I don’t know about the rest of you but, it has always been my dream to have my own farm. I know, it’s quite a lofty yet strange dream but, I find the deepest satisfaction from watching seeds grow to buds, to flowers, to produce. I also like to be able to show people that these hands that cannot lift five pounds can produce that weight in one small eggplant. I also wouldn’t mind some lively farm animals like cows, chickens, or pigs (I have heard that pigs are much the same like dogs and will be eternally loyal to you if you don’t eat them).
Essentially, I think farmers have the best life. Waking up early in the morning to see the sun rise, toiling in the fields worrying only about your baby crops, using the produce to make fabulous meals, and then retiring to bed just in time to see the sun set. Sigh. There is just something so magical and pure to be able to say that that squash you’re eating came from my blood, sweet, and tears. The feeling of the soil encrusted under your fingernails is incomparable and the calluses you develop on your palms from the constant weeding cannot be explained by mere words alone. So yes, maybe I was born in the wrong century but, my strange dream still hasn’t ruined or cost me any friendships (my friend Alex would certainly disagree); yet.
After an interesting dinner of Cheerios and vanilla soy milk with chickpeas, cucumbers, humus, and French fries, with my camera in hand I headed to Hamilton’s community garden on the far end of campus. I was unsuccessful to recruit any of my friends to pose for pictures so, I made the 5 minutes schlep by myself. Though I am not the greatest photographer on the planet (though I have taught three of family members to use my camera successfully) the setting sun did add a nice backdrop and artistic touch to the pictures.
To give my readers (I think I only have two at the moment) a little history: The Hamilton community garden was founded about 2 years ago by eager young collegiate fellows. The garden is open to the entire campus and has many varieties of vegetables including: tomatoes (cherry and large), potatoes (which I helped harvest), squash, carrots, pumpkins, corn, peppers, swiss chard, rainbow chard, herbs (sage, rosemary), rutabaga, and a plethora of flowers. For my FOOD FOR THOUGHT class (I will explain in a later post) I have been given a little plot of land to tend to which includes several varieties of pretty flowers and rutabaga. Although I wanted a section occupied by more produce, I am content with my small but, manageable plot. What makes this garden so cool is that you can pick up any vegetable you want, straight from the ground, and put it in your mouth without the smallest hesitation. I proudly pulled a large carrot from the ground a few days ago and though it was covered by several layers of dirt, it still tasted amazingly sweet. In fact, the added amount of dirt did much for the flavor of the carrot. Think of dirt as fleur de sel; a slight bit of salt adds much to flavor.
I must honest and say that much of the garden vegetables are currently invested by various fungi or bugs; I’m not quite sure which. The organisms are particularly fond of the tomatoes, which is quite unfortunate since we are in prime tomato season. Of course, I want join the Community Garden club to help care for the plot of land, but so far the closest I’ve gotten to tending the produce has been stealthily stealing a cherry tomato from a hanging vine that we were told not to touch. Jeez, I hope that’s ok? If not, I’m sure the fungi will work wonders on my digestive system. ENJOY THE PRETTY PICTURES.
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