Photos taken by EW of our second Farmers Dinner last night. We are going off the walls over our spring crops. My favorites of late from the crops here have been purslane, hungarian wax peppers, artichokes, red onion, and purple basil. These dishes were all made from what we harvested yesterday afternoon as well as local produce/cheeses/etc. The peaches this spring are so beautiful - I unfortunately cannot eat them raw due to allergies, but baked in a pie and within a mint julep, the flavor was beyond any peach I have ever tasted. I made stuffed zucchini with onions, green bell peppers, heirloom tomatoes, green chilies, purslane, oregano, rosemary, sage, purple basil and toped with goat cheese and fennel sprigs. Yvone and Erich made the most gorgeous peach pie - I would have eaten the entire thing if no one was watching. Erich also made the most delicious potato salad on the entire planet. I am not a fan of potato salad, but mixed with purslane and hungarian wax peppers - it was to die for. The peppers left a constant heat on your tongue, and the crunch of the purslane was mouthwatering. I love food, I love cooking, but I have never been so excited about ‘eating’ in a long, long time. These Farmer Dinner’s are becoming my new favorite hobby; not just enjoying the food, but eating with our ‘farm family’. It is so homey and comforting, and I feel like a piece of my missing self has been found again through cooking and company combined. Jordan and I are so humbled we get to experience this as a living. It makes me all the more excited to get involved further and make this entire experience a lifestyle.
I’m busy, it’s good. I’ve never felt so productive in all of my life, I think. I really enjoy my job, I like working from home (the motivation to get up is a little harder, though). I thoroughly enjoy working with two of my favorite ladies, and some really sweet guys too. Once I get more settled I can’t wait to get some stuff under my belt that I have been dying to do lately. Mostly morning and evening yoga, juicing like a fiend, taking guitar lessons from Jo, working this body out to get in shape for the summer that is already seemingly passing by my eyes at the moment, get inspired to work on art again, move in about 60 days to the farm, get more engrossed and connected with the farm, read, etc. etc.
Jordan and I are currently reading ‘Greenhorns’ together, and it is such a beautiful piece of work; definitely making us feel more apart of something that is so special and rewarding about living on this earth and joining a farm family. We had our first farm dinner the other weekend - I can’t even describe the joy I felt swelling in my heart as we went to the fields and harvested all sorts - cilantro, zucchini, fennel, squash blossoms, grape leaves, radishes, beets, kale, carrots, artichokes, etc. etc. We came back to Erich and Yvonne’s house and just got wild and creative while sipping on refreshing summery cocktails with Pimm’s that Erich whirled together. I love this family that is growing, and I cannot wait to watch it grow much more. Peaches and blackberries are peeking out quickly, and we are planning on having a massive canning/jam-fest within the next couple of weeks once the heirloom tomatoes are all grown. Every evening watching the sun go down over the fields is so magical - especially within a suburb. I feel a piece of me being fulfilled in a weird way. I don’t know where we are going to be in a year, two years, but we’re committing to this more and more, and I cannot wait to see what grows from it. I can’t wait to raise children there, to hopefully home chickens, goats and other little animals. To spend mornings on weekends helping with the farmers markets, and to spend the afternoon helping volunteers weed. We are continuously blown away we even got to stumble upon this opportunity, and we feel so lucky, every day. There is nothing that makes my heart more happy than to watch my farmer husband come home gritty and smelly from work, but with a big smile on his sun-kissed face. He is getting so tan too - that Choctaw tone is maroon and so beautiful, and I love kissing it softly. I don’t know, things are lifting up I suppose. I get scared, in the same sense. I don’t even know what happened to April, and May feels as though it is almost done and over. I’m trying to latch on to every day, or the evenings at least. In the meantime, I am finding comfort spending time with some beautiful and loving people, talking to my parents a lot more than usual, finding peace. I’m hopeful, unlike I have been lately. I hope not to return to a dark place any time soon - everything is so bright, so tangible and soft. Dreams keep me tossing, though. “Do you believe in God?!” I screamed, dark indigo clouds rolling over as I held a rabbit in my arms, watching the earth shatter to pieces. I met Ryan, and and he told me he really enjoyed me and he wanted to get to know me more as a person. I had a dream of buying the most beautiful jacket complete with alpaca wool. Or riding in the desert on a vintage Arizona blue, gold, copper Einfield, chasing Jordan over mountains and zipping past the saguaro cactus kissed lands. I don’t know. Some of it is comforting, some of it is comforting. I meet my kids, I talk with them sometimes. I can’t make them out too well, but I know they are near, and I am feeling over protective, and the feeling is hard to shake when I wake. Oh well.
I’m 23 today, but at least I’m not dead!
Stuff My Dad Says While Visiting This Weekend
At the Apple Store: *deep sigh* “This song is way too over-played.”
Sitting in Nordstroms: “Kelly Clarkson is playing - I gotta get out of here.”
Looking at Jo’s Instagram: “Who is countryspacevixen?” *looks over at me and I sheepishly smile* He laughed so hard he started coughing and had to hock a loogie.
To be continued…
