Agropraxis Farm

During the past week so many diversions and responsibilities made getting farm work done a challenge. There are the must do’s, and want to do’s, and the “It would be nice if we could...” . The week ended with a good work day and a successful start to the Harmony Acres CSA season.  The good, and not so good made the week a busy and stressful one.

We had a couple of nights with low temperatures in the mid-30’s. Some at Farmers Market commented that a bit of frost was on the car window first thing in the morning. Scary news! Just a week ago we had overnight lows in the 60’s. The plants are in a funk trying to figure out what season we are in. Of course last year we were done having rain till August at this time of year. So our challenges just come in a different form each year.

Yesterday I was hilling potatoes. They are looking really nice. A pair of Robins have a nest in a Red Pine that sits along the fencerow. The Robins have been in and out of the field feeding their chicks for over a week. They took advantage of the freshly turned soil from the potatoes and gathered worms for the young. I watched for a while and wondered how evolution left us humans to nurture and raise our young for years. Other animals get the job done in such a short time span and turn to other responsibilities. Maybe it’s the mind frame I’m in with responsibilities  on farm and at home, but the idea of an intense spell of child rearing followed by a nice break before heading for the south and better weather sounds kind of nice!

The big March against Mon%$#@-GMO’s was yesterday. It is one of those things that would be nice to support but simply is not realistic when farm work needs to be done.  I farm and deliver food directly to the end user. The consumer knows where their food came from and I feel a responsibility to provide safe food for my customers. I purchase seeds from suppliers that have signed and adhered to the “Safe Seed Pledge”. Try to stay informed about dangers that might harm my customers and have an ethic that I should do no harm. In getting big and dealing in commodity type products, many capital intensive farmers never see their products in the hands that consume them. They sell into a commodity market that separates them from the responsibilities that I feel. Maybe that helps them rationalize planting GMO’s and dousing the land with poisons. I know I can’t do it!!!

Farmer Pete