opening day – tis the season!
—
“if you never tasted a bad apple, you would not appreciate a good apple.
you have to experience life to understand life.”
-leon brown
—
image credit: mlive
white lotus farms, ann arbor, mi
it’s national farmer’s market week – shop from your local farms
Dubbed “the farmers’ market effect” by the New York Times, a recent study shows that vouchers that permit low-income women to shop at a local farmers’ market increase fruit and vegetable consumption in their families. “It’s not clear why mothers visiting a farmers’ market wound up buying more vegetables than grocery store shoppers, but some women told the researchers that the produce sold at markets seemed to be fresher and of higher quality than supermarket offerings. Many shoppers also said they enjoyed the pleasant community experience and the chance to interact directly with growers.”
—
“raw ingredients trump recipes every time;
farmers and ranchers who coax the best from the earth
can make any of us appear to be a great cook.”
-judy rodgers, the zuni cafe cookbook
sunday in october
the farmer, in the pride of sea-worn acres,
showed me his honey mill, the honey-gate.
late afternoon was busy on the land,
the sun was a warm gauzy providence.
–
the honey mill, the honey-gate. and then,
near by, the bees. they came in from the fields,
the sun behind them, from the fields and trees,
like soft banners, waving from the sea.
–
he told me of their thousands, their ways,
of pounds of honey in the homely apiaries.
the stores were almost full, in autumn air,
against the coming chill, and the long cold.
–
he was about ready to rob them now,
the combs. he’d leave them just enough to keep them.
I thought it a rather subtle point point he made,
wishing providence would be as sure of us.
-richard eberhart
—
image credit: danny1970
October 12 is Old Farmers Day,
a day devoted to old farmers and their farming techniques.
how will you celebrate?
—
“let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth
is the most important labor of man.
when tillage begins, other arts will follow.
the farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.”
—
image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/irman
sometimes you find it
even in the
most unlikely of places
like tucked away
under a picnic table
on a farm with gentle deer
that you feed
apples and leaves to
while indoor tennis lessons
are going on in the barn
a ping pong table
standing by
waiting to be played upon
a farm house, museum, and gardens
sitting quietly
all surrounded
by corn fields and a golf course
way out in the middle of nowhere.
—
“skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion.
everything else is a distraction.”
-talib kweli