Community looks like …

Luminous Heart performing at this weekend’s [gorgeous!] farm open house.

“Community” has been a regular topic for these newsletters over the years. No surprise, since we run a “Community Supported Agriculture” program, it’s something we think and care about (beyond just as a marketing model). When we have our on-farm events, we love seeing the physical manifestation of our weekly work — people who eat food from our farm walking our fields, connecting with us, with the place we farm, with each other.

So, this weekend, community looked like friends tasting apples we planted almost a decade ago (more on that below), kids running through the field with stick “swords,” beautiful harmonies floating through the sunny fall air, and pumpkins piled on the porch.

At these occasions, this one included, I am always struck by how many directions the community runs. Yes, our farm’s CSA is one nexus point for community in McMinnville, but our farm members have infinite other connections with each other and with us. Our family benefits from the work and efforts of our friends and customers as well. We eat food others have grown too; we educate our children together; we support each other’s ministries and service work; we heal each other.

As someone who grew up in a larger city (Bellevue, Washington), the multiplicity of connections in small town life are still a delightful surprise. Growing up, friendships usually just had one point of connection. Now, I love that moment when a third party asks how a friend and I met and we look at each other with eyes raised, wondering how did we meet? Because, sometimes the answer is just that we share community and affection grows over time.

I also grew up in a place where anonymity was the norm. It was a rare event to run into an acquaintance when out running errands with my parents. Meanwhile, I’m sure that our children have no concept of what it might even mean to be anonymous in a town where it seems that everyone knows them where ever we go.

Without a doubt, small circles such as this can create complicated situations at times. Community is a real human experience, not a fairy dreamland (I was going to say not a “fairy tale,” but actually fairy tales are usually quite complex as well!). It seems that I always know a few people who are in times of hurting because of hard interactions or mixed up communication (or I myself might be in those situations at times too). But, one of the blessings of living in community is that there is time for forgiveness and moving forward in relationships. If we chose to let community life be our teacher, we can remember through the pain the things we share and have shared with people, in times of conflict.

And, then there are those moments that really are like a fairy dreamland — when the October sunshine warms our bodies, harmonies warm our spirits, and good food warms our tummies. Thanks to everyone who came out to help us experience one of those sublime moments of connection this weekend; here’s to more of the same in the future!

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla

P.S. And, we want to share the results of this year’s apple tasting too! Out of ten different varieties (all planted and grown here on the farm by us), the favorite apple was Mutsu! We love it too! And, before we tallied the votes, we pulled one name in a raffle for a tote bag. Jack L. is the winner and will receive a tote bag this week at pick-up! Thanks for coming out to play with us Jack!

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2018 news! We’re going to begin taking sign-ups for next year’s CSA season this week at pick-up! We don’t quite have the actual dates finalized for the season, but the pick-up day and time will remain the same, as well as the price (if it changes at all it will be because of a shift in the number of weeks, but the price per item per week will stay the same!). We know the CSA will begin sometime early in the new year, as usual. We will have next season’s dates/length sorted out by the end of this season, but we wanted to give people time to commit right away since we know there are folks who are ready to commit. I know that’s vague for now! Feel free to wait for the precise details if you prefer!

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Meet this week’s vegetables:

  • Grapes
  • Newton Pippin apples
  • Sweet peppers
  • Hot peppers
  • Cabbage
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Salad mix
  • Chard
  • Kale
  • Beets
  • Sunshine Kabocha squash — This is a delicious winter squash with a flavor (sweet) and texture (soft and moist) slightly different than any of the others we’ve give out this year. We like to cut it in half and bake it cut-side down until it is cooked through and soft. At that point, you can just slice it and serve it as is (yummy with butter and salt!) or keep the cooked squash in the fridge and reheat slices when you want to eat it. It fries up nicely in a cast iron pan. You can also use the cooked flesh for baking with, such as you might with a pumpkin.
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