Week 4, Spring 2024
Hello, and welcome back to the farm journal!
In celebration of Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, last week’s Shabbat was cowboy themed. In case anyone here has not heard it yet, as an amateur critic with a BA in music, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a listen. The album is a creative and thoughtful amalgam of musical traditions. It sits within the context of a rich history that celebrates the vital role Black musicians have played in the country genre. We dressed up in flannel and cowboy boots and enjoyed some challah that was shaped to resemble a cowboy hat. For dinner, Margalit, Lexi, and I prepared some curry with rice and veggies.
On Shabbat morning we gathered outside to hold morning prayer services. The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. We read some texts, sang some familiar tunes, and Gavi and I chanted some of the Torah portion for the week. Even the cats joined us! In the afternoon Lexi took us into the woods past ATR and led us in an exercise that helped us connect with the wild plants in our surroundings. After Shabbat ended we baked a batch of brownies and sang along to the beloved hit 2006 movie, High School Musical.
The start of the work week kicked off a very important spring milestone; not just one, but TWO beautiful, healthy calves were born! Of course we dropped everything we were doing and ran to the pasture to see. It was beautiful to see the calves exploring their new worlds while their moms looked on with pride. After the excitement of the morning we went back to weeding and preparing the garden beds to transplant our seedlings. For dinner Gavi and Sophie prepared some SPECTACULAR homemade pizza with flour from Janie’s mill. The goat cheese and fresh garlic pie was to die for.
On Tuesday we finally got around to transplanting our first seedlings in Goat. These plants included radicchio, endive, and plenty of fennel. I also got some straw soaking in preparation for our next mushroom inoculation. In the afternoon the cohort got together to discuss the role Judaism plays on our farm and to orient everyone to our practices and terminology. It’s important that we all have an understanding of why we do the things we do when it comes to Judaism. We then held our group’s weekly check-in that we lovingly call weekly weeds. For dinner Acacia and Eric whipped up a delicious stir fry.
Wednesday brought yet another first for spring; I saw the first mushroom pins of the season! This was especially big news for me because it meant that soon enough we would have fresh mushrooms up the wazoo. Speaking of which, we inoculated yet another batch of mushrooms. Although we received many signs of spring, the weather still took a frigid turn which meant covering our newly transplanted seedlings. For dinner Martina and Margalit made some delectable coconut fried rice.
On Thursday we continued to weed in the cold, not-spring weather. We took a quick break to fend off the chill and warmed up with some line dancing. In the afternoon we seeded all kinds of plants, including okra, a variety of flowers, two types of basil, and three types of perilla leaves. After work I made sure to get in a chat with JR about yet another influential album, this one being 1967’s The Velvet Underground and Nico. For dinner Eric and I made some stew with a fresh garden salad of greens from the greenhouse. We recently learned that the month of April is national poetry month, so some of us sat down to read and reflect on some poetry. I really appreciate the way ZA encourages me to be reflective and creative.
On Friday morning another baby calf was born, this one a feisty boy who ran circles around the entire herd maybe 30 minutes after being born. I prepared for it to be another cold day so I really layered up; to my delight it warmed up very fast! We finished our work week with some direct seeding and then began preparing for our next Shabbat. Thanks so much for tuning in, come back next week for more excitement!
