Garden Planting 2016

Growing up, we relied a lot on being able to produce food from our garden. Sometimes my dad would be working two or three small plots for corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and peppers. As the harvest would arrive, we would enjoy as much of it as we could, give away to neighbors and relatives, and can whatever remained. I can remember my sister and I going out to the garden after school in the spring and picking green onions and dipping them in salt as a snack. I don't think I fully appreciated back then just how unique our experience was, and how much my parents were covertly instilling in me an appreciation for the magic of where our food comes from.

Since 2007, I've had a small garden almost every year in Morgantown. Before that, as an adult away from home I would spend time planting on my tribes land with a few other folks, but there is something far more intimate about having your garden so close to home. My dad has had a garden for as long as I can remember, and even at 75, he and his brothers still plant crops together and share the produce. Our Shawnee ancestors considered the time just before planting the start of the new year and a time to embrace forgiveness and reconciliation. Maybe the work of preparing the soil for planting and looking onward to weeding and caring for crops was a reminder of just how much we need one another, and just how important our relationships are.

This year, I planted the Shawnee traditional three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) along with some tomatoes (cherry and better boys), collards, brussels sprouts, zucchini, bell peppers, and some sunflowers just for fun. I'm looking forward to sharing and feeding friends and family with some of the produce from this little truck patch. There's something especially delicious about picking a tomato, a pepper, or an ear of corn right off the plant and eating it right then and there, that people who only get their food from a grocery store really miss out on. 

Nowadays, it seems like it is a little more trendy to have a small garden, but I applaud anyone who, for whatever reason, is willing to get out and work with the soil. I believe the act of preparing and planting a garden does so much for the household or individual that attempts it. It is a profound reminder that, as much as technology is moving forward, the Creator of the universe has orchestrated it such that our food comes from the earth, and from our relationship with it. Farming or having a garden of whatever size reminds us of our role of stewardship and care, if not for the whole earth, at least for this small area near our homes. It also reminds us that we are dependent upon the rain, the sun, and good healthy soil to ensure that our plants grow, and that we have food to eat. Maintaining a garden also roots us to a deeper experience of place, and in a world that is always on the go, being rooted is a gift. 

As the summer moves forward, I look forward to watching the magic happen and the garden transform from soil, seeds, and small plants to a productive plot of magical gifts from the land. And as I think about the arrival of our child this fall with the harvest, I am hopeful to continue the tradition of teaching another generation of Shawnee about our relationship with the land and how God blesses us with food to eat. It warms my heart to think that every year, as our child celebrates another birthday, we will also be celebrating the late harvest here in these West Virginia hills. May we continue with each generation to to encourage good relationship with the land, the air, and the water. 

Review: Mountain Harvest Farm LLC (Community Supported Agriculture)

For the last three years, Jamie and I have been privileged to be able to be shareholders in a community supported agriculture (CSA) initiative with a couple of farmers who live near Morgantown. Their names are Mary and Chico and their CSA is called Mountain Harvest Farm, LLC.

I first discovered their CSA in winter 2013, when I saw a signup sheet posted in a local coffee shop, The Grind (which is a pretty fantastic place itself!). I sent an email to express interest to them and received a quick response, and began the process of investing in local agriculture.

Jamie and I have a small truck patch at the house, and we have been able to produce a decent amount of corn, beans, squash, and tomatoes from this little corner, but we had been reading and hearing a lot about community supported agriculture, and we regularly consider ways we can lower our footprint and invest in the local economy. Of course, we can always do better, but I think every one of us can benefit from taking even a small step. When we can, we strive to support local businesses, and buy food from local farmers markets. Investing in a CSA was yet another concrete step in the direction of investing locally. 

Mary and Chico, Mountain Harvest Farm's proprietors, have been renting and farming land just outside of Morgantown for a few years now. They offer their CSA members a weekly or biweekly share, and shareholders can choose between two convenient pickup locations. We chose the location across from Zen Clay Pottery Studio because it is in the middle of town and walkable from our house to pickup. The first week I went to pickup our share, I started chatting with Mary about what got her and Chico into this venture. She had been a Peace Corps worker in Honduras and that was where she had met her husband. 

Our conversation turned from local farming to international development, and she was a bit surprised at my knowledge of development. She asked what I did, and, thinking that I probably already knew just about everyone in Morgantown who knew about Nuru, I told her I worked for an international development organization. 

She asked, "Which one?" 

I responded, "Well, it's pretty new so you might not have heard of it but its called Nuru International." 

She looked at me with a grin and said, "I have a good friend who works for Nuru."

I was a bit shocked and asked "Who?" I thought I would have a really good handle on people in my part of the country who knew someone on staff. 

And then she told me that Matt Lineal, our Impact Programs Director (and previously Agriculture Strategic Advisor), had worked with her in the Peace Corps in Honduras. What a small world! And, it was the first time for me to have someone in Morgantown who knew about Nuru through a staff or board member who wasn't from West Virginia! When I told Matt about meeting Mary he was blown away by the connection, and excited that she and Chico had started the farm, and further, that Jamie and I were able to invest in this CSA with them. 

After that conversation and enjoying our first week of fresh produce from Mountain Harvest Farm, I was simply blown away by how much more our world is intimately connected than we realize. 

For the last three years--for 20 weeks a year, Jamie and I have made the short Wednesday evening walk to pick up our veggies, connect with Mary and Chico and their family, and get updates on how the weather is impacting how our crops are doing. They are wonderful people, and we are proud shareholders.

Recently, Jamie and I signed up for our fourth year as shareholders. And, if you are a Morgantown local, I wanted to encourage you to support these two West Virginia farmers by becoming shareholders too! You can sign up online by going to their website, and if you have more questions about their CSA shares you can ask them directly or just talk to Jamie or myself. You will love it!

Garden Planting 2015

Sunday afternoon we were finally able to get the garden prepped and planted. We have had a lot of rain this spring, and days of sunshine have not worked out well in our schedule so far this year for getting our little truck patch set up and ready to go. Better late than never, and the way we see it, this just means that we will be able to share in a late harvest with family and friends! Plus, the rain has been great for other friends and farmers. Without regular rain, the crops just won't grow.

There is so much meaning in this little square patch of ground. Every year while I was growing up, Dad and Mom would work one or two plots of ground planting a wide variety of vegetables. Through the summer and fall, we would have plenty of food to eat, and my folks would send me around to neighbors with buckets of fresh vegetables to share. Mom would be hard at work in the kitchen canning beans, making sauerkraut, and pickles (among other yummy foods).

Back around the time Mom was in the last rounds of her fight with cancer (which she eventually lost and is now in the presence of her King), I plowed up a little spot in the yard here in Morgantown. I was coming to a realization around that time that my generation was quickly losing its relationship with the land, and we were not maintaining some of the traditional skills that we had witnessed our parents and grandparents participate in regularly. Things like growing food, repairing homes, sewing, cooking, and maintaining home and land seemed to me to be becoming less and less practiced.

So, since 2007 I have planted a garden each year with one exception. Jamie and I gave the land a sabbath after seven years as a reminder that God is our ultimate provider, and just like you and I need rest, the land needs rest as well. Each year, I plant some tomatoes and some peppers and potentially some other yummies, but I always make sure I plant the Three Sisters. Planting the Three Sisters helps me to keep connected to foods my family has always grown, but in a larger scope it is a reminder and a connection to our cultural heritage as Shawnee people.

My ancestors would take time as they planted (planting marked the new year), and they would seek to forgive others and make amends where needed. In fact, it was forbidden to carry a grudge or some form of unforgiveness into the new year. Each year, at the time of planting, everyone would start on a clean slate. I think our world would be a little brighter if more folks today practiced a similar tradition. As I worked the ground and dropped corn, beans, and squash into rows, I also took a little moment to give thanks for the provision of the Creator of the universe who sustains all things. I asked God to bless the crops in the hopes that they would provide me, Jamie, and many of our friends and family meals, sustenance, and that the harvest would be plentiful, and allow us to extend these gifts to others as well.

While our garden is not quite big enough to provide for all of our needs, I believe that it keeps us sharpening skills that farmers the world over employ to make sure their families are fed. It becomes for us not only provision, but also an opportunity to stand in solidarity with our neighbors around the planet who are farmers. And here in the US, it keeps us rooted and connected to the land. Honestly, as we spend time in our little garden, the act itself refreshes our spirits. Personally I feel more alive as I am working this little plot, and the food that comes from this garden tastes WAY BETTER than what folks buy in stores--it's always been that way too.  There's something about having a little dirt under our fingernails as we work the land that is healing and magical.

Not only that, but every day we spend working this little patch, it's a small but poignant reminder that food comes from the good earth and from the provision of the creation. Real food doesn't come from a lab. It doesn't come from a box. It doesn't come in plastic and cardboard packages. It comes from the earth. As we tend and care for the earth, it takes care of us as well. Sometimes I think we forget that truth, and we become users instead of caretakers. We become users of both earth and people, and that leaves our relationships with both fragmented and broken.

Even if you can't plant a little spot on your land, maybe look around for a community supported agriculture (CSA) initiative or a farmers market. Doing so might be a small step of solidarity with farmers, and a good reminder of where our food comes from. It also helps the local economy as well! Here in Morgantown we are part of Mountain Harvest Farms CSA, and we supplement our food needs from time to time with a quick stop to the Morgantown Farmers Market or by making meat and egg purchases from Working H Farms.

May we all be blessed in this Shawnee new year with a greater spirit of forgiveness as well as a stronger relationship with the land that provides so much to us.

Early Harvest

Well, it was just a few weeks ago when Jamie and I planted a variety of corn, beans, and squash, and while the summer has been incredibly dry for the most part, our squash and zuccini plants have been doing incredibly well. In fact, every day, we are producing more than we can eat in recent days. It seems that each day, we wake up to more and more produce being yielded from our little plot.

The good news is that we have been able to share this food with others. We have baked zucchini bread, cooked frittatas, and even grilled & sautéd a few variations for good measure. It is absolutely amazing to see so much come from working the land, planting, weeding, and waiting for God to do his work. It really is an amazing gift that we plant and weed, and where there were only dirt covered seeds at one time, there is now an abundance of food.

This may sound a little strange, but it has been my experience when eating food I've planted or that was planted and grown by others, it just tastes better. And here in the states, I believe that people are forgetting how to grow their own food. There is an art to preparing the land, to planting, to weeding, and to harvesting. There's a rhythm to all of it that many don't experience. I know that for me, as I left home to go to college, I didn't pay a ton of attention to the work that was being done by my parents and others to grow food, and I didn't plant anything on my own for many years.

Since I've started planting, I've been amazed at both the yield of the land, and the yield to my spirit and body. There's something about taking the time to work the land that is good and wholesome physical labor with a purpose, and there is something about the process, that reminds us that most of what happens on this earth takes time. In a world of fast food, email, and instant results, we can lose sight of that reality. It takes time to grow food. It takes time to prepare food. It takes time to work the land.

It takes time for us to grow as well. May you not become disheartened at growth that is at a slower pace than what you want, and may you see a great yield of produce from your fields and from your life.

Stephen Colbert's Testimony

Approximately one week ago, the Comedy Central host of the Colbert Report, Steven Colbert, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee last week to share his "testimony" about migrant farm labor.  Known for his satire, Colbert maintained a position consistent with his character on television as he spoke to the committee.  Colbert's testimony, while attempting to bring levity to a very tragic situation, met with mixed reviews among politicians.

There are jokes all through the testimony, and many have called his statement an embarrassment.  But I have to wonder, if his "star power" didn't actually help give this issue greater attention in the media.  Maybe, just maybe, amid all of the jokes about the situation, the desire that many have for reform will gain momentum because of Colbert's statements in the committee meeting.

At one point during his statement, Colbert noted that maybe if we protect others from being exploited, we will be less likely to be exploited.  All of the joking aside, that seems like pretty sound logic.  It sounds very familiar too.  It sounds like loving our neighbor as ourselves.

I don't know if you've ever given much thought to where our food comes from if you don't grow it yourself.  I don't know if you find Colbert's statements before a government committee laudable or lamentable.  What I do know is that his testimony caused me to give greater attention to the issue, and is  yet another opportunity for me to consider how I might better love my neighbor.

How about you?

Corn-u-copia

Corn-u-copia, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Last week, I harvested the corn from my garden. I haven't had as many photos of my garden here in Morgantown this year simply because I have been out of town so much.

But I've been in Morgantown for most of the last month now. And I was able to eat a lot of corn, and share it with friends. There was enough corn for a nice roast--everyone who wanted an ear could have one. The remainder, we cooked up and froze--I'm looking forward to some mid winter corn from the ol' garden.

It's amazing how much food can be produced in just a tiny square of your yard. And this food was produced with very little up-keep. We had sugar dots, silver queen, and some kind of red sweet corn. All were yummy.

I can remember celebrating green corn each year with my tribe in the past. We would have a big kettle in which we would cook all of the corn, and there would be plenty for everyone. It's a time when we remember and thank our good God for His provision, and we enjoy a meal together. Even though I wasn't with my tribe this year, I was able to celebrate green corn in an unconventional way with a few of my non-native friends who love Jesus and corn!


Now I'm just sad that green corn time only comes once per year. At least I have friends year round tho!