I felt an interloper, allowed a quick glance at the chickens, a quick whiff of pony barn, the swish of tails and wary glances from scattering creatures as my rusty Toyota rumbled up the dirt-and-stone drive. Our CSA share began last week, and I'm so grateful we discovered this little trick of skipping the grocery stores and the long haul trucks: simply dirty your feet a bit and discover the wonders of a small farm.
I have to admit, I was smitten. Absolutely, utterly. If you had told me ten, twenty years ago that I would secretly wish, wish, wish we could live on a small farm with chickens and an herb garden sprawling just off our front porch, I would have laughed. Heartily. Ridiculous: I am a city girl. (Or rather, I was a girl who loved convenience.) This place we live in now, it's the smallest town I've ever lived in, and I threw tantrums about it. Sure, there is that charm that really threads into my heart, but I wanted dozens of great coffeeshops, not just two sandwiched together; I wanted a late night bookstore and a humming co-op.
But we have: the Mississippi River just blocks down the street, a vineyard welcoming picnics and golden retrievers, an independent bookstore, a charming theatre, a large arts organization.
This will do.
As you can see, this week's CSA theme is green, which happens to be a color with which I can never tire. Paint my world green, blue, shades of brown. I will be content.
4 comments:
This is so nice!
I'm jealous, I've gotten tired of the city lately.
I'd love to be so close to the Mississippi River!
we are enjoying our rural existence but i just hate the amount of driving we have to do. i miss our csa in nc. the ones here were full so it looks like we will be visiting all of the different farmer's markets instead. still feeling like a time traveler. the nc markets have so much and yesterday we only came home with spring onions and tiny tiny radishes.
Congrats on your new site and new country digs.
I often resented my years growing up on a farm 15 miles from town but I'd give a lot to be back there now.
A Jannie
i'm with shari that my biggest complaint about rural life was the driving. although i'm sure if i had stuck it out i would have found an alternative (read: bike trailer and bigger muscles). i'm liking the small city thing for now, and probably forever. (yes, to a manhattan girl, minneapolis is a small city!).
we thought about doing the csa thing this year, but opted for a more productive garden plot (squishing more in there that i thought possible this time last year) and more frequent visits to the farmers market. we'll see how it goes. can't wait to follow your csa journey!
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