Aug 10, 20233 min read

Life Begets Life {Week 11 CSA}

If we can pour ourselves into something reciprocal, generous even, we might find we're more full at the end of our work than when we began.

That's likely the most consistent feedback we receive from our employees and farm volunteers each season. They're always so amazed at how energized and just plain happy they are when their bodies are so visibly tired. Achey muscles won't slow a vibrant buzz within, and after enough days out here, they don't ache much anyhow.

We were struck in the same way when we began farming in 2016. Our start was slow and disjointed, but the handful of friends we began this farm with back then all reported the same sense of vibrant spaciousness after a day of hands in the earth. It's a similar feeling to how a camping trip untangles the mind or a gorgeous hike renews appreciation and wonder. The body might feel tired, but the heart feels satisfied.

If you haven't noticed, farmers tend to get philosophical out in the field. We were definitely like this before farming, but our vocation has made it worse. It's hard not to travel into universal musings while doing the same exact hand motion for four hundred heads of romaine. We discourage listening to podcasts or music in the field as our ears are valuable tools for keeping us safe and the farm running smoothly (nobody wants to miss the warning rattle of a specific variety of snake, for instance), so it's often just a harvest knife, three hundred square feet of leafy greens, and our own meandering thoughts.

This is all to warn you: what follows is the result of such lovely monotony and, while I tend to think it's correct, it's really just another Prema philosophy. Now back to that ephemeral lightness that nature immersion brings ... can you relate? If not, perhaps you should come out to one of our weeding days. :)

While there's room for very reasonable explanations like increased negative ions, improved oxygenation from so much movement outdoors, and even just the psychological pleasure of tending to nutritious plants and feeling useful, we think there is another more interesting layer at play. We find ourselves enlivened out here, even among intensely laborious days, and we believe we truly are being enlivened... by life itself. For what is life (at its material core) but the microscopic organisms that make up all identifiable biological and ecological processes? The microbes that outnumber our own human cells ten to one. The ones that digest and make available nutrients for plants that then carry them to the microbes in us to be extracted for our own mechanisms. Those invisible supporters we take for granted with every inhale and exhale. When we're bare-handed and tending to a revitalized earth, again teeming with microscopic life, shouldn't we also be revitalized? We should and we are. Caring for the balance of our own personal microbiomes is just as critical as stewarding the microbes in our soil. From nutrient bioavailability and carbon sequestration to forest resiliency, the fertility and vitality of the literal earth are the pinnacle pursuit of our time. Indeed, our own health and resilience—personally and as a species—are deeply connected to it.

I often shy away from sharing too much of these whimsical musings from the farm, as they aren't necessarily researched or tested in any serious way. But perhaps this little exploration of what magnetizes our farmers back to the hard labor of growing food season after season might also inspire you. Maybe you'll reach hands into the earth this week, be it in your garden, a potted plant, or even a patch of wild nearby. Each has the potential to offer respite, should we breathe them in deep and long enough. At least long enough to make us wonder.

This is our most common position on the farm. We strongly encourage maintaining symmetry when harvesting and everyone's hamstrings are more flexible by the end of the season as a result!

Inside Your Box This Week

Rainbow Chard Yellow Onion

Cucumbers

Bok Choy

Salad Mix

Kohlrabi

Zucchini

Carrots

Garlic