June 27th 2014
Now that we’re getting far into the growing season, the farm is filling out. Almost every plot is being used either for some established perennial, a nice annual crop, a ground enriching cover crop or a beautiful flower. Our projects all continue to move along and recent infrastructure expansion is assisting our production greatly.
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- The lone raspberry bush has the tantalizing beginnings of its produce looming,
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- Our older asparagus begins to fold under its own weight
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- And our baby asparagus begins to stand on its own
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- The flowers and basil continue to flourish,
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- The tomatoes stand proudly over their newly mulched bed
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- Our herb hardens look nice as their first birthday approaches,
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- The beautiful sage is ready to pick
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- Our various varieties of oregano have matured
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- And all the rest of our herbs have grown up quite nicely in their last year here.
Also this week I discussed at length with my advisers the broader picture as well, why we do all that we do at the farm, why we have a farm, why I’m researching farm infrastructure. We defined the ultimate goal of what we sustainability-focused Lafayette community members do as The Promotion of Stronger Eco-Citizenship. What we mean by that is making more people, at Lafayette, around Lafayette, and hopefully beyond, more conscious and supportive of efforts to bring our society to an environmentally sustainable point.
And everything we do at LaFarm is part of that. As the other workers and I plant cucumbers, mulch tomatoes, and weed herb gardens we are simultaneously learning a plethora of information about the environment and how our everyday choices of what to eat and how to eat it impact it. Several workers at LaFarm intend to become farmers themselves, or otherwise stay connected to the food system in their later lives, and I certainly have been affected by my time at the farm as to push me toward the career path of a farmer myself.
Expanding the farm, employing more workers, getting more food to more people have real effects on their lives and on the efficacy of our sustainable food loop model. And this big picture thinking is important for all food-system workers to keep in mind, as it is easy to get lost in the toils of labor and forget about why we want to do what we do. It should not be forgotten that the purpose of our toil is to live in harmony with the land so that we will not be some of the last to be able to live at all.
-Joe Ingrao, Excel Scholar Summer 2014