Put Trust in Seeds
A CSA farm gets its true leaves
Walking into the nursery, doing the morning scan, my eye catches pepper and tomato trays sitting on the heat mat. We use this mat to raise the soil temperature and encourage heat loving seeds to sprout. I have left these trays on the mat since there is no other space and they love their little spa. This morning, all of the plants are laying down, touching the soil, a startling sight as this is thousands of plants and the majority of our pepper crop. I had turned the heat mat off to encourage them to harden off but did they die? Did they freeze? Plugging the mat back in I see the soil temp in 40 degrees. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I only have hope and faith they will bounce back from a cold night.
Farmers start thousands, millions, of seeds in the hopes of them maturing to a crop. The seeds started early in the season take longer to produce than those sown under full summer sun. I watch the plants we are growing now, wondering what is taking them so long! Shouldn’t they be growing faster?
As we turn the corner past the Spring Equinox, I realize just how much I am asking of prospective CSA customers. In the same way I trust our pepper crop to rebound, you are also trusting me to grow the food you already bought. It might feel far away, the growing season, or like too big an investment without currently tangible returns. We are asking for so much of your trust and faith it borders unreasonable.
This season has started slower than expected. It seems like the sunshine is dragging its feet and crops are inching towards maturity rather than sprinting. That very well could be my rapid speed human mind imparting my expectations on the plants. Stepping back I realize they have worked for me before, and I must trust them to do it again.
It is hard, with so much on the line, schedules to hit, production numbers to reach, CSA shares to fill, to not feel nervous. I wonder if it is the same for that CSA customer who is on the fence. Do you feel nervous about us producing your food? The share not living up to your expectations? All I can say, and really tell myself, is we have been here before. We have trusted these crops for 6 years now to provide us with a life worth living and, so far, they have accommodated.
Mutual trust cannot be understated, especially the face-to-face trust we share with our CSA members. We are connected through the season’s ebbs and flows riding the natural wave of production through the good and bad times, good and bad crops.
I circle back towards the now warming solanum trays to find them starting to stand up again. By midday they are standing proud once again, whew. They will carry to live another day, another year.
Every time we plant a seed we are asking for its life. We are asking these crops to grow, produce food and flowers, and give all of themselves to feed our families. As a CSA member you are providing yourself with a direct connection to this process, asking your farmers to provide life for your families. It is truly an honor to grow the food we do, in the space we grow in. It has provided my family so much, sometimes too much, abundance in life.
I ask for your trust now. If you, or someone you know has been thinking about purchasing a CSA, now is the time. It takes everything for a seed to sprout and while they are small their growth is slow. With each new leaf that growth accelerates until we can barely keep up with their exponential growth. Right now, our farm is putting on its second leaves before we jam into full-on growth. Right now, is when we need community support and trust.
Farm News
Have you struggled with your garden? Feel like you are fighting nature rather than working with her? Folks Farm is hosting two Introduction to Biological Farming workshops on April 19th and 26th from 10-12.
We will be covering core tenets we follow to guide our decision making centered around biological and organic diversity, how to implement these on your own land, and how to enjoy growing food throughout the season. Expect the workshop to take around two hours and include a paper hand out as well as real farm examples of biological farming in action. Restore your soil and grow nutritious food this year and for many to come!