About ten years ago I was a deckhand. I found myself in Milwaukee working on a 140 foot, three masted schooner. I lived in the fo’c'sle, or crew quarters, with seven other people. Neither myself or the other crew members were able to shower more than weekly, and it stank so badly that the hatch was closed for public sails. That only made the situation worse. Despite the stink, I learned more in nine months than I thought possible. At the end I had an itch. . . the choice seemed clear, boat hop for the indefinite future, or find some place to ground myself.

That itch led me back to Indiana where Seldom Seen Farm was eventually conceived and born. I don’t know that I could have put my desire to words at the time, or that I can now. But a recent article on Alternet got me thinking. The title was ‘Is Farming the New American Dream?’ It gives an overview of ‘youth with the luxury of choice’, and points to some unidentifiable motive that drives us break into farming.

The whole ‘luxury of choice’ thing worked it’s way under my skin. It’s fair to say that if you have kids or significant debt, choosing farm would be a luxury. But it doesn’t take all that much effort to get into the game and bootstrap your business towards a meaningful end goal. The effort is in day to day concerns, and just getting your shoes tied in the morning can take some effort. . . especially in the beginning. Considering the challenges and changes humanity faces, maybe it is a luxury to live as if it doesn’t matter. If we have the luxury of farming, it resides in access to available ground.

But back to the real reason we farm. Kelly and I have talked to numerous journalists for various publications. Eventually they all ask some variation on the same question, “why do you do this?” We’ve never been totally honest with them. There is a concept of what we do and the dirty details are beside the point. All of the hype surrounding the local foods movement is great, but it leads to preconceived ideas of who we are and what we are trying to do.

If we cannot change the world, at least we can change our world. Veggies have provided a revenue source that allows us to be independent and mostly autonomous. In other words, we can live our lives as our own instead of at the mercy of an employer or our own debt. At the same time we have the ability to succeed or fail at our own hand. The weather certainly dishes out some twists and turns, but in the end our skill as growers and quality of our soil help to determine our fate.

As much as anything, farming provides a sense of place. It’s pretty certain that we’re not going to get rich farming. The best we can hope for is a modest living. But the dollars of it can’t touch a sense of self that extends beyond our feet and hands. We’ve dumped blood, sweat and tears into this place to make it fly. All of those experiences have a greater sum than their individual parts. In the end some kind of connection forms and we’re simply here. At home.

Looking back I think my motives were to lead a life where my income was based on something tangible. Not only tangible, but something I cared about. Something that was ethically above the fray. Farming has challenged and exercised me mentally and physically, and hell. . . the commute is great. So the garden grows. . . complete with pigweed, Canadian thistle, and maybe, abundance. Imperfection in other words. . . just like the rest of us.

John

-=- Late Blight

The tomatoes are here now, but there isn’t any guarantee for the future. . . we’ve got late blight setting in our last planting. It looks like leaves drenched in motor oil with white fungus growing around the edges. The whole plant is affected and it probably means that last planting will not bear much quality fruit.

-=- Tractor Repair

Thanks to Joe (CSA member and long time market customer) for his blisteringly simple fix for a vertically mounted hydrolic filter gasket. The seal went out again, but only took 15 minutes to fix with Joe’s patented gasket mounting process. . . grease.

-=- What the CSA Got

Full Shares – Salad Mix, Heirloom-Red Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Cilantro, Potatoes, Red Peppers, Yellow Snap Beans

Salad Shares – Salad Mix, Summer Squash, Cilantro, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Peppers, Red Onions

-=- Broad Ripple Farmers Market extended to November 14th. . . just a reminder. Winter CSA applications out next week. The season is the weeks of Nov 1 – Dec 14th (7wks)

-=- Available at Market this Week

Cherry Tomatoes

Heirloom Tomatoes

Red Tomatoes

Red Peppers

Green Peppers

Purple Peppers

Summer Squash

Bouquets

Sunflowers

Arugula?

Cilantro

Basil

Shallots

Beans?

Salad Mix

Beets

Pea Shoots (last week for the season)

Kale?

Coming Soon

Spinach

Winter Squash

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