Yesterday I made a salad with the many lettuces and other greens from our land. I thought of doing so while I was weeding and harvesting the radishes. I thought to myself, "mmmm....that lemon and olive oil dressing would taste so good with this," so I picked some, and then washed the leaves, sprinkled on the lemon and oil and feta, and ate! I felt like a participant in a miracle of some kind. The great part is that I can manifest this miracle everyday! I am truly happy the lettuce is nearly ripe because I think I need the iron.
Speaking of iron, Erynn and I went to an evening capoeira class in Oxnard taught by a fellow who works for an organization we are collaborating with: Arts for Action (http://arts4action.wordpress.com/). One of their leaders, Dina, came over with other local mujer activists to talk about food justice, that is, making food from the earth available for everyone! I felt honored to be with the other women at the table.
I feel honored to be working with organizations like Arts for Action, Cause (http://www.coastalalliance.com/), and CLUE (http://www.clueca.org/1-clue-network.htm). Some amazing work is going on and some strong relationships are being built, and we at ATFP are now part of the mezcla.
My last thought for this blog is about the morning thinning we did today. We had too many tomato plants, and we needed to take out about half of the plants. It was a sad affair -- an unnatural selection. There seemed to be a few elements involved in the procedure:
1. My power to choose.
2. The size and health of the plant.
3. The location of the plant.
I almost cried --
pulling out the beautiful chosen ones
to die
and thinking of the relationship between
choice and chance.
Cristy - I will never forget the first time I ate a salad made from the lettuce I grew and harvested. I was thrilled. In the not too recent past, there was no other way to eat a salad. It surprises me to think of how quickly (2-3 generations?) we got disconnected from the source of our food and knowledge that would have been second nature to our grandparents and great-grandparents. I feel like this project is not only connecting us to the land, but to them, too.
ReplyDelete