we've been so busy. last night i felt beyond exhausted. there's so much to do right now: harvesting, planting, weeding, getting ready for the market and CSA, and so on. it never stops really. but i think this time is the busiest of the year, so it will get easier. ed and i haven't had a day off in months.

here are some beautiful vegetables from our field:

sweet hungarian, italian and bell peppers

our table before the CSA last week

and some flowers i grew to make small bouquets: sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, mixed in with basil, dill and cilantro flowers. i think they look sweet.


peace

i'm feeling really good today. yesterday's CSA went well, and everyone commented on how nice things looked, and how good it all is. i love hearing that, it's a nice reward for all our hard work.

my friend Dragos from Montreal stopped by after the CSA, and it was really nice to see him. i took him and my dad (my parents are here visiting) around to show him the farm, and it was relaxing, and it gave me a new perspective on our work. i knew Dragos when i was working at Pratt, and before, and seeing him brought back memories, which were all good, and it also made me realize at what a different place i am right now, in my life, which is also good.

i've been reading a book by joko beck, named "nothing special", which i find very helpful in dealing with everyday difficulties, especially ones of the internal kind. i read it to ed every night before bed, but he mostly falls asleep because he's so tired from all the work, so i continue reading just to myself, and i find some of it stays with me and gives me food for thought the next day. it's been mostly helpful in not taking myself so seriously, and in allowing me to just observe how i react, etc. it feels very liberating, not being so caught up in oneself all the time.

so i feel light and good today, a very simple, sweet feeling. i came to shandra's to have a shower, as we still don't have water, and i noticed how tall the weeds got in the eggplant patch, and i noticed how that made me tighten and feel stressed, and i just kept walking to my shower.

i've really been trying to work more efficiently, and one thing i realized is that i waste a lot of energy in worrying about things, and in indecision, and planning and all that. so instead, i'm trying to just "do it", "do it, mama, do it" as aiyana says. just do what needs to be done, one thing at a time, and put all my energy and focus into that, and that's got to be more efficient than doing something while thinking about all the other things that need to be done.

so i'm just working on getting out of my own way, so i can do the work i want to do in the field. fortunately, Nature provides plenty of inspiration in this endeavor.

peace

we made it through yesterday. had a record number of people at our house: ed's cousin, uncle, and grandfather, plus ed, all working on the well and piping for to the house and field. we will have irrigation to our field after all this.

i was working with my sister, Nicu and Shandra, harvesting and getting vegetables ready for the market. meanwhile, Albina and her girls were hanging out with sena and aiyana. all in all a very busy day, but we made it to the market, and we did well, and it never would have happened without all the help we had. thank you so much to everyone. it was fun. my sister said that it was like a commune, everyone doing something different, but all working together.

thank you!
peace

we're a little crazy right now.
our well just ran dry so we have no water. i'm at Shandra's getting drinking water and having a shower. the dishes are piled up in the sink, the toilet does not flush, and tomorrow morning we need to wash our lettuces and other veges for the market and i don't know how we'll do that yet. ed's trying to hook something up.

the good news is that we had another well dug, and they hit 15 gallons per minute at 300ft depth. that's really good, and it will be enough for the field and house, but it won't be ready until next week. so in the meantime, we'll see what happens.

now i have to go and plant some more potatoes.
peace

from "The Essential Rumi"

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to
kneel and kiss the ground.

rainbow over our tomato patch

a picnic

last friday i took a break for farming (first in weeks) and went on a picnic with sena and aiyana. we had so much fun, and i was actually able to just relax and be with them, and not think about anything else - we decided we'd do this every week.

the girls did gymnastics, while i watched. here's sena in a handstand.

and aiyana, rolling in the grass, which is just like her. in general, sena's serious and precise, and very honest; while aiyana is crazy, happy-go-lucky, and really sweet. also, she makes up stories, and you never quite know what to believe. i think some of these pictures show these qualities a little bit.

sena coaching aiyana on a headstand.

looking out over the water.

sena's own headstand. she likes to do things well. she always amazes me how she takes things on and just does them, whether it be gymnastics, or whale-activism, or whatever she chooses.

my beautiful girrls with sun-bleached hair

i think that this picture captures aiyana's spirit particularly well. she's wild and very free.

big sister helping little sister with her bathing suit. this is so sweet. they really get along well together, and they compliment each other perfectly. i really do feel blessed to have them in my life.

peace

Messenger, by Mary Oliver (from her collection 'Thirst')

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

-------------------
(what a lovely way to think of one's work, as standing still and learning to be astonished)

i just spent the whole day today watering our field. it's been so hot and the soil is getting really dry. on the upside, everything is growing really well, and this weather is notconducive to the late blight...

but the lack of rain is definitely starting to be worrisome, especially since our well will not be able to meet the needs of the field for long. we're having another one drilled in a couple of weeks, but until then we have to work with the one we have, which means very little water pressure, and very little water. today, the water level went down from 8 to 4 ft in the well. that's a little scary. hopefuly it will go back up substantially overnight.

well, among other things, farming brings the gift of adventure. it keeps you on your toes one way or another.

peace

a little bit of rumi

"keep walking. there's no place to go".

i've been reconnecting with rumi lately, which feels so nice. he always fills a need that is so deep, i forget i even have it. i've also discovered another amazing poet, mary oliver. her poems are earthy and full of longing.

thank you to my friend C. for re-opening me to all of this.