun! I spent the afternoon on campus. I bought a scone, procrastinated for a while, and then churned out a draft of my paper for an independent study I’m doing related to my recent experiences in Senegal. One down, one to go. Back at the farm, dinner was a delightful spread of black bean soup infused with chipotles, topped with a dollop of sour cream and a side of warm cornbread muffins. In other news, I finished knitting my first scarf. It even looks like a scarf (insert self-approving facial expression here).

Thursday was a scattered day of odd jobs. Both Mike and I were feeling rather tired and unmotivated. We didn’t accomplish a whole lot before nodding in agreement over the need to go in for a second cup of coffee. After getting ourselves caffeinated, we harvested some of the oyster mushrooms from the buckets. Unfortunately, there’s a type of small beetle that are attracted to oyster mushrooms like magnets, so we had to be careful to get them all out before putting the ‘shrooms in brown paper bags. A jab with a toothpick or a shake and a blow on the mushroom usually did the trick.

After this bug-extraction, I fed boards to Mike while he cut them with a chainsaw outside the woodshed. When we were done and the wood was all stacked, the shed looked like an entirely different place. It definitely received an upgrade to at least four stars, as far as woodsheds go…

Later, I mowed the lawn at Sally’s Place and somehow managed not to mow over the little frog that decided to test his fate time and time again. It was like he wanted to get hit by the mower, or at least wanted to play chicken with it—he always hopped out of the way at the last possible second. I returned the mower to the house and was pleased to find that we were all going on an impromptu ice cream run. My “panda paws” ice cream (some chocolate/peanut butter/vanilla concoction) mixed with the scent of freshly mowed grass clinging to my clothes seemed to embody the taste and smell of summer.

I’ve gotten into a nice little routine of buying a Sunday NY Times and reading my way through it for the rest of the week. Come on, people, the thing is as thick as a pillow. Each morning while I drink my (first) cup of coffee, I read an article or two. Anyway, for some reason, I really enjoyed the execution of this routine of Friday morning. Maybe because it was July 1^st, and that just seems like such a happy date. July first! Mike and I spent the day gathering and preparing produce for Saturday’s farmer’s market—pac choi, mixed greens, leaf and head lettuce, radishes, beets, oyster and wine cap mushrooms, and pea shoots.

Saturday morning arrived, and we were en route to the Potsdam farmer’s market by nine. After fueling up on caffeine at the co-op, we proceeded to set up the Deep Root Farm stand, which is quite fancy by farmer’s market standards. A large green umbrella presides over two tables with a makeshift connector piece that creates a curve in the tables. Slices of colorful fabric are laid over the tables and topped with baskets and boxes displaying farm fresh produce.

We sold almost everything we came with, with the exception of a few bags of lettuce. I guess lettuce is old news at this time of the summer. We celebrated with more ice cream. I think I could get used to this.

This week I’m listening to Bonnie Raitt—Road Tested and you should too.