What wond’rous life in this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons as I pass,
Ensnar’d with flow’rs, I fall on grass.
For the past few years, those lines of poetry have popped into my head in August. They’re from the fifth stanza of The Garden by Andrew Marvell, and to this day I can hear the voice of my professor, the late Dr. Greg Goekjian reciting them from memory at the front of a lecture hall in the dead of winter more than 20 years ago. I think its the “stumbling on melons as I pass” line that gets me. I always liked the sound of it, but at the time I wouldn’t have had the context beyond thinking that this was some pretty racy stuff for a 17th Century English Puritan to put on paper. I wouldn’t have known just what an unruly mess of vines result in a crop of tiny melons and how carefully you have to tread as you try to pick them at the perfect time of ripeness and amount of “slip” from the vine. I wouldn’t have understood how gloriously overwhelming it is to experience the peak of the season if I hadn’t committed to eating in season and eventually becoming a farmer. I’ll leave it to you to go read the poem in its entirety if you’d like to, but one of the concepts that Marvell is gets at with the poem is how unruly yet reassuring the natural world and its rhythms can be. It was very hot today, which is great weather for ripening fruit, but we know all too well what’s coming in a few short weeks as the sun comes up a little later and sets a little sooner. I know that lots of folks are traveling this week, starting new schoolyears, and otherwise all over the place mentally and physically heading into Labor Day weekend, but know that our hours are the same this week (and we still have a whole month of Summer to make the most of!). If you’re out of town or need to change your pickup plans for any reason this week, please give us a heads up ASAP. If you dropped off knives for sharpening last week, Steve from Showalter will have them at the farm for you to pick up on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
Many Thanks,
Katie
PS: Yes, we’ll still have our Bulk Romas available, first come first serve, this week. 10 lbs for $33!
IN THE FARMSHARES THIS WEEK:
Tomatoes (Cherries,
Slicers and/or Heirlooms)
Sweet Corn
Romano Beans
Zucchini and/or Cucumbers
Choice of Bunched Greens
Mini Cantaloupes
RECIPES & SEASONAL TIPS
ITALIAN ROMANO BEANS WITH SMASHED CHERRY TOMATOES- Farm to Jar
GRILLED FLAT BEANS WITH AGRODOLCE - Food & Wine
ONE-POT SPAGHETTI WITH CHERRY TOMATOES & KALE - Tejal Rao
BLENDER ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL MUFFINS- Half-Baked Harvest
BURST TOMATO GALETTE WITH CORN & ZUCCHINI - Smitten Kitchen
ELOTE COWBOY CAVIAR - The Table of Spice
SWISS CHARD SALAD WITH PARMESAN, LEMON & BREADCRUMBS - Alexandra’s Kitchen