Walk in the Park Series: Mushrooms and EcologySaturday, September 14, 20139 a.m. - 12 p.m.Join biologist Tovi Lehman as we explore the fascinating world of fungi! In this two-part workshop, Tovi will introduce participants to mushroom life cycles and habitats, as well as the important role fungi play in the natural world. Tovi will discuss the basics of mushroom identification, and participants will take a guided trail walk to hunt for fungi. Museum Garden Tour: Fall Strategies for an Abundant GardenMonday, September 16, 20135 p.m. - 7 p.m.Join Farm and Garden Coordinator, Dan Michaelson, for this seasonal tour through the Museum Garden and learn about perennial and rotational agriculture, botany, and food history. This is a great way to get ideas for your own garden and get a taste for what is possible in our region! Each class will have time for a Q&A session.

field notesHello CSA Community!

Oh, whimsical late summer breeze, accentuated by the buzz of cicadas and the music of river birds...It is that marginal time in the summer, and its bittersweet feeling punctuates the days of picklingand planting. On one hand, summer fruits are still colorful and plump. On the other, tender green leaves poke through the soil for fall. We are still waging our battles with groundhogs, crows, and insect pests but, yet again, I am amazed at the resilience and relativebalance of the farm. Sweet potato flowers, deep purple and lavendertrumpets, and the surprisingly ready bright orange kabocha pumpkinspeak of the colors yet to come. Stay tuned for the beauty of anotherseason changing, and be good to yourselves and each other!

love and rotten watermelon splats,Farmer Becky

Ecosystem Farm ManagerRebecca Cecere SewardFarm ApprenticesAlex Binck, Holli ElliottFarm and Garden CoordinatorDaniel MichaelsonVolunteersRosemary Zechman, Amanda Truett, Tom Ellwanger, Mary Lynn Davis, Yvonne Brown, Terrance Murphy, Ethan Carton, Cairna Bode

Volume 18 | Number 9 | August 27 & 30, 2013

upcoming events

EcosystEm FArm At AccokEEkwww.accokeekfoundation.org | 301-283-2113 | csa@accokeek.org

lay in grassnothing but sunshineperfect day

For details on any event, please visit www.accokeekfoundation.org.

Not too Fast, Not too SlowBy Alex Binck

Summer races on by yet again. Summer is my favorite season, and when looking back on it, it always seems so short. I love the warm weather, the green growing things, swimming, life exploding out of every inch of dirt. But during the summer there’s always a certain eagerness for it to be over. By August, the craze of weeding, planting for fall, picking, trying to cram in more time with friends or trips to the beach, the heat, the bugs, the humidity… it can all start to get a little exhausting. Like most folks in the DC area, I try to get out of town for a week or two every year around this time. When I was younger, vacations were mostly about lounging around, walking, playing board games, or reading: at any given moment, doing nothing or whatever I felt like. But lately it seems even vacations can be a mad scramble. In order to get in all of the relaxation and fun I want, my vacations need to be strictly regimented, every hour scheduled out. Even then, I rarely leave without a few regrets, things I didn’t get to do. And now I’m back. I successfully crammed the absolute maximum amount of rest and relaxation into my time away, and yet I don’t find myself feeling much more rested or relaxed. A little voice wonders: when will summer end? When will things slow down a little so I can finally rest?

It bothers me that I think this. Summer is a wonderful time; I know that after it’s over, I’ll remember it fondly, and look forward to the next one eagerly. I could work less but, relatively, I don’t work that much. Many farmers spend practically their every waking hour and then some working, and, if I want to be a successful farmer in the future, I’ll probably need to meet or exceed this level. Partly, this is because we live in a society where food and farmers are grossly undervalued, despite the fact that a more important job is hard to imagine. This is true even more broadly: generally, the more direct and tangible benefit you bring to people’s lives in your work, the less money you will make. But, until society makes a real effort to consider these problems, this is the lot we’re stuck with. And maybe it’s not so bad. After all, the voice in my head doesn’t want summer to end because I hate it. It wants summer to end because I love it too much. Much better than the alternative, huh?