Hello CSA Community,

The hourglass trickles to the equalizing point this weekend, as we celebrate the Equinox and usher in Autumn officially. The walks around the farm smell musty of freshly rotting leaves and something like a smokey scent lingers in the nose. It is a gorgeous season for us, and we have been so delighted that our summer crops have managed to hold on as we transition into fall roots and leaves. I have been reminded of the wet season with that gorgeous tumult of rain last week and the troubles that it can lead to here at the farm. Measures have been taken and our hopes are high that we can avoid any devastating flooding this fall. Please be well and enjoy this week’s box!

Love and grasshoppers,Farmer Becky

Rainbow cherry tomatoesSummer squash

Colorful potatoes

field notesVolume 17 | Number 18 | September 21 & 25, 2012

EcoSyStEm Farm at accokEEkwww.accokeekfoundation.org

No CSA PICkuP ON:

- Friday, September 28, 2012- Tuesday, october 2, 2012

Big bunch o’ basilPlum tomatoesFall Flower bouquets

Summer drama Pick liSt

upcoming events

Farm managerBecky Seward

apprentice FarmersSusan Cook, Sky Harman

Farm internCrystal Proctor

Farm assistantBlain Snipstal

A Fungi Foray Saturday, october 6, 201210 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.$5 suggested donation

Join biologist Tovi Lehmann for a foray into 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 that fungi play in the natural world. Tovi will also discuss the basics of mushroom identification. Participants will take a guided trail walk to hunt for fungi.

Farming for Seed Saturday, october 20, 20129 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.$40 non-members, $30 members

Join Accokeek Foundation Ecosystem Farm staff, Becky Cecere Seward, and Molly Meehan for this exciting exploration of the ins and outs of growing for seed, seed saving, and the historic and cultural context of heirloom vegetable varieties grown at the Ecosystem Farm.

Pre-registration required for events, for details on any event, please visit www.accokeekfoundation.org or call 301-283-2113.

Light and dark evenThe whole world is equalizedAutumn comes in gold

The Mad Farmer Mind and BodyBy Farmer Becky

Sowing the seed,my hand is one with the earth.

Wanting the seed to grow,my mind is one with the light.

Hoeing the crop,my hands are one with the rain.

Having cared for the plants,my mind is one with the air.

Hungry and trusting,my mind is one with the earth.

Eating the fruit,my body is one with the earth.

- Wendell Berry, from Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer

It is a running joke in my circle of vegetable growers that we are all a little crazy. Some are obviously loony: disheveled personal and farm appearance, endless energy and spitfire. Some are crazy under the surface, and it isn’t until you learn of their superstitious planting rituals or find their hidden box of twinkies that their madness becomes apparent. What this lunacy suggests to me is more of a willing separation from certain elements of the human world. Whether we are choosing urban agriculture or rural, manicured or weedy, there is that drive to exist in the overlap between human and wild, to coexist with the unpredictable. I farm also because it is so essentially human: we all eat, and we should cultivate our connection to our food without the machinations of a problematic industry.

After the car accident in July, I was repeatedly reminded to spend more time resting, to take a break from the farm, which I found to be nearly impossible. This presents another facet of most farmers’ minds (and hearts): we must care. I was unable to fully conceive of spending too many days away from the Ecosystem Farm because there were living things there! It was dry and they were thirsty, and to renege on that responsibility would be a heavy burden. Sometimes I do feel that this makes me just a little crazy…but I digress…

Human bodies, like all variations in lifeform, are incredibly fascinating to witness. The runner body, the swimmer body, the mother-of-a-toddler-great-shoulders body, the city-postal-worker-all-legs body, the aging-but-still-full-of-life body, I can name as many bodies as I can for probably every individual person. The farmer body tells a very distinct story: walk a lot, lift heavy things - with the knees!, bend over often, lift with arms often, wield tools with arms and back, use wrists and fingers regularly, receive a lot of sun, and always being dusted with dirt.

I often describe my work as being a vessel to the soil. At the core it is only this: all the space in between the soil and myself, madly moving to turn it into nourishment.