The late summer routine is as follows: Wake with the sun. Drink espresso. Nibble on whatever baked good is leftover on the counter: focaccia, cookie, torte. Maybe slip into the field while Otis stays in bed slumbering. Feed the goats and chickens. Harvest or weed or do any other outdoor tasks that require the coolness of the early morning to complete them. Otis wakes: he sits at the table outside with his yogurt and granola, taking in the morning with us. A bike ride down the road to feed chickens and check another field, then OT dropped off to daycare. We continue with farm tasks, cleaning onions, harvesting, prepping orders or food, fixing things… Or we linger at the coffee shop and focus on event planning, dreaming up menus, paying bills. Some evenings are packed with social events (Burger Bash tonight!!) while others fixate on dinner at home, visiting Dairy Queen for a treat and early bedtime. We fit a lot in, and still we find room for rest and recovery. The balance of the heat and the hustle of summer abundance, and submerging ourselves in the cool pool or the quiet of home to keep sane… and to keep moving forward.
The dualities that we are faced with in this life are constant and unrelenting! The beauty of the sunset and the heartbreak of loss. The joys and terrors of child rearing. The bliss of falling in love and the harsh realities that come with committing to your partner eternally. The adrenaline rush of an intense workout and the powerlessness of tending to a sick child. It’s all part of navigating this human experience, yet from a young age we are exposed over and over to the concept of Happily Ever After, and made to feel like failures when our lives don’t turn out just so. It feels essential for us to strive to embrace and accept the wide range of emotions that come with the gift of being human… yet it is a difficult thing to put into practice.
The field right now is bursting with abundance. Herbs continue to flourish, fall root crops have been seeded and are coming up beautifully, nightshades (peppers, tomatoes, eggplants) are brimming with fruit, buckwheat flowers are buzzing with pollinators, black beans are reaching higher and high on their trellis, and marigolds and zinnias are dancing in the breeze between lingering gladiolus. The rows are tidy after a thorough weeding, and it feels like we may be through the hottest days of summer and into the gradual descent towards fall. Each week we are pickling all we can, hundreds of jars at a time, to capture the bounty of this moment and suspend it in time… to sustain a portion of the harvest to sell come winter, to capture the sweet heat of the present and save it for another day. This is the season of the hustle: keeping up with the produce coming out of the field, cooking never-ending meals, relishing the last days of the public pool, packing it all in before our world shifts into crispy leaves and sparse stalks and a more subdued period of recovery. Yet with full days and endless tasks we still find time to dream up new menus and find excitement in the everyday joys that our community holds. This is a gift I don’t take for granted!
Tons of events in these last summer months… Hope to see you tonight at the Burger Bash or somewhere else, soon!
UPCOMING EVENTS
August 6 [TODAY!] Burger Bash at Sidetrack Brewing 5pm til we sell out
September 7 RGALT Fundraiser at the Farm
September 10 Burger Bash at Sidetrack Brewing 5pm
September 28 Pizza Night on the Farm 5-8pm
October 4 Margle at Capitol Bar, Socorro NM
October 5 Margle at Oktoberfest, Santa Fe Brewing
October 8 Burger Bash at Sidetrack Brewing 5pm
October 11 Margle at Planet Marfa, Marfa TX
October 19 Dia de los Muertos celebration at Manuel’s Market
October 20 Fermentation Fest, Farm Shark Hot Sauce Demo
October 26 Pizza Night on the Farm
