Not many years ago, before the year-round farmstore and the winter farm memberships, we felt it a major victory to contribute anything to the holiday feasts of local tables. A few carrots, cabbage, or token final bunches of kale were astonishing, weeks past the end of market season. As we started to push the shoulders seasons and storage crops, we began to reliably provide some Thanksgiving staples: squash, potatoes, carrots, onions. It was, and still is, so satisfying to be a part of more households special meals, both holiday and every-day.
This week as we harvested and prepared the farmstore and the farm member shares for pickup, we were amazed at what our little valley-bottom farm has to offer you to eat right now, in November. We counted six different types of fresh salad greens (spinach, spicy mix, lettuce mix, head lettuce, winter-salad mix, spinach, radicchio mix); the roots shelves are loaded with carrots, beets, potatoes, salad turnips, radishes. Onions, garlic, a diversity of winter squash and pie pumpkins are stacked on the tables. You can eat so much good food right now, grown right here by your farm team.
In thinking about counting, abundance, and giving thanks this week, I also mused about the gratitude practice at evening meal-time that Noah and I have shared for over ten years now. For some reason it suddenly struck me that, even if we missed a few nights here and there, we have identified and spoken aloud over 3,000 gratitudes. It’s one of very few traditions we keep consistently (the other is a visit on Christmas Eve to Chapter One Books), but it’s such a firm habit now that we never really skip it unless not eating together, and often even then we still make time to voice one thing that we are grateful for each day. That small but powerful practice, even when (especially when) the farm or life or the world seem overwhelming and challenging, anchors and sustains us. We hope some of the farm food might inspire you to bring the tradition to your own tables this season as well in part because a recurring gratitude for us is that all of you, collectively, keep this farm going and growing.
We invite you out to stock up for your holiday meal, or your everyday meals, with so much good local produce. We’ll be hosting the farmstore today, 3:00-6:00, but it’s open all the time—even if you suddenly need extra potatoes on Thursday at noon, just come on by. We didn’t do an advance-reservation of Thanksgiving shares this year, but the selection at the farmstore is huge, so you can absolutely load up on everything for your feast.
We also enlarged the Winter Membership numbers this year, so there is plenty of room, and memberships can be pro-rated for those starting out a week or few weeks into the season. Learn more and sign up here.
And however you celebrate this week, and into the winter, thanks so much for all of your support