Headin' down to the farm...

Yup. Goin' down there, and raise me some crops. Gonna sit on the porch, eatin' cukes and watchin' the hay grow....

Yea right.

Actually though, Bur Oak Acres is a community farm here on Whidbey Island that I stopped in at with Jody. A co-worker of hers runs it. Turns out to be cooler than I thought.

Interestingly, I've been sort of looking into permaculture lately. And lo and behold, here comes an opportunity to work on a farm. And I have no doubt it's work. been there. Done that. On a real dairy operation.

Anyway, this will be raising the crops of which we get a share, and the rest is sold at the Tilth market here on the South End of our Island. Tilth is the market where you have to grow it to sell it. Which is what Bill, the owner of Bur Oak Acres believes. And you see that symbol right there to the right? That's the group that certifies that the produce Bur Oak grows is natural. It means the soil is natural, because it's tested as so. The standards are much higher than the federal standards which are only designed to benefit large food corporations. The CNG certification deals only with farmers that supply local markets utilizing sustainable agricultural practices.

So Jody thought I'd be interested, and I at first was hesitant. When the scope of it, and how it fit into some of the stuff rattling around inside my head, I shifted gears. The input is only a couple hours a week, and frankly, I'm not sure they want my black thumb anywhere near the plants. A lot of the work involved deals with transplanting starters to the field, and I honestly question my abilities to do that. What the hell am I saying?! No I don't. I just need to learn. I can however contribute to the maintenance of buildings and the like. I do however, want to learn the growing process. So how cool will that be to be involved in a great learning environment that results in food on my table? For a couple hours a week? Seems like a no brainer. Jody was right as usual.

It brought back memories of the days when we thought it would be cool to drop out of the plastic society we rebelled against with our pot smoking and music, and live on and off the land. Once we went up to Wisconsin with two friends who had two friends who lived on the farm, and when we visited we sat on the porch and ate fresh cucumbers. Ah, that was the life, eating fresh food, talking about the issues of life, all on the front porch in the quiet Wisconsin rural land.

Then I worked on a farm. In other words, I had to remove the rocks, disc, chop, bale, and stack hay, milk the cows, clean the barn, and all the rest of it to be able to sit on the porch and enjoy that cool glass of fresh milk. And my boss had no porch. So I learned first hand that a lot of hard work goes into small return, at least on certain scales.

Bu the times they are a changin'. I know a couple local restaraunteers who are looking for local produce to use on their menus. The local grocery store buys from local farmers. The local community web site has a forum that is getting more attention with this issue of people wanting locally grown natural (can't say organic, the feds might sue) produce on their tables.

The idea of permaculture is looking at how we can do that on an individual basis. In other words, here at my house, developing not only gardens but food production that works with the local environment and uses no pesticides or herbicides, but depends on natural systems for that as well as capturing rainwater for the irrigation of it all. At least, that's my nutshell grasping of it.

So it seems that the universe has offered me an opportunity which I won't say no to.

Headin' down to the farm with the missus. Shall we bring you back a tomato?