The Arms We Need...

...are the ones that grow food and cultivate love. No need at all for those nuclear types, which I learned a bit more about today at an event called Survival: Conversion to a Nuclear Free World. Perhaps you've seen the posters around town, there's a big ol' sunflower on top that provides an interesting caption for an anti-nuclear workshop. Fitting enough, however, when you consider that through a process called phytoextraction sunflowers have been known to clean up environmental toxins. Pretty and functional, you just don't want to go and eat those seeds.

Let me tell you about something you do want to eat: wholesome goodness that is prepared each week by a dedicated group of local activists.

Tacoma Food Not Bombs started working at 9 am in order to prepare a meal splendid enough to serve. Corn muffins with currants, two lentil soups packed full of the veggies, a blue potato and beet salad, and some sliced fruit were the menu items. Not bad.

Howard Zinn said, "No one should be without food in a world so richly provided with land, sun, and human ingenuity." This is the core belief of Food Not Bombs, an international organization of autonomous groups that make decisions through consensus and reclaim food for all of us to enjoy.

And around this time of year the abundance is becoming more evident, we should all feel so blessed that there is so much to share. But in a culture that is fueled by feelings of guilt and lack we are often fooled to believe we have very little to share. FNB is therefore not just trying to reclaim food, but also trying to reclaim a confidence in ourselves as self-sufficient, strong, and capable inhabitants of the earth through the sharing of vegetarian meals.

So in the struggle for peace and prosperity for all people, I began my work today with the sharing of muffins and soup. The meal was definitely hearty enough to keep the conversation flowing and the fight going strong. For more information on the peace movement here in the South Sound area please check out United for Peace of Pierce County and of course its rich relation to food at Tacoma Food Not Bombs.

Vision and Clarity

What a tease you are, Tacoma. I'm trying to forget my 8 o'clock bike ride home in the rain last night. So here's some perspective for you, lovely readers, and spring time blessings that will manifest into the summer's harvests.

These are tomato starts, courtesy of Zestful Gardens. Visualize them in a few months, and you picking tomatoes fresh from garden. Yum!

In Praise of Spring and our Lady Farmers

What a beautiful spring morning we had as Lisa and I ventured out to explore what the mother and daughter organic farming duo, Val and Holly, are sprouting on their 35 acres in the Puyallup Valley. Apparently there’s a lot more then vegetables.

After saying a quick hello to Val, who had her hands full while helping her granddaughter Hadley make green playdo in their country kitchen, we headed out to the fields to where Holly was busy tilling and preparing to plant some greenhouse starts.

The mountain was out today, hovering like a protective mother not so far in the distance and I was once again reminded of how blessed we are to live in the most beautiful place on earth. Also, I must admit, I was a bit jealous that Holly and Val have this iconic view at their backdoor.

Lisa, meanwhile, was focused on something equally as amazing. She pointed to the freshly upturned earth at our feet. “Carrie says it’s like chocolate frosting,” she said, referring to farmer Carrie Little of Mother Earth Farms who also lives in the Puyallup Valley.

And certainly, the soil was indicative of just that. Years of organic cultivation and sustenance from nutrients created on-site at Zestful Gardens have given it a light texture and a deep, honest color.

Holly finished the field she was working on while Lisa and I tromped around a bit more in the fields, like kids on a big playground. Lucky for us, when she could spare a second, she was gracious enough to allow us to take a few pictures of her up on the tractor. Only a week or two away from having her second child, her belly is full and robust (although, I think she may describe it a bit differently).

But I still found the scene amazing: a child lucky enough to be working the land with her mother right up until her birth and hopefully after. With Holly’s years of commitment to biodynamic and organic farming her children have a rich resource to learn from. In fact, we all do!

But there was work to be done, and so Lisa and I retreated back to the farmhouse to meet some other important members of this multi-generational farm family. Chickens, goats, pigs, and sheep do their part to support sustainable practices at Zestful Gardens. As Val explained to me, goats and pigs act as a team to completely clear fields that had originally been consumed by blackberries. Goats nibble the tips of the patches, shaping them into a workable size for pigs to then uproot. Sheep provide Val with the wool she needs to spin yarn for her fiber art pursuits. Chickens of course provide their eggs, manure, and soil churning capabilities.


Whether visiting with Holly out in the fields, meeting the animals with Val and Hadley, or just sitting on the front porch while Hadley served us lunch, I was touched by the beauty and vitality of Zestful Gardens. I am so grateful that we have a multitude of women here in Pierce County who are dedicated to feeding the community and saving our farmland through sustainable practices and loving, knowledgeable stewardship. Their contributions to those of us who are interested in eating as both a physical and ideological link to the earth are obvious and profound.

To find out more and to sign up for Zestful Gardens’ CSA please go to their website.

Awakening

Equinox greetings to you all! After a few months break so that I could concentrate on other pursuits to fund my work as a writer and farmers market manager, I am awakening this blog.

This morning Lisa (who many of you may know as "Lisa from Terry's Berries) and I visited Zestful Gardens where we chatted with lovely farmer mama's and were reminded of the importance of local, small farms in maintaining the health and vitality of our community.

I also met the friendliest sheep in the world named Clarence. Cute!

Be sure to check back soon for a full recount with pictures of the morning's events. I'll be updating this regularly with the adventures Lisa and I get into this season. Happy spring.

A Food Community, A Global Community

In light of the climate talks that just ended in Copenhagen, their “bare minimum” agreements, and this, I think it’s important that we all get on the same page here as far as the many ways small farmers are going to save the world.

Wendell Berry said, “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”

I've mentioned in the past that I believe that knowing where our food comes from and participating in its growth gives us a greater connection to place. And I have yet to understand why it is that some time ago it became all the rage to forget this connection and that we too are creatures of the Earth. And this is all despite the fact that we eat, we sleep, and we obey the same calls of nature that all other living beings on the planet do and succumb to them just the same.

And perhaps the consequences don’t have to be so severe, perhaps this struggle can turn into something worth living through; the preservation of a big, crumbling edifice that we will all smear our small patches into so that its cornerstones can remain for future generations to wonder over and tell stories about.

I think it is important to take note of Vandana Shiva’s quote, “You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder. It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you." And to make decisions accordingly.

Given the inconclusiveness of the past couple of weeks in Copenhagen, and the lack of overall action that has lead us to this point, it’s apparent that not everyone else agrees. I think you can point fingers all day regarding this subject because not one of us entirely removed from it. Instead, I’ll recommend that you check out Bill Mckibbens’ website where you can read a more hopeful description of what we should take out of these climate talks.

“…The one undeniable thing about this conference,” he writes, “ Is that it reflected the growing power of a people's movement around the world. You were heard. We're not strong enough yet to dominate the talks--that's still the fossil fuel industry. But we're strong enough to make it harder for the great powers simply to impose their will behind the scenes.”

Given that I’m a natural optimist, I like his thinking. And there’s nothing worse for movement and change than a loss of momentum that comes from feeling quieted and overwhelmed. So even if we don’t all go out and get ourselves a piece of land and go completely carbon free (although if you feel called, much love to you), as consumers we can encourage the momentum of market trends that encourage sustainable practices. This means buy, eat, act, and love local right now.

And that’s why we should all support the small farmers I write about here. As you hopefully read in the link above, they do a lot for us! They give our earth a little TLC that is much needed right now.

In her speech in Copenhagen, Vandana Shiva (I really love her) stated that through her work with small farmers in India she has discovered some amazing truths. "Forty percent of the solution to climate change lies in organic, ecological farming in the hands of small farmers," she says. "This is also a one hundred percent solution to hunger and poverty."

Not to get too preachy or political, we’re all welcome to our own opinions, and this blog is truly for the stories of small farmers. I’m taking a little advantage but hey, there are always a ton of reasons behind why we do what we do.

In peace and food community on this solstice.

After the December Frost at Terry's Berries

“I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” says Terry Carkner. When asked what she would be doing if she wasn’t a farmer she replied after a small pause, “Oh gosh. I would probably be an accountant.”

Which apparently she was, for a good 20 years, before dedicating herself to full time farming.

“I worked for a CPA firm,” she says, a job that also allowed her to do seasonal farm work. “But then it would get to be spring time and I’d think I would rather be outside.”

Terry and Dick Carkner began farming their 20 acres in the Puyallup Valley 26 years ago, after Dick got a job at the Washington State University Extension. Originally they only grew raspberries, but when they became organic they started growing vegetables out of necessity as well.

“The whole philosophy behind organic is diversifying. We began growing vegetables so we could rotate the crops in the beds,” Terry says.

Crop rotation allows the soil to be replenished after each season since mineral and nutrient requirements differ from crop to crop. Such practices restore and retain soil nutrients, which allow farmers to use the same land for year after year without chemicals.

This conversion to organic led to the development of Terry's CSA program, and throughout the years Terry has watched it grow along with the interest in eating local and supporting small farmers. Her greatest challenges now seem to be keeping up with the growing consumer demand and rolling with the punches of each season. This December’s frost has taken a toll on small farms all across western Washington as many, including Terry, watched their winter harvest freeze over.

“Things don’t grow in the winter cold and dark,” says Terry. “We have to plant ahead of time for our winter produce.”

So while most of us may think about the impact that the extreme weather has on our holiday travels or shopping, small farmers must consider the impact on their production and sales all the way into next spring.

Walking through the farm store, the iconic bright red barn that can be seen from River Road, this is hard to imagine: there is an abundance of colors on the shelves, in stark contrast to the grey weather outside. Kale, cabbages, carrots, beets, brussel sprouts, leeks, and winter squashes are all vegetables that can be obtained locally here in the winter, as well as apples and pears from the Yakima Valley.

We can be grateful for the mild seasons that allow this bounty, but mild just doesn't describe the winter so far and so our small farmers must find ways to cope. However, Terry holds a pragmatic view of the situation. “It’ll come back,” she says. “But it just won’t come back right away.”

Really, it is just another day in the life of a small farmer. “This isn’t a job for people who like all their ducks in a row,” Terry laughs. “Mother nature leads the dance.”

Find out more about Terry’s Berries on the website. http://www.terrysberries.com


And while Mother Nature may lead the dance, as she does inevitably with us all, there are ways to lessen the element's effects for our small farmers. CSA subscriptions help small farmers recover from such unforeseen events so that we can all have more reliable access to local fruits and vegetables. When you subscribe to a CSA, you gather not only a box of produce that is fresher and healthier than you can find at the store, but also a relationship with your food producer and the knowledge of what it takes to keep us all healthy and well fed.

Greetings and Appreciations

My intentions are quite practical. The fact of the matter is that food allows us to survive and grow, it encourages us to develop culture and connection through its sharing around the table, and it graces us with a holistic sense of ecology and community when we dig our hands into the earth to participate in its growth.

Really what it comes down to is I love food. Food is a blessing.

What follows are stories about good food and the lives that are intimately bound with it. Small farmers are the heart of our health, people we should all be on a first name basis with. Last year the staff of the Tacoma Farmers Market took this belief to the streets. They dared their shoppers to answer the question that stretched across the front of the their market shirts, “Who’s Your Farmer?”

As the season progressed and relationships were forged, it became obvious that both shoppers and farmers took pleasure in knowing each other by name. Even more evidence is provided in the growth of farmers markets and CSA programs all over the country.

This is what inspires me to write.

A personal connection with our producers alleviates consumer worries developed by the failings of the large-scale, industrial food system. In this new (or, perhaps more accurately, remembered) paradigm, food is once again a gift of good will and life source from soil to plate, from farm to community. Bigger does not mean better, more reliable, or more secure; when you know your farmer, you know your food.

I want to express my gratitude to the farmers who have shared their stories with me and who have trusted me to craft them appropriately in my writing, my other source of sustenance. Because of them my body and soul remain well fed.

Cheers.