Home Sweet Home

Our new village of Saint-Léger, Southern France

I once read that "old doors won't open new ways". And since I read it some years ago, I have found it more true with each new year that passes, with each new life experience I encounter. About 3 weeks ago, Jorris and I closed one door and open another. We moved from our tiny studio apartment in the village of Puget-Theniérs to the tiny village (30 inhabitants year-round) of Saint-Léger.

Together we closed the door of village and apartment life. And now we have opened new doors to a house of 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, spacious kitchen and living room and, get this, a honey room/atelier (workshop) below!! Our new home acts as a home and work place. It is owned by the municipality and one must be a farmer to rent it. The mayor, as well as the villagers whom we have met so far have been very welcoming and kind.

Home Sweet Home; I'm envisioning flower pots.

The honeyroom and atelier below; I love the blue shutters, very Provençal.

While the road is windy and 30 minutes to Puget, it is a beautiful drive. Fatiguing yes, since we have to honk at all the blind-turns, which there are many. It takes me about 30 mintues to get to work at the fields below, but the days I have to go to the ferme en haute (farm above, the farm house), it takes about 45 minutes. After a long and hot day of work under the merciless sun, I sigh at the drive back ahead. But, no distance is too long when you know you will arrive to a place you can call home.

We'll probably eventually miss from time to time being able to just run down stairs and step out on Sunday mornings to get some freshly baked croissants, pain au chocolate, eclaires cafés et baguettes from the boulangerie as we did when we lived in Puget (no boulangerie in our tiny village). But for now, it is such a luxury to have so much space! Our tiny studio was a lovely start and a charming experience, but with running a business and building a life together we are in need of space to store all of our creations, honey and natural cosmetics, alike. There are also disadvantages of village apartment life that we won't miss like hearing music from your neighbors perhaps you're not so fond of and village chatter and motor bike engines in the night when you're trying to sleep.

St. Léger Village Center

We live a little outside of our new village. It's smaller than Puget-Theniérs and there is no grocery store. We have one neighbor whom we haven't formally introduced ourselves to yet, but they live below us and have goats and sheep. They produce soap from their goats' milk. Their home is also owned by the municipality. I think they are also a young couple, and we are looking forward to get to know them soon.

It's amazing what a difference physical space can have on one's sense of well-being. The other day, I wanted to play music but Jorris wanted some quiet time, so I was able to go into our guest room and play my heart out! It was so liberating! Like, we could fully express ourselves and share one space together, in different rooms. Both of us were content. Also, a physical distance from work and the village of Puget is so refreshing. Being surrounded by all this beautiful nature is so calming and nourishing to my soul. When I get home from work I can just let it all go, turn the noise down and just be in peace to cook, read, write, play music, snuggle with Bodhi etc.

Bodhi and Frida. 

Bodhi has been enjoying our new home as well. Now he can go outside and also explore nature. He is loving it so far. As an animal, I think it is much healthier for him to be in touch with nature, as it is for us. I love when he comes back home from one of his adventures outside and his fury head smells like wild flowers and herbs.

Bodhi baby exploring the garden with toy. 

Having more space in our home also means being able to invite family and friends over, which is what Jorris and I love to do. Right now, Pap, mon beau pere (my father-in-law) has been here visiting us since we just moved in. His name is Marcel, but in Dutch, pap means dad so I call him pap. It has been such a pleasure to have his presence grace our home. He is such an incredible human being, with a gentle heart and golden hands, as ma belle mere (my mother-in-law) put it so well. He can make anything! He makes guitars, furniture, the best mayonnaise in like 30 seconds (yes it was a life-hack he taught me) and so much more. He also plays the guitars which he builds beautifully, classical pieces and bassa nova, which I am listening to now as I write this blog post.

He has helped Jorris and I with so much: assembling shelves for honey room, labelling jars of honey, cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking, playing guitar while I cook, playing guitar with me, and today as I write, building us a kitchen which he so generously gifted to Jorris and I. We are so grateful and honored to have Pap bless our home. All the laughs together have been so meaningful. I've always appreciated Pap and now spending so much time with him and getting to know him more, I appreciate him even more.

Meet Pap, our Head Handyman/Contractor/Chef/Guitarist...

Ta-DA!!! I love the touch of the sparkling lights Pap added & so does Jorris.

Also last weekend, Jorris’ cousin Emille and his family of 5 kiddos and wife Yvonne arrived! They are doing a trip throughout europe by train and public transportation. We had a wonderful dinner that Friday night, Jorris’ famous cous cous and ratatouille-sytle veggies. They too are a brave family, having opened a new door themselves 5 years ago when they moved to Sweden from Holland. It was spontaneous and perfect timing that we moved to a bigger house so we could host them. We were excited to receive a whatsapp message from Emille saying how they would love to stop by. They are such a kind and well-rounded family. Pap and Emille and his family inspire me in so many ways. It's such an honor to call them family. 

Pap (Dad in Dutch), about to enjoy a veggie spring roll. 

We had a wonderful time together taking them through Provence to la plage de St. Julien and Lac de St. Croix, through the Gorges de Verdun and up to the most charming village of Moustiers St. Marie where Jorris and I had our first gelato together many summers ago. It was so joyful to re-visit the places where we first got to know each other and to share that with family. We finished our long day of adventure driving through the Lavender fields of Valensole where some fields of Lavender hadn't been cut yet and we could still smell the magic. Jorris stopped by to check on his bees, naturally. I am so happy he had some time to enjoy summer and family since he is working so much. He would never take time off for himself and rarely for us during this busy time of the season, but he was delighted to take time off for family. 

Afternoons are for picnics; Emille, Yvonne and the kiddos. Photo: Pap

Evenings are for guitar concerts. 

Life happens in rhythms big and small. These cycles are constantly shifting and changing within ourselves, within our society, community, Mother Nature. Not to long ago I wrote about the Buddhist concept of Dukkha and reflected upon my own struggles in that moment. And, at now in this moment, we've shifted into a new cycle, moved through a new door, of such joy and abundance in good organic food and a household of love.  

Veggie Spring Rolls for dinner with some veggies from the farm. 

How about those views out those windows!

Fresh organic tomatoes from the farm where I work.

Emille and his family added their touch of love to our home, lending a hand with building the kitchen as well as adding a little surprise of art to the some of the beehives in the atelier. We were told by the kiddos that we were not allowed to enter the atelier. A few hours later they invited us in and the sweet sight nearly brought tears to my eyes. Jorris had a bright smile on his face. Their gift really warmed our hearts and home and our bees' homes. 

A little surprise the kiddos and their mom created. 

Handfuls of magic. 

An artful gift to the bees. 

Jorris and I have walked through many doors together now. We walked through a door of wwoofing and organic farming, the sliding door of the j9 camping car where we lived in while in Villetale Haute, then the wooden doors of the yurt, the door of marriage, and up until recently the grand apartment door of Puget-Théniers, and now the home-y one of Saint-Léger.

Our future garden space! How many butterflies can you spot?

I'm so excited for what the land here will teach me, what plants I will discover, insects, trees and animals. The air is so fresh and the spring water so clean (we saw the report from the Mayor's office!). We also get our water heated by the sun with 2 solar panels on the roof. To top it off, the week before was a full moon and lunar eclipse where, the Moon in all her glory greeted me through my bedroom window, full and bright with the silhouette of a tree in the left and mountains in the foreground of the window frame, a perfect picture. I soaked it all in. 

If you are going through a rhythm of life that is unpleasant, dark or uncomfortable, fear not, for a new door awaits you, sooner than you know. Hang in there. Just be compassionate and patient with yourself. Trust that you'll know which door to open when you see it, and when you see it, though it'll be new and unfamiliar, don't be afraid to step through.

Our old & beautiful door to our apartment in Puget.

*photos by me unless noted otherwise.

Happy 3rd Birthday Garden Gallivanter!!!

Three years ago tomorrow, I wrote my first blog entry and Garden Gallivanter was born. I wanted to post this today, since I’ve woken before the break of daylight to drive down the bumpy mountain road (yes, all by myself!) and catch the only bus from our darling mountain village to Nice to practice some yoga at a local studio; and now at a wine bar for un petit verre du vin rouge and fast Internet connection. Tomorrow we’ll be in Grasse at another marché, so I didn’t want to miss the chance to wish Garden Gallivanter a Happy 3^rd Birthday!

I remember having had this idea I’d been itching to scratch, to create a space where I could reflect on my then new gardening adventures. I wanted to create a portfolio of my work, to map out all the places I was going to make better, more beautiful, and maybe even inspire others out there along the way, to garden, cook, travel, to try something new. I didn’t know where it would take me or where I would take it, but after 3 years, I’d say we’ve covered some good ground.

This Garden Gallivanter has enriched the soil and unearthed a passion for teaching kids how to grow food and community in the inner city, seeing another side of Los Angeles she had never known. This was where it all started.

Meanwhile, she created a garden in the backyard of a new house for the one closest to her heart, her mom. Through that project, she found peace with a new meaning of home, understanding that now it just meant two houses to call home instead of one.

Then she followed her heart to Montana and saw for herself what “amber waves of grain” meant, those words she had sung so many times during Elementary school. And there she learned what hard work really was and how a family farm looked like. There she dodged mosquitoes in the torrid heat of July while harvesting peppers and tomatoes. There she harvested, packaged and delivered organic produce to people and markets, driving through Big Sky country. There she saw how magnificent heritage turkeys look like with their red and blue colors. There she felt what tired really felt like and raced against unexpected rain showers, harvesting as many onions as possible into a rusty wheel barrow before the first drops hit her forehead, and when they did, running full speed to the barn, the wheel barrow bumping along, where she braided the onions to hang and dry.

It was a glorious summer, but LA called her home. So she returned and landed an unimaginable gig as the Edible School Yard GardenTeacher at Larchmont Charter School. She felt like she’d been working to get someplace like this. There she cultivated many hearts and taught some incredibly phenomenal kids and their families how to love and respect the garden and all the food it gives us. And they taught her more about all of the above and more, yes more. There she revitalized a Garden Program and discovered pure joy.  There she dug for rollie pollies and watched the metamorphosis of Monarch butterflies with her gardeners. There she felt valued and loved for not only her work, but her essence of being. There she found her calling and discovered that doing what you love and paying the bills with it is actually possible.

All the while teaching the importance of composting, lady bugs and selling Meyer lemons at the Garden Stand with her kiddos, this Garden Gallivanter discovered an amazing group of other gardeners and studied alongside her fellow comrades to become an LA Master Gardener.  Over summer, she got to go up to Berkeley to the Edible Schoolyard Academy, see the first Edible Schoolyard, say hi to Alice Waters again and meet some even more awesome Gardeners and Educators from all over the world.

After two amazing years of being Ms. Tiffanie Tangerine, a new wind swept up this Garden Gallivanter and took her to France. There she wwoofed, tasted raw lavender honey straight from the hive, under her bee suit, amongst a sea of lavender in Provence. Oh all the things she tasted: raw sheep's milk while herding sheep with Marie and Samuel, Nicolas' cheese on the daily, wild mushrooms sautéed with Sarriette, discomfort, yes, even the bitter taste of discomfort. In the French Alps she learned how to drive a manual 4X4 truck up the mountain and down the mountain; how to catch the bus; how to sleep in cars, on floors, under trees, in J9s, along the coast, the highway, on a mountain top. There she discovered a different kind of love, of struggle, of missing home, of the tears you can only cry when lifting a really heavy bee hive, wet, cold, your fingers almost breaking off, your feet slipping on the gravel, under the pouring rain and thunder…of the gratitude you can only feel when taking a hot shower after 10 days on the road, of learning how to wait, of erasing old boundaries, drawing new ones, re-drawing erased ones, of learning to be without so much and still being….

Santé to all the adventures had, all of them, the ugly and beautiful, to all the wonderful people along the way, who have shaped this blog and my soon to be 27 years of life right on Thanksgiving next Thursday, by the way ;) and to those of you on the other side of this computer screen, reading and ready to catch the next wind with me. Thank you for being there.

*Photo by Tiffanie Ma

Happy Saturdays!

My Prairie Heritage Farm Story has been Published!!!

Thank you writer Andrew X. Pham who is one of my inspirational writers and author of Cat Fish and Mandala for the opportunity!

Cultivating Community

So, I may have overdone it with the sunflowers,....

but I think there can never be too many sunflowers, right?!

Photo by: Tiffanie Ma

Summer in My Saucepan

Pasta sauce of heirloom tomatoes, eggplant; 

a variety of peppers: red, green, Fehrozon Paprika, 

Jimmy Nardello, and Hot Portugal, 

topped with parsley.

*Photo by Tiffanie Ma

Cheers to my Fabulous Farm Family!

*photo by Raul Orrostieta

Zany Zucchini Pizza

From farm

to table

*photos by Tiffanie Ma

Succulent Squash Blossoms

From farm

to Table

*photos by Tiffanie Ma

Ratatouille

From Farm

to

table. 

*Photos by Tiffanie Ma

Farmsitting

With the Cowgills out of town for the weekend, I am given the keys to a picturesque Prairie Heritage Bed and Breakfast. 30 acres all to myself! What more could a girl ask for? Next to taking care of the turkeys, chickens, cats and dog, I plan to explore more of this region.

Saturday mornings on the farm calls for: checking on food/feeding and providing water to chickens, baby turkeys, big turkeys, cats (Frida & Jackson), and dog (Lydia); letting chickens out of the coop to range in their designated area; turning on light for baby turkeys in barn; letting big turkeys out of their mini-barn to catch some rays; am yoga; sunny-side-up farm fresh eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast followed by usual Saturday morning catch-up on emails and reading.

Saturday mid-day calls for: checking on water supply for all animals; lunch of farm fresh veggies; a bike ride to Circle's Greenhouse down the road to check out baby goats and plants; a hike at the Rocky Mountain Front.

Saturday evenings call for: Feeding Lydia; gathering eggs; herding chickens back into coop and closing their mini-door; checking on all water supplies; herding big turkeys back into their home for the night; organic farm fresh dinner; wine; movie.

Life is good.

Thinking Outside the Salad

Basil and Cucumber Gimlet

After a day of laboring out under the sweltering 90 degree sun (probably add another 10 degrees in the high-tunnel), one sip of this refreshing Basil and Cucumber Gimlet made it all worth it for me. Every sweat drop melting into my eye and burning my vision with salty liquid as I stand on a ladder 10 feet above ground, tying string, and adding poles to trellis our dear tomatoes, holding a prayer under my breath as a I reach to make each knot, was worth coming home and shaking up this masterpiece.

Creativity is a powerful, effective, and contagious tool. With life, farming and veggies, believe it or not, creativity can take us far. It makes us more resourceful, like how we trellised our tomatoes and cucumbers with simple string, poles and rods. It allows us to challenge our routines, and more importantly, ourselves.

Cheers to Creativity!!

*photo by Tiffanie Ma

This Week's CSA Share!

1. Dinosaur Kale

2. Cucumbers

3. Rainbow Chard

4. Garlic Scapes

5. Butter Head Lettuce

6. Collard Greens

7. Beets

8. Cabbage

9. Basil

Did I mention how much I love my job?

*photo by Tiffanie Ma

The Mamas and the Papas

   

Our Heritage turkeys are free-range, cage-free and organic! They gobble-gobble around the farm, pecking at bugs, eating grass, sometimes ending up in places they don't belong, but we just herd them out. They travel as a pack, as a family of two dads and many moms.

The babies, more like teenagers.....

The polts have grown so fast..we had to move them from their little room to the barn. It's amazing how fast they have matured, right before my eyes. When I first arrived at the farm, they were cute little furry things. Now, they are big birds! They seem calmer in the barn, with more room to grow and live.

*photos and video by Tiffanie Ma

Weathered, worn, worked, this is how I look and feel at the end of some days, like today. This wood-carved tree stump in front of the farm house is my reflection. I feel tired, ugly, achy. I'm melting away by the forces of the merciless sun, whom I used to be best friends with but seriously having second thoughts. After hours of weeding what feels like endless rows of kale and broccoli stretching into eternity, and being eaten alive by mosquitoes, which I am sure were put on this earth for the sole purpose of torturing and testing a woman's patience, those thoughts slowly begin to creep into my head, breaking the undying silence of an open field. Is this the reality of the paradise I had dreamed of? Is this what love feels like? Do I really want to do what I love? Will it make me love less? Or is this simply, pain for passion?

*photo by Tiffanie Ma

Turkey Eggs for Breakfast...YUM!

*photo by Tiffanie Ma

Harvest Day

Harvesting Collards for Great Falls folks

Harvest days are hectic. Especially now that summer is officially here, so is the heat. We are running against time, the heat, mosquitoes, harvesting 20, sometimes up to 40 shares all before lunch. Today we harvested 20 full-shares of: radishes, bok choy, collards, Tuscan kale (a.k.a Lacinato or Dinosaur kale), Rainbow chard, and spinach for our members in Great Falls. 

Tuscan/Dinosaur/Lacinato KALE!

It's been challenging to stay hydrated and enthusiastic through the day while fighting off hordes of aggressive mosquitoes. I hate complaining, but these mosquitoes are unlike any I have ever encountered. I've been to places in the world notorious for mosquitoes: China, Mexico, Costa Rica; but none of these places have mosquitoes as cruel and tenacious as the ones here in Montana. They even taunt you with that buzzing mosquito sound I thought only existed in movies. Then, when you think you've scared them away with a swat of your hand, they come and get you from behind, and when you realize your butt cheek is itchy, it's too late.

Next to bugs to fight against are the weeds. With our veggies booming in growth, so are the weeds. In the next few weeks, we will be honing in on ridding them. I'm a lover not a fighter, but weeds, for my novice agrarian friends, take away nutrients, space and other resources from the crops we want to focus on. Weeding reminds me of my time at the Garden School Foundation and my reflection on weeds. Here on the farm, we have lots of lambs quarter and dandelions. 

It was wonderful to meet our share members of Great Falls today. It was my first drop-off here. Jacob and I stayed from 4:30 to 5:30 at Gibson Park. It was a nice to just relax under some shady trees and reap the benefits of our harvest today, the smiles and appreciation from our customers. It was nice to see faces and to  hear about how people are excited to try the recipes in our newsletter, which I am happily responsible for each week. 

All in all, the farm is looking more beautiful and lush by the day, and I'm getting antsy for tomatoes and peppers which we got into the ground this week!!

*Photos by Tiffanie Ma

An Ode to Joe

Thank you for all you do.

Rain or Shine

There's a storm outside. Lightning, thunder, rain, wind...the works. I'm home, and it feels like gold to be sitting on the comfy couch with a blanket and laptop on my lap writing to my fine readers. Despite the incessant itching and scratching the wretched mosquitoes have cursed upon me since Monday, between a glass of red vino to top off a warm homemade meal with my farm family of meat loaf, mashed potatoes and salad, I'm feeling good.

Sorry I haven't checked in for a while. We are moving in full force at the farm, primarily taking care of weeds, thinning veggies like beats, and harvesting most of what's left of our greens in the high-tunnel to begin planting our summer crops of tomatoes and peppers.

Montana weather is ever changing. While you know what to expect on the weather channel, you never really know what you're going to get. Coming from Cali, anything below 70 degrees for me is cold, add some wind chill and I'm freezing. But, I have adapted well, and now 50 or 60 degrees doesn't feel so bad. I also always bring my fleece and rain jackets with me to work. Today was the first day I wore a scarf in June. But, with the wind and gray skies, I needed my scarf to keep me warm and working.

Luckily, I work with some great people, so when weather gets really bad, like hard rain or hail, we take a break and seek shelter. The weather is definitely warming up though, which makes me happy. Although the storm hit us today, we did reach 90 degrees during the beginning of the week. The clear blue sky and sunshine reminded me of home.

It's nice to work in the low or high tunnels when it's windy, rainy, or just cold out. Here I am planting peppers in the low tunnel, lots of peppers, both sweet and hot. Jacob and I also planted basil and eggplant.

Other times, when it's hot out, working inside the low tunnel, high tunnel or greenhouse can be unbearably uncomfortable. Not only is your body subjected to extreme temperatures, but you're kneeling and your legs are getting sore and you don't have much room to step because there is another row of something growing you don't want to step on an inch from your foot. So you have to learn to shut those senses off almost if you want to get the job done in time. I've been good about wearing a hat when the sun shines brightly, but the day I got home from transplanting in the low tunnel, I noticed the top of my scalp was red. It got burned from those UV rays. Luckily, it didn't hurt. My point is you have to protect your head and cover it with a hat, scarf, or something, not only to keep skin from burning, but also to keep yourself cool. Dehydration is the worst enemy.

Yesterday was also exciting for me because I saw a deer in the field! I had never seen a deer that close before. It was a white-tailed deer and it was just roaming our vegetable field. I had been working on building our compost pile of grass clippings (nitrogen), soil (for micro-organisms), and straw (for carbon) and walked off the field to check with a visitor who had pulled onto our driveway. When I returned to the field, I saw the deer. We startled each other I think. Bambi roamed around for a few seconds and darted up and over the fence. They can cause real damage according to Jacob. It was a majestic sight for me.

I also got to try raw milk for the first time in my life!! A neighboring farm and friends of ours have milk cows and gave us some milk. I was a little worried at first, not sure how my body would react to milk straight from a cow, but I was fine. The milk tasted delicious. Cold and fresh. It tasted like half and half, creamy, but not too thick.

Today's Farm Lessons Include:

1. Always bring a fleece and rain jacket and scarf. 

2. Smile, even when it rains; it makes things better.

3. Drink lots of water, fresh milk, and some wine (especially after those long, rainy, windy, and cold days.)

*Photos by Tiffanie Ma

The Field of Dreams

This past week of farming has been the most wickedly cool and butt-kicking one so far. I've never felt so exhausted after a day's work, but witnessing the faces of whom I was working so hard for, made it worth it. This past Thursday, we celebrated our first CSA deliveries for the season! For the Cowgills, it was the first off their new farm, and for me, it was my first ever. Wahoo! It was a success. I delivered five shares to our members in Conrad and the Cowgills delivered 30 to our members in Great Falls. I got to meet Pat and his young son Patrick, who were hosting the drop-off point for Conrad at their home.

Pat and Patrick, our CSA members in Conrad.

While a quick exchange and drop-off, I realized on my drive back that that little boy Patrick and his family and other families in town were going to eat healthy and organic food while supporting their local economy and seeing a face of the farm they support. That simple connection made all the back-bending work meaningful and gave me a more realized-understanding of this local food web.

On that note of back-bending work, it really has been a challenge for me to keep up with Jacob, not that I probably ever could, but at least I try. He is fast and has a lot of stamina, probably because he is a mountain man by nature, but probably also because he's got nearly 10 years of farming experience under his belt. Still, I look up to his sheer ability to just keep moving, keep planting, building, making, fixing, tilling, hammering, watering, sowing...farming. My challenge is working fast. I can do a job well, but not always fast and well. On harvest day, especially, the day blurred by as I harvested 36 shares of Ruby Red Mustard greens, Green Mustard greens and some baby-looking Bok Choy veggie I forgot the name of. We're racing against the heat of the sun that is to hit after morning fades into noon, which could destroy our harvest. Plus we needed to deliver these precious goods between a certain time frame. We moved so fast, I didn't even get a chance to snap some shots of the harvesting process for you all, but don't be disappointed, I'll make it up with pictures next harvest time. There is also the cleanliness issue which dissuades me from snapping photos because I do not want to touch my phone and then go back to touching the food we are packing. Don't fret, I'll find a way to do both!

                               On the road to Conrad.

Driving to Conrad with precious green cargo in cooler.

It really wears on you, farming that is. It wears on you physically. You feel this ringing and vibrating in the joints of your fingers, ankle joints and shoulder joints. Maybe, it's just my ankle joints because I'm either wearing garden clogs or rain boots and not very supportive hiking boots as Jacob is. Anyhow, it's unlike any aches I've ever felt. No pain, luckily (knock on wood), but still aches. I suppose it is part of the job description. While all the squatting and bending over have been great for my legs, glutes and lower back muscles, I think my knees are paying the price for beauty and farming. I'm sounding more geriatric by the day!

Much brain power does go into farming, especially organic farming. You have to consider what part of the land you are cultivating on and what type of plant, so that you can rotate with another crop like say a legume to fix nitrogen into the soil which your previous plant depleted. I know a lot of life and great things are in the works, and a lot more is happening underground than above most days, but sometimes, it does feel like I'm just pushing a wheelbarrow around in circles. You have to be able to see the big picture, always, otherwise, farming would just be a series of redundant and repetitive mechanical motions, did I mention redundant? For instance, stamping labels and packing 75 bags of grain can become redundant.

 

Farro grains

Packing Farro grains to include in CSA share.

While I suspected, and I suppose many would suppose that living out in the plains, in the country, in the backwoods, may be lonely, and while I have to admit, it can be lonely weeding beds of garlic alone, the farm is actually always filled with visitors every week. Whether it's friends or family, there is always some new faces I get to meet every week. So, it's really not that lonely to live outside of the city if you have a good group of friends and family who keep in touch.

I'm constantly awed by the giving nature of growing food, whether farming or gardening. It's just an atmosphere which promotes community, the sharing of ideas, produce, or just simple encouragement amongst friends. The Cowgill's friends Tony and Michelle stopped by for a tour of the farm and to donate a small greenhouse which Tony had built. Because they are moving to Ohio to begin their own CSA and farm, they wanted to give it to the Prairie Heritage Farm. They stayed for lunch and made for another day of good company to meet. Before they left we gave them shares of veggies which a few of our CSA members did not pick up. They were thankful, and as Michelle lifted the bags, declaring she was going to make a salad for dinner, my heart smiled knowing that those were the bags I had filled with carefully harvested greens.

Mixed Lettuce

I myself continued the contagious giving cycle by asking Jacob if I could bring some extra peppers and tomatoes we had planted which were dying due to lack of watering. The poor plugs were just eyeing me outside the greenhouse, desperately wanting a bigger space to live in and a home outside of those plugs. Not being one to ask for things, which I'm not saying is always the smartest or most beneficial characteristic of mine, I built up the courage to ask what Jacob was planning to do with them and if I could take them to share with the Pea Pods community garden. He happily agreed that that was a great idea and so that afternoon I shared them with friends at the garden who were thankful for some peppers and tomatoes.

After a long day of harvesting in the heat, driving 100 miles round trip to deliver and then head back into town to share and plant some peppers and tomatoes in the community garden, it was time to relax. So I headed home, took a nice shower, and indulged in my new favorite pastime, cooking. All in all, the crunchy taste of fresh, organic Pak Choy fried rice with garlic, carrots and scrambled eggs, doused in fish sauce at the end of a humbling harvest day, made it all worth it.






*Photos by Tiffanie Ma & Raul Orrostieta