Mobbing Sprouting Acres
For weeks, I'd been complaining about how this would be the first year when it wouldn't be warm on my birthday, and that birthday joy and good weather were so integrally wrapped up with one another in my mind that I didn't know how to celebrate a birthday without the sun on my skin.
Well, it turns out that even with clouds and temperatures not much above 60 degrees, the outdoors can still bring birthday joy--this year specifically in the form of a Farm Mob at Sprouting Acres in Stoughton, WI. The scene:
Although there was no 96 foot long greenhouse to move this time around, and although the ground was too wet for the onion-planting we were supposed to do, we had plenty of work: weeding greens (left), moving huge tomato cages from one field to another (middle), and constructing a small hoophouse frame (right):
We also go to stop and smell the flowers (and the parsley and basil!):
And to pet some dogs, and see some cool farm design--in the form of small hoophouses and a composting toilet:
We even got to bring some of the farm home with us:
The whole day was another reminder of how fulfilling it can be to work with a group of people, using your body, outdoors, to produce concrete effects that build up to create a local food system that is nourishing , sustainable, and delicious.
All in a day's work.
Well, it turns out that even with clouds and temperatures not much above 60 degrees, the outdoors can still bring birthday joy--this year specifically in the form of a Farm Mob at Sprouting Acres in Stoughton, WI. The scene:
Although there was no 96 foot long greenhouse to move this time around, and although the ground was too wet for the onion-planting we were supposed to do, we had plenty of work: weeding greens (left), moving huge tomato cages from one field to another (middle), and constructing a small hoophouse frame (right):
We also go to stop and smell the flowers (and the parsley and basil!):
And to pet some dogs, and see some cool farm design--in the form of small hoophouses and a composting toilet:
We even got to bring some of the farm home with us:
The whole day was another reminder of how fulfilling it can be to work with a group of people, using your body, outdoors, to produce concrete effects that build up to create a local food system that is nourishing , sustainable, and delicious.
All in a day's work.
How did you know for weeks that it wasn't going to be warm on your birthday? Why was the weather different this year? (Sorry, just really curious!)
ReplyDeleteWell, I didn't really *know* that it would be cold--but the weather in the weeks leading up to the day didn't bode well (much colder and rainier than is typically of Wisconsin April weather) and the weather.com 10-day forecast also looked bleak. The "why" question is a hard one to answer. Some mix of global climate change, the tilt of the earth, and sea level pressure?(Can you tell that I have no idea what I'm talking about?)
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