Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The things that bring us together.....squash

Food brings people together. Amen. End of Story. Now I know lots of things bring people together but having this farm has allowed me to make new friends anywhere. ANYWHERE.

Tonight I was talking to a bunch of folks in my profession at a conference and while we had polite chit-chat, people really asked me more questions about was my farm. Why is that? Are we all programmed to want to live off the land? (I know I am)

Then even on the bus ride back from the networking event to my hotel, I had a fantastic conversation with the bus driver John who told me about the Urban garden a few blocks from the hotel and we chatted about squash and tomatoes. He laughed when I told him I planted about 300 varieties of tomatoes.

Sometimes when you do something for a good reason - have a farm to repair the earth, be self sufficient and try to break even-- what happens is that you have unintended things happen as well. For me the biggest surprise was my ability to have a conversation with anyone about food and the wonderful new people I have met along the way and in the most unlikely places.

So John, I hope all your squash plants work out and the bugs stay away!




5 comments:

Donna OShaughnessy said...

People really are getting tired of all the crap food out there. They miss the gardens of yesteryear and want to talk about food that used to provide them with real comfort instead of guilt. Great looking garden you have !

Anonymous said...

Pretty much all questions from friends and family revolve around our chickens, bees, veggie and fruit garden and the pastured meat we buy. Spread the word!
By the way, what do you do about squash bugs? Our zuchinni gets attacked every year. We've harvested a few veggies and now the bugs are killing it, seemingly overnight! Anna

Annette said...

I'm fighting my own squash bug battle..... and I have squash in 2 different parts of the garden just as a precaution.
I had to go buy an organic squash bug spray and so I'm crossing my fingers. I also went and bought 10 more zucchini plants as well.

The zucchini looked so good and I didn't see any bugs-- but then bingo-- they appeared. UGH!!!

Anonymous said...

We went on vacation last week and the day before we left, I went on a squash bug mission. I was squishing them with my fingers (they smell like stink bugs!) while they were mating. A good trick for getting the egg clusters off the underside of the leaves is to use masking tape and press it on the cluster. Works like a charm; make sure you squish them when you're done! Anna

Shuffleboard Tables said...

We are biologically connected to each other, we are in contact with the chemical, and we are in contact with the atomic universe!