My most enjoyable moment so far has been eating a sugar pea pod straight off of the vine using no hands. My hands were busy weeding the bed below me and I looked up and saw the most delicious looking pea pod straight in front of me. This weird instinct of wanting to eat like a deer of sorts came over me and I just went for it before giving it a second thought. Of course, the pea pod was truly delicious. So, call it weird if you must, but I absolutely enjoyed this moment as I felt connected with the natural world while I was plucking the precious gift of Earth off of the vine with my own teeth.
On a more serious note, I have been soaking up knowledge this past week on the farm. I have truly been enjoying myself. I came into this program with limited knowledge regarding farming. Yet now I understand how to properly weed around certain crops without harming them. I know how to decipher certain crops from others. I know how to properly plant a variety of crops. I know how to transplant. I know how to crack walnuts (though Jake is the true master of this skill). I have even learned the proper technique of gardening. Gus, a visiting WWOOFer, taught me that our ancient human ancestors rarely had back problems even though they did extensive manual labor. This is because they maintained proper technique while bending over. I have been implementing this technique the best I can in order to preserve the health of my back this summer. So far, so good.
As a final note, I would like to again say how pea pods off the vine have blown me away as far as taste goes. They are just the ultimate. By changing my eating habits from eating candy, which is filled with unnatural substances and wrapped in plastic, toward a more natural choice such as these pea pods, I can help to morph my own life around sustainability in the most simple of ways: Eating foods that you know where they came from.
I know these thoughts lacked an overall depth to them as far as targeting the practices of sustainable agriculture. Yet this is what stood out to me this week. I have had a blast and am ready for more.
Kale Salad Recipe
ReplyDelete-Chop of the kale into really small strips/pieces and massage the kale for about 5 minutes total until it softens
-add chopped kalamata olives
-add some sharp cheese of your choice (we tried this recipe with small bits of soft cheese one time and a grated hard cheese the other--both were quite good)
-fresh lemon juice squeezed over the top to taste
-salt and pepper
That's it. Delish way to eat fresh kale.
Lissa
Mmmmm that sounds great!
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