BELATED WENDELL WEDNESDAY.
This is what it is like to try and brush Wendell. He was A MESS after all the rain we've had, and Jesse was trying to make him presentable because he had an appointment today to be neutered. Obviously, he was having a great time this morning and completely oblivious. I have felt really terrible all week, knowing how traumatic and confusing today will be for him, but he bounded into the clinic like this was the greatest day of his life, so excited and happy to see all the dogs and cats and people. Poor pup.- Hannah.
AFTERMATH.
It's nice to look around and see green, to walk through the yard with a literal bounce to your step as opposed to the hard, crunching thud of the days before the drought ended. The ground is finally wet, we've received 3 1/2 inches over the last week, and we feel incredibly lucky, especially knowing how many others never got that rain. But we also don't know what all the lingering affects of the drought will be. Will we see it in the yields of our corn? Beans? Melons? We already see it elsewhere. We put our peppers in right at the beginning of the drought and they didn't see a rain for over thirty days––many did not survive. The tomatoes are loaded with green fruit and unfortunately some of that fruit has been lost to blossom end rot as well, an affliction tomatoes receive from not enough water (or in other cases, not enough calcium). The garden is actively on the mend, however. We're feeling good and optimistic about a forthcoming bounty. But having started the season late, and having not been able to get our plants in the ground in time to enjoy much of the spring rains (rather modest this year anyway), the drought was especially hard on us and we're still finding it's fingerprints, scattered like a sloppy criminals, all over our soil.Also, we've noticed the drought even messed with our blog, so please forgive us while we clean it up!- Jesse.
THE BLOG LOOKS WEIRD, AND OTHER NEWS.
Ya'll. I have no idea why the blog looks so strange. For some reason, all of the crazy coding and html and nonsense that I spent so long trying to understand has just disappeared....so the blog became a complete jumble of words and posts and tabs. I was able to fix some of it, and will try to work on it soon....but we have been in the library for 3 hours now and mostly I just want to cry.ANYway. Surprise! We have a new addition to Rough Draft! This one was a necessity, however, as the mice situation inside of our house has been out of control lately. Meet Gladdie...our slightly cross-eyed, wheezing, snaggletoothed, and possibly blind kitten. Yeah, we know how to pick 'em.- Hannah.
PUTTING THE "CS" IN CSA.
Today, in the midst of our lazy, rainy morning, one of our shareholders brought us lunch. A beautiful quiche, still warm from the oven, and potato salad. This sweet gesture means so much more to us than you could know, because we have been without a working stove for almost a week. For us, who cook three meals a day and buy very few groceries, this has been tremendously difficult. Our kitchen is literally crowded with baskets of food, and we are unable to eat it! And so, this quiche, this small gift of food, was really a very big gift. It reminded us what a CSA really stands for. "Community Supported Agriculture" is just that - a community. Jesse and I are members of that community as well. We share the bounty of what we grow with others in the community, and in turn, when we find ourselves without, the others share with us. It is not just about the exchange of goods and services and money and vegetables, it is a system of support. It truly brings tears to my eyes to be fed by those we normally are feeding. It has humbled us, reminded us, that we should remember to ask for help when we need it. Reminded us that any feelings of guilt or failure we feel are only what we have placed upon ourselves - we have neverfelt anything but love and support from all our CSA members. We are so grateful for this little meal, for these new friends in our lives, for all of you who have been there for us from the beginning. The shareholders, those who have donated, those who prayed for rain, and those who simply follow along with our ongoing story - you truly are everything to us. So, with our bellies full, we watch the rain come down, softly renewing the dry and dusty soil and bringing hope back to the garden and its farmers.- Hannah.
