Day 41 - CSA!

I'm squirming with excitement right now. Why? Because I got my first newsletter from my CSA (community supported agriculture) farm, Swallowtail, which means I get my first delivery on Monday!!! I paid $550 (actually $275, splitting my share with a friend) for 6 months worth of local, organic produce and other random good foods. The pick-up point is walkable distance from one of my jobs. Here's a excerpt from the newsletter to get you pumped up, too:

So, a great warm welcome from all of us that have been working at the farm, preparing for this coming week! Zach and I and the rest of our crew have been doing much preparation, and are excited that the time has finally arrived. We have been preparing ground, busily planting, harvesting sweet potatoes from the summer, growing corn and sunflowers and beans and peppers and eggplant and so much more.

We have installed a walk-in cooler in our barn, we've poured a floor, and are in the process of building on a greenhouse for the winter. We're also building a second shade-house for our baby plants. I am going this afternoon to pick up chickens, and a movable house that they will help to fertilize our fields with, and next month, we will be bringing cows to the farm. The swarm of bees that i caught over the summer time have settled in nicely and are building up their honey stores for winter. The cowpeas that we planted as cover crop over most of the fields in summer have ripened and will yield very soon to new beds and winter rye and oats and winter peas.

This coming monday will be our first day of Community Supported Agriculture at the UF campus. It brings me great joy and appreciation that this effort is underway, and that the farm to campus connection has been initiated. I am certain there will be a sweet something created by this happening over time, and that it will serve a small but pivotal role in the enrichment of our food culture here in Gainesville. I want to let each of you know how important your decision to support a small, sustainable, local farm is; in my understanding, this model of agriculture and farm to consumer relationship reaches to the very roots of so many of the challenges we face in our time. You are truly pioneers here in the South with the CSA movement, and I appreciate your faith, your commitment, and your support of Swallowtail Farm.

You're jealous, I know. It's ok, I would be to if I were you. (Frozen vegetables, Ren & Patrick? Yuck! ;-P) I feel like Christmas is coming or something. I'm THAT excited about my surprise shopping bag full of goodness. Since I'm splitting, I'll probably still have to supplement from our local grocery, which stocks local produce, too, but since I may be leaving Gainesville in early spring, I didn't want to commit without someone else to benefit from and receive the rest of my share. Plus, one share is, from my understanding, a brimming grocery bag of food. We'll see. Pictures to come on Monday. I'm waiting for the day when the marijuana production is legalized, and we also get a small monthly share of locally grown herb in our bag of freshness. You're probably thinking that's just ridiculous, Jenny. Yeah, maybe, but why? I mean, in all honesty, it's easy to grow outside as long as the seasons are respected, but you're right, it's been so demonized by bad press that the idea of it being so easily attainable is likely impossible in my lifetime. Still, getting it in such a way would solve a lot of the conundrums that are mixed up in my decision to smoke. I have decided to abstain while training because it does affect me in a way that is not optimal for this project, but I still have zero problem with partaking in a responsible, moderate manner. Much like I believe alcohol or sugary, fatty foods should be consumed...

My real reason for considering giving it up is much more complex than just, "Oh, it's bad for me. It's a drug. I shouldn't smoke it." That reasoning just doesn't fly with me. I know that I can control myself and my urges at this point. Since I stopped smoking, I've had zero urge to seek it out, no cravings for it and miss it only slightly in certain situations. I look at my bong everyday when I get home and it doesn't cause stress, anxiety or longing. I can control the urge. Easily. What really gets to me is the karma associated with the purchase of a bag of MJ. The drug trade in Mexico is out of control. The drug trade here is full of evil and suffering, too. When I buy $50 worth, I have no idea what journey that little bag has taken or who has been hurt in the process of getting it to me. The idea of supporting an industry that spreads so much pain gets to me, just like that video of the little male chicks being ground up alive.

The only way to solve this ethical dilemma is knowing my source. That could mean a pot CSA or actually growing it myself. I would grow it myself, but I no longer think the risk is worth the reward. I support it's legalization, and I support allowing private citizens to grow a small number of plants for personal consumption. I don't expect the big drug companies to be on board with this, and I suspect this is part of the reason for the slow process of legalization. I, also, expect that the drug lords will do their part in impeding the legalization process, too. The last thing they want is for control of such a valuable commodity to be in the hands of the people where it fucking belongs (excuse my french, I get passionate about this subject).

I just bought a $0.10 copy of Small Is Beautiful and am about to dig in. I've been wanting to read this book for a long time. I expect it will cement my belief in decentralization of so many processes. My only problem with decentralization is how to accomplish it....right now, I don't see any attractive way to do this through our political system. ~sigh~ Ok, I'll just leave off now. I'm getting into too much with this post. My mind is flowing uncontrolled at this point. :)

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS PARTY TONIGHT!!!! Wish y'all could be here. xo!