Hello CSA Community,

We sink more deeply into autumn, and the promise of winter comes in forecasts for snow and sleet, and continually dipping low temperatures. The winter to-do list has begun, and I await the time when I will be able to catch up on paperwork and have time to reflect upon the season. For now, we are impressed by the resilience of the cold weather plants, and I hope that our cabbage and carrots continue into the winter. With overwintering leeks and a bit more garlic to plant, we still count as blessings the sunny days when we can work warmed by the sun. Please enjoy this week’s offerings and be well.

Love and hot compost,Farmer Becky

field notesVolume 17 | Number 25 | November 16 & 20, 2012

ECOSYSTEM FARM AT ACCOKEEKwww.accokeekfoundation.org

Tatsoi crownsBaby carrotsRed mustard greens

Pick List

Mesclun salad mixRainbow Swiss chardSweet peppers

Winter’s Eve and Silent Art Auction Saturday, December 8, 20124:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.$2 per person; or a donated canned food item

Kick off the holiday season with a delightful adaptation of Dickens’ classic ghost story. Performed as an old-time radio show with live sound effects, “A Colonial Christmas Carol” features Scrooge as a tobacco factor and Bob Cratchit as a free black. And don’t miss the opportunity to purchase a gift for someone special at the Silent Art Auction, which showcases the craftsmanship of the farm’s Stitch ‘n Time textile club and other fine art by local artists.

Pre-registration required for events. For details on any event, please visit www.accokeekfoundation.org or call 301-283-2113.

upcoming events

Farm ManagerBecky Seward

Apprentice FarmersSusan Cook, Sky Harman

Farm InternCrystal Proctor

Farm AssistantBlain Snipstal

geese call familiarwild animals returnwe are all quiet

family business By Sherrie Mickel --excerpted from "Sharing the Harvest" both drizzled with grey and not so slim around the middleanymore, a woman and a dog endure the heatside by side in a meadow shimmering life. they haveshared many miles of the Good Red road, 4 feet 2 feet plod and dance, trot and stumble, lope and scrambleright on down to this afternoon hunkered over underthe sun so hot. the dog’s head is nestled in sweet grass at the stream bank, the woman’s is bent overhairy weeds surrounding baby lettuces, and deer flieswhiz between the like agents of a curse. “sissies,”hiss the hairy weeds; they sneer, “we will smotheryou.” and the woman’s hands tan as the soil and just as lined pull them out one by one and tuck them inbeside the babies.

“why is it the bad so often seem so strong while the good get by on grace?” she asks the dog whosmiles and wags but does not raise her head. so the woman calls out clear as crows discussing family businessacross the pasture at first light, “what I mean is, howcan something that shines so true and mighty be so fragilewhen shadows pass and blot out the brightness so easilybefore passing away again?”

and the dog digs thoughtfully into her earlimned with grey, cloudy brown eyes focused on somethingnear the horizon that the woman lifts her gaze to seebut doesn’t find. she speaks once more but quiet nowas the stream murmuring to itself. “what I do understand isyou, old dog. you and the sun and these damned flies, thesehairy weeds and baby lettuces. I know what to pull andwhat to save, and where to put them all. and just who willsit out here beside me in this heat until the work is done.”