we had a farmer's market on saturday. we didn't bring much - about 20 bags of spinach i picked in the greenhouse (once i managed to get the door open with all the snow...), some beets, and turnips from our root cellar. money-wise, it's not really worth going to the market at this time of year. we're not making much, certainly not enough to compensate for the hard work required to grow in the winter. but people are so happy to have fresh greens right now, you can see it on their faces, so that makes it worth going. i feel really good about the relationships we developed with our customers. we know many of them well now, and it's always a fun interaction. i feel that we care about them, and i really do feel that they care about us and our well-being. i also feel how much they appreciate our work. so all that makes it worth going to the market even at this time of year.

on sunday, sena went to coventry market with her whale booth. ed went with her, and said that all went well. she handed out about 15 pamphlets. people wanted to give her money, which is what usually happens, but she told them that it would be more helpful if they took her pamphlet instead, read it and try to do some of the things it talks about. i think that people mean well by trying to give money, but really, that's an easy way out. you can give a couple of dollars and think you've done something for the whales, without really changing anything about the way you live, without really thinking about it too much. sena never intended to collect donations, but when people started giving, she eventually accepted and sent the money to CSI (Cetacean Society International). but overall, she feels that it's better to just have people speak to her and take the pamphlets, and basically think about the issues, and do something. so she's been discouraging donations quite strongly. she was happy with yesterday's event, but i think she wished more people talked to her. she was pretty tired when she got home - i think she puts out a lot of energy when she does this. i have to keep reminding myself that she's 7. she's so mature, and so serious. she's so dedicated to the whales, it's really moving to see how connected she feels to them. she actually feels connected to all living things. sometimes that can be difficult - for example, this fall, ed had to cut down 2 trees that were casting large shadows over our field. we have a lot of trees on our land, but even so, sena was really upset about it, and we had to talk to her for a long time before she halfheartedly agreed. one day, last year, ed's dad was cutting down some bittersweet vines that were choking some of our trees. by mistake, when he pulled on a vine, a huge branch broke off this large maple, and came crashing down. sena was watching fom a distance, and when she saw that, she just started wailing. it was really powerful, she was wailing and wailing, and there was nothing i could do or say to help her. she was just so upset. she said that the tree does not want to be cut down, just like we don't want to be killed. how do you argue with that?

peace

sena in coventry

sena will be setting up her whale booth at coventry market this sunday. she's very excited to be there, and she put together a short description of her booth that will go out to the market distribution list. it kind of breaks my heart. she really means what she says. here it is:

Sena’s Whale Booth

My name is Sena.   I love whales. I will have a whale booth.   I am seven.

I am trying to help the whales.  Can you help the whales too?  There will be pamphlets about whales at my booth.  The pamphlet will have stuff that you can do to help whales. And for more info you can go to my website www.senawhales.org.

she also updated the drawing and handwritten text on her pamphlet.

 peace

see what you look at

the icicles hanging off the roofs of houses are so beautiful today. there really is so much beauty all around, if only we could see what we're looking at.

"seeing what you're looking at" seemed like a trivial concept when i first heard of it (i think it comes from Carey Reams), but the more i think about it, and the more i experiment with it, the more i understand the difference between looking and really seeing. it doesn't seem so trivial anymore.

enjoying snow

nothing like fresh snow to get the kids all excited

 i really like our house. especially knowing that ed and jonny built it. it's very simple and comfortable, just enough for what we need.

 i can never take enough pictures of the field

peace

2011 CSA info is out

we finished putting together the info for our 2011 CSA, and emailed it out to the people on our waiting list; we also updated our website www.shundahaifarm.com with the latest on the CSA.

it's only been two days since we put out this info, and the response has been excellent. people are signing up and seem very excited about the upcoming season.

we've been getting some really sweet notes and emails from our existing customers, telling us how much they appreciate what we're doing and thanking us for it. thanking us not only for the food we're growing, but also for the way we are living and for having a positive impact on our community and environment. this is so rewarding! i really feel humbled by the way people have responded to us, and the way they encourage and support what we're doing. a big reason why i chose to farm is because i need to feel connected to something real, Nature, the Earth, and because i want to share and encourage that connection in other people. i feel that this is happening, and am very excited about it.
peace