Harvest Scars and Success!

I remember coming home when I was 12 years old and encountering my mom's boyfriend, who stared at the scars on my legs and told me that "nice girls" shouldn't let there legs get all beaten up. Aside from being awkwardly uncomfortable by his comment, I nodded, ignored what he said, and continued to get scars on my legs. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I purposely get my legs all bloody and bruised. I still wonder how in the world some women can keep their legs all nice and smooth unless they don't leave the indoors. OK, so maybe I'm less careful than other women.

But to me, I don't regret the scars that I have. To me, they are each beautiful because they remind me of the all the experiences that I had. There is one on my elbow from falling off my bike when I first learned how to ride. There is a few on my ankles when I got badly bitten in the Amazon. And there's a whole bunch I got this summer working at the farm. And alas, as I was taking a shower after our harvest this afternoon, I found a huge, bumpy bruise on my left shin - probably from when I slipped after the wheel barrow got caught on a rock. (Please, ladies, be a little more careful than me!) As I silently cursed myself for inviting another bruise on my leg, I also chuckled at myself for being silly and reminiscing how wonderful the harvest was today. Not only did it take us 25 minutes to harvest all the pumpkins, acorn squash, and potatoes in our 1/2 acre garden, but we were also able to "parade" through the campus to deliver our produce carbon-free to our dining halls. (us & we being 30+ student volunteers!)

I'm sure I can speak for the rest of the crew (Morgan, Sarah, and Guenther) that we cannot begin to express our thankfulness to all the students (and Beth Hooker!) that came to help with the harvest. They came willing to spend their Sunday afternoon and reconnect with the food, the land, and with each other. That to me was beautiful despite how crazy I felt this afternoon and how painful my bumpy bruise is. And of course, this would not have been possible without the support of the faculty and staff. And most importantly, thank you to our summer interns (Morgan, Sarah, and Ally), who spent all summer growing the food!

But it is not over! We harvested, but the best part is yet to come! Our produce will be cooked by our lovely Dining Services for our Local Gracious Dinner on Thursday September 27th and served from 5-7pm at all the dining halls. The other produce will be from other local farms around the area.

Stay tuned for some more garden updates!

Garden love,
Anna