Spring planting meditation

I wanted to tell everyone about my first day on the job, fulfilling my work share commitment at Asbury Farm. For those of you who do not know about CSAs, let me fill you in. Community Supported Agricultural farms allow small farmers to stay in business by selling shares of their crops to the public. Thus, for a payment up front at the season’s start, you are entitled to weekly produce, fresh-picked and organic, throughout the growing season. For a substantially reduced price, you can sign up for a work share. At this particular farm, I work 3 hours a week in exchange for my weekly harvest and a reduced share price up front.

Friday at 8 am, I showed up at the farm, eager and nervous about my first day on the job. It was raining lightly, and I knew there was plenty of work to do in the greenhouses. Charles, the farm owner, set me up with trays, soil and a whole bunch of little vegetable seedlings that needed to be potted up into larger containers. I can do this! There was also weeding to do, and watering the lettuces that were looking gorgeous in the other greenhouse as well. So, I sat myself on my stool and got to work. I seperated endive seedlings, tomato babies, and young peppers and carefully settled them into their new flats. The rain continued to fall, and all I could hear was the pitterpatter of the drops on the plastic of the roof, and the birds chatting it up outside. This was heaven. I let my mind wander, as I mindlessly planted the seedlings, but I felt a bit of anxiety growing as I filled flat after flat of veggie babies. Almost 2 hours had passed, and I was falling into that old mode of “gotta get it all done”. Then, I took  a deep breath, realized that this was a work in progress, looking all around me at the plants in different stages of growth. I smiled inwardly and settled back down with a new flat, and this time I focused on mindfully planting the seedlings into their new homes. These were the babies that would feed the neighbors, the families, the shareholders. I was setting them up for a good productive life. The next hour passed like minutes, and it was time to wash up and go home. Three hours, solitude, plants, and dirt. Nice. I never knew peace quite like that before.

If you’d like to find out more about asbury farm, or to buy a share in this year’s harvest. please click here.