Letting Others Inspire
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lacking the necessary inspiration and time to write this weeks newsletter I came across a poem by Gary Nabhan (a well known author, lecturer, ethnobotanist and local foods activist) which Debbie posted in one of last year's winter newsletters. The author read the poem at a workshop, Debbie attended, called Renewing America's Food Traditions. Debbie felt so inspired at the time that she had to share it with all of you. After reading it myself again it truly reflects the spirit of CSA farming and as Debbie said:"... it so aptly conveys why we're here, why we're doing what we're doing - why you're doing what you're doing, in participating in our CSA..."
The title of the poem uses an uncommon term known as "terroir". A quick search yielded a pretty good definition of the term: "...Terroir comes from the word "terre", in English meaning "land". Terroir was originally a french term in wine, coffee or tea, used to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon particular varieties. Agricultural sites in the same region share similar soil, weather conditions, and farming techniques, which all contribute to the unique qualities of the crop. It can be very loosely translated as "a sense of place," which is embodied in certain characteristic qualities, the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the manufacture of the product."
With every share you receive and prepare your meals with we are connected by a common, shared, and very much alive "farm terroir". I hope you enjoy the poem.
A Terroir-ist's Manifesto for Eating in Placeby Gary Nabhan, January 2007
Know where your food has come from
through knowing those who produced it for you,
from farmer to forager, rancher or fisher
to earthworms building a deeper, richer soil,
to the heirloom vegetable, the nitrogen-fixing legume,
the pollinator, the heritage breed of livestock,
& the sourdough culture rising in your flour.
Know where your food has come from
by the very way it tastes:
its freshness telling you
how far it may have traveled,
the hint of mint in the cheese
suggesting what the goat has eaten,
the terroir of the wine
reminding you of the lime
in the stone you stand upon,
so that you can stand up for the land
that has offered it to you.
Know where your food has come from
by ascertaining the health & wealth
of those who picked & processed it,
by the fertility of the soil that is left
in the patch where it once grew,
by the traces of pesticides
found in the birds & the bees there.
Know whether the bays & shoals
where your shrimp & fish once swam
were left richer or poorer than before
you & your kin ate from them.
Know where your food comes from
by the richness of stories told around the table
recalling all that was harvested nearby
during the years that came before you,
when your predecessors & ancestors,
roamed the same woods & neighborhoods
where you & yours now roam.
Know them by the songs sung to praise them,
by the handmade tools kept to harvest them,
by the rites & feasts held to celebrate them,
by the laughter let loose to show them our affection.
Know where your foods come from
by the patience displayed while putting them up,
while peeling, skinning, coring or gutting them,
while pit-roasting, poaching or fermenting them,
while canning, salting or smoking them,
while arranging them on a plate for our eyes to behold.
Know where your food comes from
by the slow savoring of each and every morsel,
by letting their fragrances lodge in your memory
reminding you of just exactly where you were the very day
that you became blessed by each of their distinctive flavors.
When you know where your food comes from
you can give something back to those lands & waters,
that rural culture, that migrant harvester,
curer, smoker, poacher, roaster or vinyer.
You can give something back to that soil,
something fecund & fleeting like compost
or something lasting & legal like protection.
We, as humans, have not been given
roots as obvious as those of plants.
The surest way we have to lodge ourselves
within this blessed earth is by knowing
where our food comes from.
Music with Kuzanga Marimba and Community Potluck Dinner: 
Fruitshares will get blackberries or raspberries in their shares next week, early July the first plums should start to ripen, and yes I will stick my neck out that we will have a few apricots for the fruit shares -only. Due to a terribly wet spring, where rain pelted the blooming apricot trees over the course of the the entire flowering period, I can safely say that this year we have almost a complete crop failure. This means that our popular Apricot U-pick, scheduled for July will be canceled. By late July beginning of August our first Melons melons will be ripe just as we enter the pear and apple harvest. Oh, wow, that was fast, summer is almost over...:-) 
Mothers, fathers, grandparents, caretakers of any kind... bring the babe in your arms to experience the diversity of our beautiful organic farm here in Watsonville. We will use our five senses to get to know the natural world around us. The farm is home to over 50 different fruits and vegetables, chicks, chickens, goats, piglets, and the many wild members of the Pajaro watershed. 