Week 7, Spring 2024
Hello readers, thanks for tuning in to the farm journal today!
Last week we welcomed in Shabbat with song. We’re really starting to get the hang of singing Aly Halpert’s, “Loosen Loosen” in a round. We’re so lucky that Sophie was back for Shabbat. She really invigorated us with some new tunes for the prayer Lecha Dodi, which welcomes the Divine Feminine presence of Shabbat. For dinner Martina and Margalit prepared some awesome shakshuka for us. After closing out the week with such a beautiful service and satisfying dinner, we all promptly fell asleep.
On Shabbat morning Acacia, Martina, Sophie and I set out for the woods to appreciate all the bounty spring had to offer us. The weekly practice of Shabbat is meant to help us embody G-d’s process of creating the universe over the course of 6 days and then relaxing and appreciating on the seventh. For most of the week, we work with our crops in a more pragmatic way, trying to anticipate and guide their growth. But Shabbat gives us an opportunity to step away from that working mindset. For this reason, I think that going out into nature simply to appreciate its beauty, diversity, and abundance is a great way to celebrate Shabbat. We noticed all sorts of animals, trees, fungi, flowers, greens, and more! After returning and eating some lunch I took a nice, long nap. We closed out Shabbat with the havdalah service, which helps us make Shabbat distinct from the rest of the week. For dinner Eric and I cooked up some fried rice and we spent the rest of the evening puzzling and watching Schitt’s Creek.
With Sunday being our last full day before Passover, we had a long day of preparation ahead of us. In the biblical story of Exodus, the Jewish people left Egypt in such a hurry that the bread they prepared didn’t even have time to rise. For this reason it is customary not to eat leavened bread or foods with leavening agents on Passover. There are many, many foods that fall under this broad category, and they are referred to as chametz. A large part of preparing for Passover is removing all of your food items that are considered chametz. Once we identified all of these items and stored them away from the rest of our food, we started a meticulous cleaning of the kitchen. This is to ensure that not one speck of chametz is left behind. We also ritually cleansed our silverware and took out a different set of plates to be used during the course of the holiday. To keep up our spirits during all this work we listened to a playlist I made called “Bar Mitzvah Szn,” including all of the greatest hits from 2010-2014. For one last chametz-filled hurrah we stopped at Don’s, the local drive-through, and enjoyed fried potatoes, pickles, fish, and all manner of dairy confections.
On Monday we performed bedikat chametz, a ritual search for chametz in which pieces of chametz are hidden around the house and searched for with a candle, wooden spoon, and feather. While there are certainly aspects of this practice that feel quite antiquated, it helps you get in the spirit of the holiday and we had lots of fun hiding and finding the chametz. The rest of the day was mainly spent preparing for the first seder. Acacia was hard at work putting the finishing touches on our haggadah. I got started on some vegetable soup and, after realizing that one batch of matza balls simply wouldn’t do, made a second batch. I fondly remember making matza balls with my grandmother every Passover growing up. I love that I get to bring a piece of my family to ZA by sharing this food with everyone. As the day came to a close I looked out to the cow pasture to see our eight (!!) sweet, beautiful calves, running around and delighting in the coming of spring.
Sundown meant the official start of Passover. We got dressed up and sat around our table adorned with food and plants that enriched our connection to the Passover seder. At the heart of the Exodus story are themes of bondage and liberation, stagnation and rebirth. During the seder we are instructed to see ourselves as though we were the ones leaving Egypt. This gives us a unique opportunity to embody the transformation of Passover for ourselves. It was such a beautiful and meaningful experience to read, laugh, discuss, eat, and sing our way through the seder together. And the whole spring 2024 team had a part in putting this wonderful night together. For our central meal we enjoyed matza ball soup, green bean salad, eggplant with mushrooms, potato kugel, and a flourless almond turmeric cake with a side of grapefruit and mint for dessert. Our second seder on Tuesday night proved to be just as impactful, and we were so lucky that Lexi and Gavi came to join us.
On Wednesday we had to chop and soak some more straw for the mushrooms. Next Eric, Martina, and I got to work removing big clumps of grass from ATR to make it easier to rototill. To help make this task a little easier we listened to the entire Wicked soundtrack which was quite fun for me personally. I spent some time in the afternoon checking up on our mushrooms and cleaning their grow tents. After the work day was over we all took a walk to watch the sunset together which was such a sweet moment. For dinner Acacia and Martina prepared some delicious burrito bowls for us. In the evening we counted the omer. This is a Jewish practice of counting the days between Passover and Shavuot, when we celebrate the receiving of the Ten Commandments. The origins of counting the omer are actually agricultural, with the word omer referring to one unit of grain that was brought as an offering to the Temple. I love that being at ZA really gives me the chance to appreciate the role that plants and harvests play throughout the Jewish calendar.
On Thursday we continued our weeding efforts in ATR. Simultaneously, Gavi, Eric, and Martina were preparing to lead our first Context Conversation. In the afternoon Margalit led the way with work on the deer fence while I spearheaded our weekly mushroom inoculation. For dinner Eric and I whipped up some quinoa and stew, featuring our very own radish thinnings!
With inclement weather on the horizon, I got some help from Sophie and Martina to put some pallets under the mushroom tents in case of flooding. I also did my weekly check in of our outdoor mushrooms in the spent spawn compost and on the shiitake logs. Then Margalit oriented me on how to secure the wire for our new fence to the posts with fence staples. I hammered along contentedly while listening to Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and was later joined by Martina and Eric. But by far the most exciting development was the arrival of 12 beautiful baby chicks. What a way to welcome in Shabbat! That’s all for this installment, come back next time to hear about the season’s first Context Conversation.