Jul 28, 20222 min read

Peak Everything {Week 9 CSA}

Summer is a flurry of pollinators, plant growth, sunshine, and endless farm tasks. Peak summer is a brief invitation to pause amid its sweltering midday skies. It's why writer Sam Keen said "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."

After all, even the bees rest after lunch. Despite the wise decision to turn summer afternoons into a cooling naptime, our farm doesn't lend itself easily to the siesta schedule. Perhaps it's the 30-minute drive from most amenities, or the very few spots that are cool enough to relax in, or the high desert dust that coats e v e r y t h i n g, but certainly the combination of it all is why our team decides every season that it's better to just arrive early and end early. This approach, however, cannot avoid some midday harvests. The peak of summer's heat and the depths of winter's cold are the points of the year where loving on the folks who grow and raise our food means the most. They're the hardest points in the twelve-month cycle to get harvests from field to customer and the times when farmers are most liable to question their sanity for choosing this profession. Burnout is most common in the season of burns.

The balm of it all is the connections we forge with our CSA members and regular customers. The folks who value the hard work that we're committed to and return week after week, even when we're out of carrots. Underneath perpetually tired muscles and dirty nails swells a deep appreciation for you all. It literally fuels us this time of year. We're entrenched enough in the practice and study of farming to believe wholeheartedly that it could save the planet. Save the climate, our health and mental crises, restore our fragmented connection to nature, and offer a way forward for our children's children. Those are meaningful motivators, even when the sun intends to melt us into the soil, but none of it holds power without folks in our community seeing the same potential. It's only because you have eyes to see what's possible, too (and perhaps a palette for the fresh and nutrient-dense) that we're able to pursue this hope. Thank you for supporting our micro farm and macro vision. Thank you for finding more ways to eat more veggies. Thank you for being a part of something beautiful.