Sinking into the comforts of the summer season: fresh produce abundant in the fields, rows being flipped and replanted with buckwheat, toddler toes digging into the soil, sun tanned skin and daily dips in cool water. Dangling vegetables yet to ripen on the vine: tomatoes, beans, cucumbers… Leafy greens remain strong even as the heat threatens to exhaust them. The summer solstice just passed, the full moon now wanes, and summer's bounty flickers closer into view.
The current flavor rotation: salty minty watermelon juice, fresh garlic, charred potatoes, sweet plums, yard sauce with every meal. Savoring each flavor while it is prolific and knowing that nothing lasts forever. Appreciating the moments of beauty, and not holding on too tightly when they too must move along. I have been working hard to accept these continual ebbs and flows, both on the farm, in my relationships, within our business and within myself.
Each morning this week as I step outside and breathe in the field, the gladiolus greet me with new explosions of color and drama. They call me, and I answer, harvesting massive bouquets to pass on to family, friends, teachers, neighbors… the people who fill me with gratitude daily for the warmth they add to our life. Gifting beauty and decadence in the form of a freshly cut bouquet is one of the languages of love I feel most fluent in.
Harvesting a bouquet, making a cake, writing words of affirmation, cooking a delicious meal… These are the gifts I often offer my loved ones, and doing so brings me immense joy. Especially performing these acts of service for the women in my life! Women have been socialized from a young age to think of each other as threats: to see one another as competition, to feel insecure when faced with someone we view as more beautiful, strong, smart, capable than ourselves. The last few weeks I have been reflecting on how thankful I am to be surrounded by a community of incredible women, and how radical it feels to be moving away from a place of constantly comparing myself to the women around me. To be able to celebrate my own successes as well as those of my sisters, and to do so from a place of honest joy instead of quiet resentment. To finally believe that I am capable, beautiful, and enough.
I am so grateful for the women in my life who forgive themselves for their faults and celebrate their wins; who know that there is room enough for all of our brilliant lights to shine simultaneously; who greet the world honestly as themselves, and in turn inspire me to do the same.
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 30th 5:00pm Salad Pop Up at the Iron Bungalow
July 9th 5:30pm Smash Burger Pop Up at Sidetrack Brewing
July 13th Margle at Launchpad
July 20th 6pm RGALT Fundraising Dinner on the Farm
July 27th 5pm Pizza Night on the Farm
