at the farm

Much of the way we measure and talk about the passage of time with our little ones is by seasons - it seems so much more tangible to them than calendar months and years. They're fully aware of how humid it feels, or how blue the blueberries are now, or how the evenings might feel cooler. The fact that it's just turned 'August'? That doesn't mean anything. The fact that the mosquitoes are gone? That does. A different measure of time.

And so it was that on the drive to the farm this week, Ezra slowly put it together that the season is changing a tiny bit - that the harvest is fully in swing; that most of the things planted in the spring are coming to fruition; and that yes - this means that vegetable gardening will soon pause for the winter and eventually even, we will stop going to the farm to pick up our weekly CSA share.

He was crushed. It hadn't occurred to me that he thought we would be going there once a week forever. He was eventually comforted by the repeated counting out of how many more weeks we likely have before the season is over. And since it's more than 'five' - his standard for a lot - we're okay for now. And then, there's next season to look forward to, when he'll be old enough to attend farm camp here with his brother - just one fall and winter between that exciting time for him.

In past years, we've always been part of a CSA where we share pick up responsibilities with neighboring families - easing the driving burden on us all. But this year - with the decision to let our own vegetable garden go for the year - we joined a CSA just a bit closer that we could pick up at and visit each week. While considering the driving impact that decision entails, it feels more than balanced out by what we've gained. Each and every week - in a comfortable rhythm - we make our small trek for food. The kids gather the canvas bags, we walk the path to the farm - stopping along the way to say hello to the cow, the pigs, the ducks, the chicks, the bunnies, and whatever butterflies may be in the flower garden, and we journey in to get our vegetables. There's much routine we have in the measuring (which miss Adelaide loves), the counting (Calvin's expertise), and the selection of *just* the right eggs (always Ezra's job) - all very important details.

There are very few outings (for me, anyway) that are easy with three young children and just one adult. The beach, the woods, and the farm - those are easy, and fun, and wonderful. The hardest part is always the leaving. No one ever wants to leave.

Thankfully, the leaving is always softened by the anticipation of getting our food home...and on the table.

Dinner from the farm? One of those measures of the season we're so very grateful for.

Comments

[bigbucketgirl]

excuse my ignorance, and my inability to google anything at the moment..but what is CSA? It looks great whatever!? I'm guessing the closest thing we have is a Farmers Market once a month which is great for the kids to see the food as the farmers grow and pick it. We do have the occasional pick-your-own opportunities..but our mosquitoes are still here in abundance and the flying ants are the kind that are so adventurous they fly into your underwear!

[bigbucketgirl]

Oh...in the UK the CSA is the agency that chases absent parents or parents who live apart from their children for money to help support them!

[SOULEMAMA]

I have the Wikipedia description of a CSA linked in the post. Our CSA is a local, organic farm. Members of the farm contribute money at the beginning of the season towards a 'share' of that season's harvest. So each week we pick up our portion of the harvest, as well as contribute time towards 'working' the farm. Many farms have the options for vegetable and poultry shares.

[Ellie]

We are just coming into Summer here (after a very brief Winter), and I am looking forward to our Organic Farmer's Market having more and more (Summery) produce every week. Those beans look juicy, crunchy, delicious! And the eggplants shiny, glossy - beautiful. Ohhh, now I'm hungry! I know you'll find another weekly routine to replace this for your Winter measuring, choosing, counting.

[Jen]

What a beautiful picture of your salad. That new camera is sure swell! Loved the post. We have a guy down the street who has a massive garden that I am so thankful for.

[charlotte]

A lot to take in here today...all so sweet- the children, seasonal time, homegrown foods, baby animals, orange zinnias, summer, the place. Those peppers, and (are they?) eggplants! Love the ER bracelet, still a proud badge of adventurous survival.

[Molly]

Such a perfectly lovely and celebratory post!

[jean]

oh Soulemama. wonderful post.

[Julia]

what a beautiful way to understand time- in the way that it really affects us at the core- changes in food, weather, animals. that whole calendar thing can wait!

[Heather]

Lovely post and those veggies are gorgeous. Your camera is a jewel! Lovely pics...

[lee]

Absolutely love this post! CSA's are one of the best ways to teach kids where food REALLY comes from. It's nice that you are close enough to visit yours on a regular basis.

[UNIFORM Studio]

They will remember these days when they are old. What a special thing to do together as a family.
I really like how you've recognized that thinking about time seasonally is so much easier for children to grasp -it's tangible vs abstract. When I think back to my childhood, that's exactly how I remember time -the colors outside and the climate form a backdrop to everything we did.

[Stefani]

I'm with Ezra, it can be so hard to let go of a season. My boys are struggling with the thought that summer fun will end too. I've been thinking about some special something to help them with the letting go of summer and welcoming fall. Do you guys do anything like that? Lovely photos, and a lovely glimpse of your summer.

[Mama Urchin]

Our daughter calls the CSA farm "our farm" and "our farmer." At first I discouraged it but now I feel like it's good for her to have an interest, a personal stake, in the success of the farm. It looks like your guys have that same feeling.

[Nikki]

That is why I so miss living in the country; but I only have to drive a little out of my way to visit farms that sell crops. Why am I not doing that?

[Wendy]

You live within walking distance of a CSA farm? How beautiful is that?

We're within walking distance (an hour walk) of a Vitamin Cottage, but that's about it.

We need to move to the country.

[camerashymomma]

i love the concept of the seasons telling time, it's true...that is "time" to kids. well said. oh, and farm 'camp'? i wanna go!!

that picture of the chick is adorable! i love the gentle hands holding the sweet thing.

thanks for sharing your little bit of country with us who go without, but crave it nonetheless. weekly farmers market is what pulls us together, nothing better than juicy peaches and live music!

[Alyssa]

I am delighted to see your CSA post - a vital bit of info for re-connecting... I can't tell you how much it has changed our lives to find local food connections. We also belong to a lovely CSA, get raw milk and honey from a local, biodynamic dairy farm and try to do a lot of home preservation. Our health has never been better and it is so awesome to have our four year old "meeting his cows" and thanking them for the milk. Wendy, you don't need to move to the country - you just need to find the community and you'll be amazed at what is right around you already!

[Dawn]

Reading your blog I always wish I was your neighbor or part of your wonderful family but this post in particular has put me over the edge. Our lovely Memphis would adore going to the farm...just adore it. If she could she would live outdoors but even more important to her are the animals. We went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma this week a bit of a trek from Seattle, we have friends in Tacoma...anywho we stumbled upon the red wolves being fed white rabbits. It deeply disturbed Memphis and days later she is having nightmares about it. It also just so happens that we have rabbit visitors in our yard of late. Thanks again for sharing your wonderful life. xo

[Candace]

Ohmygosh those vegetables looks amazing! And the eggplants are so beautiful!

[Charlotte]

Lovely photos :) what farm is that? I live in saco and was thinking of next summer doing the CSA program. Another odd question, yesterday I was at joanne fabrics buying fabric to make a baby quilt, (after reading your blog and others made me feel inspired) I think I might have seen you there. I wasnt sure but then I looked today at your blog and saw the red shoes :)

[Sonya]

We all have a lot to learn from you, Amanda. Thanks for spreading your magic.

[DeerDominique]

Food Photos!! I love pictures of food. Yours are most excellent dear. Must be your honed eye and that new fancy schmancy camera!

[2HCreative]

Amanda, Great post. I couldn't agree with you more than some of the easiest outings are the ones to the woods, farm, ocean, or river. My little girl (well all of us really) needs that connection with nature. We don't have a CSA close by but visit the Farmers Market each Saturday. Helping select just the right pepper or peas has really widened my little ones eating habits. Here’s to the bounty of summer. We are off to collect peaches from a local farm tomorrow and have a little canning fun this weekend.

[tricia]

what a glorious day. what a lovely post.

[Grace]

I've been sharing Ezra's feelings on the end of summer lately, as well. Even though we still have, realistically in my part of the world, about a month and a half to two months of "summeriness". But that hot weather in September and early October ... well, it just isn't the same. I'm just glad my little ones are not in school ... which starts in 2 weeks!!!

[Mary-Heather]

Oh, this is a beautiful post - and it made me think of the fact a measure of time passing for us "grownups" is watching the children in our lives (real or virtual) grow up. Your beautiful children are getting so big! It's amazing!

[Melissa]

I always enjoy reading your posts. It helps me slow down and appreciate the small glories of life. I have a tendency to take life at a running start but I have been trying to slow my mind down and smell the flowers. Thanks for all of your inspiring posts.

[Dawn]

That seems like it must be wonderful! I must admit I am a bit envious...fresh veggies, time with your kids, and nature to share!?!? You are one lucky woman!

[Nik]

Thank you for letting me peek into your world and add a little freshness to my own. Your family's trip to the farm for eggs and veggies has been the highlight of my day on the "cube farm."

Peace

[Lori]

very sweet day....

last summer we shared a garden (very large one in fact) with some friends...pitch black soil the consistency of flour....beautiful veggies last year.
Last week my youngest one and I started a small fall garden (mostly flowers) in an old wheelbarrow....lavender, bachelor buttons and romaine lettuce. :o)

[Julie]

What a wonderful experience.... your post are always so magical and beautiful!

[Bryn]

Refreshing.

I suppose August in Florida is like February in Maine . Everything stops - no veggies (everything is scorched rather than frozen), no eggs even! Our 'season' begins in October, and things grow beautifully until it all stops in July. And we prefer to stay indoors for this month (we're making snowflakes today - and like me, I'm sure my kids will be shocked when they someday see snow and see that snowflakes aren't pieces of paper 10 inches across!) Our time just doesn't run like everyone else's, something I didn't understand until I was older - why the books I'd read about seasons and holidays didn't follow my reality. I think I, and they, feel really connected to a place when the timing of that place is what you've tuned into.

First time commenting - thanks for the inspiration and beauty.

[kate]

A~Thanks for bringing us this wonderful post! As a new "farmgirl" with my own new farmette, local agriculture has become something more than just "important" it is intimate...my home. Having a small CSA of our own would be so neat, for now we are anxioulsy waiting for our little flock of hens to begin laying eggs. It's a good life indeed.
Come visit our farm house any old time!
Love and light to you
K~

[Katie]

My son went to farm camp there this summer. What a beautful setting. He loved chore time - collecting eggs, weeding, moving hay in wheelbarrows.......heaven!

[liza]

HOLY COW! Amanda I can't believe how big Calvin is. Also: love the hair ;)

-liza

[Amy T.]

What a great way to get kids interested in eating vegetables. I am also having to cut back on my own vegetable gardening due to being a mom, but the Farmer's Market keeps me well-supplied.

[Shannon]

What a wonderful post. Thank you for it! What amazing shots of eggplant (YUM) and your thoughts really tugged at my heart strings.

We've been going to a farmers market this season and will (hopefully) be joining a CSA for next year. We discovered a market with a weekly pick-up near us. I think it can provide valuable economic stability for local small farmers.

I *know* how it is to get around with kids. Mine are 3 and 2, and I feel like it's just now getting easier. Shannon

[Veronica TM]

what a perfect way to spend time with the little ones, so much to experience and learn in nature!
enjoy all the 5 or more weeks of the season!

[melanie]

AHMAZING photos, you know this just made me miss home :(

[JaimeLeigh]

Loved this post. How great about the farm and really like how you go by *seasons* with the kids instead of *months*. Wish I could go by that here with my little one, but in our part of Texas, well, he would think it never changed except from warm to warmer! :)

[vickie]

I love this post, just beautiful.

[Melissa Garrett]

Simply lovely!

My oldest two know that summer is winding down because our neighbors just had their firewood delivered today. Our delivery is next :-)

[tamara in melbourne, australia]

Such a lovely post!
...and we're just feeling the first stirrings of Spring here: the first daffodils are braving the cold wind, and there's that little bit of brisk friskiness to the air. Can't wait for Summer!

[Mae]

You are a very wise young mother ...

[Lucinda]

This sounds like a fantastic experience and I wish we were in a situation to do the same, but living in the middle of Tokyo the closest we get to a local farm is a park with a few guinea pigs and a couple of horses (no vedge). The CSA idea is brilliant. I hadn't heard of that before. Increasingly makes me want to live somewhere rural again (I grew up in the English country side but have spent my adult life in huge cities). Anyway, your farm visits look like healthy fun all around! Enjoy, while I dream up future plans : )

[Livia]

When I read your post, it's like reading a fairytale. Just lovely. Your children are lucky little harvesters.

[melissa]

When my oldest daughter was 2 1/2 I was pregnant with my third and she always asked when the baby was coming. So to help her we told her the baby would be born when the oranges on our tree were ripe. She was able to watch the oranges grow (like my stomach) and eventually turn orange (not like my stomach ) and yes, when we were able to pick them the baby was born.It was a great way for her to understand how things take time to grow and now we always talk about time by the seasons.

[Madeline R]

It's fun reading about how much later the crops just come in up there as opposed to down here on our farm, in GA. When your season is finished, you are more than welcome to come do free farm camp down here! We have crops year round.My son's turkey chicks just arrived in the mail today for his very own turkey business. Your kids are so tuned into reality. Love your post.

[shari]

we're big fans of community supported agriculture too. love your farm photos. ;) xo