On Hatred

I've been thinking about hatred so much this week . The news of violent protests in the Muslim world, that are questionably related to a poor quality anti-Islam movie, scream of hatred. And when you are feeling hated, you feel contempt and fear towards your assailant. It's toxic. The adrenaline gained from immersing oneself into the frenzy of an angry protest, being a part of an emotional community, seems universally human. When you are feeling hatred, you want support in your emotion, you want to surround yourself with others who bolster your stance. But like any abusive situation, there needs to be a point when the cycle is broken, when everyone comes to the surface for a breath of air.

An election season is an easy time to separate into an us-and-them paradigm. Stopped in traffic, I glare at the car in front of me with the political bumper stickers, whispering under my breath all the things I would never say to the person's face. Then, my daughter asks who I'm talking to. I feel embarrassed that I'm sucked in. I want to be bigger than that.

At dinner, Flora stands up on her chair to "give some knowledge to us", as she put it. She shows us a drawing of how we are all related to the president. There is a big tree with many branches, a few houses, a ton of dots. I want to see more of this inter-connectedness. I want to feel more of this one-love stuff, not in that hippie way but in the universally human sort of way, one that breeds understanding and snuffs out the hatred. It seems easy at age 6. When did it get complicated? It must have been in middle school.

The League of Conservation voters calls. They want me to be a part of their press conference. The incumbent state representative in our district scored low marks in their review. She voted against the state's land bond package, the same one that is used to preserve prime farmlands like ours from development, ensuring prime agricultural soils will be available for farming into the future. They want me to stand up and speak about this, how awful it is and why she is undeserving of re-election. I'm shy of public speaking. I'm anxious about the effect on our business of publicly declaring a stance. But I want to ask her why she voted the way she did. Her district is the rural side of town. My lack of clarity about why she chose to not support farmland preservation, has me feeling hateful about her decision. I cut flowers in the field, thinking about this. I drive around town doing flower and produce deliveries, I bath my child and make dinner, all the while thinking this through. Time runs out and I never call her. I miss the press conference. I'm an armchair liberal at best.


Blessings on the meal-
Stacy

This week's Harvest:

• radish/turnips

• lettuce

• arugula

• tomatoes

• basil

• peppers...poblanos, bananas, bells, s

erranos

• eggplant

• fingerling potatoes

• winter squash

• beets

• beans

A few exciting dates for your calendar:

October 6th... Feastland ... a collaboration with SPACE Gallery and friends!
from SPACE's website:

SPACE Gallery presents Feastland, an evening of seasonal food, site-specific art projects, drinks and entertainment at Broadturn Farm in Scarborough. Drawing inspiration from the bounty of the fall harvest and traditional county fairs, SPACE is partnering with friends -- local cooks, artists and farmers -- to produce a feast for the senses.  

Round trip shuttle from SPACE Gallery to Broadturn Farm (depart Portland at 5:30pm, return from Broadturn Farm at 9:00pm and 11:30pm).

Saturday 10.06.2012, Starts at 5:30 PM, Ends at 12:00 AM, $20 , All Ages

Buy tickets and reserve a spot on the shuttle here.

October 20th....Harvest Festival!

T.J. Watson Fellow Bennett Konensni will be leading a 'Worksong Workshop,' in the morning and performing in the afternoon, bringing agriculture worksongs from around the world to Southern Maine.  In the am, we'll plant some garlic while we sing worksongs, and mix up the morning with a little bit of yoga too.

The music line up includes great Maine musicians, including Erica Brown & the Bluegrass Connection, the Tricky Britches and The Gawler Family Band!  Enjoy local food from Local Sprouts Cooperative and brews from Rising Tide & Sebago Brewing Company while you listen!  Children will enjoy face painting, crafts and activities all day!  Be prepared for some great silent auction items from some awesome local businesses!

And Finally, what you've all been waiting for....

October 13th....our annual turkey processing workshop!

  

Come to the farm and learn how to slaughter~~ eh hem~~ "process" your own Thanksgiving turkey.  Get this: for $150 bucks, you choose your own turkey, learn to kill it, pluck it, and gut it, along with many of the finer points of the trade so that you can raise one next year in your own front lawn!  You'll also walk away with a sack of potatoes, onions, squash, and beets, AND an amazing conversation piece for your Thanksgiving dinner.  We're really excited about this because a) we enjoy hands-on teaching with our hands-in a bird; and b) Maine's new regulations restricting on-farm sales of poultry processing forbids us from selling you a turkey that we kill for you.  There's no reason you can't do it yourself though!  So, sign up, or sign up someone you love: is your hubby too lazy on Thanksgiving while you're busting ass in the kitchen all morning!?  Well, we take care of that!