This past Monday evening my partner, Martina, and I were walking through the fields of my farm property picking hypericum, also known as St. John’s Wort. Each summer I make a medicinal oil from this beautiful yellow flower. It was a beautiful late August early evening in Vermont with a cool breeze and a bright blue sky and golden light.
We have had a busy week here in Vermont. Having outgrown our warehouse in Berlin, we’ve now moved to a new warehouse with room to grow further.
This past week we did the impossible; right after packing orders last week, we were able to move to our new hub in time to pack your orders for this week!
In 1990 Wendell Berry wrote a powerful essay called The Pleasures of Eating. This essay captured my attention and throughout the years I have read it again, and again. Rereading it thirty years later, I have found the message to be as relevant as ever and particularly apropos of Farmers To You and our mission and relationships. If you haven’t read anything by Wendell Berry, I humbly recommend that you read something as soon as you can get your hands on it!
I take great solace in having a deep relationship with my food, the land and people who produce it — now more than ever with the uncertainty many of us are experiencing. It is this connection that keeps me grounded in a completely literal way.
When this pandemic began a number of months ago, I remember asking – why this? Why now? Why us? What is this teaching us and how do we not forget the lessons when the crisis subsides, or perhaps becomes more the norm?
Earlier this week as I was journaling, I began jotting down some of the lessons I have learned, relearned, or taken in on a much deeper level as a result of the virus that has been infecting our lives.
It is hard for me to grasp the concept of a picky eater. This is not because I believe that people shouldn’t be discerning about their food choices. Rather, I struggle with the idea of a picky eater because for me trying new foods, tasting different flavors and textures, and smelling unfamiliar aromas emanating from the kitchen, is one of the many joys of life.
