Cover Cropping the Next Generation

I just want to thank everyone and anyone who bought some mushrooms from Zach. We may have just launched a "new farmer" (and we need so many more of these, after all just 2% of the population is responsible for growing our food -- we aught to choose that 2% wisely and not just have "Monsanto" dominate the market). Zach said to me as we talked about moving forward with the mushrooms, "Lisa, I just want you to know, I'm a little nervous about the whole thing." Yes, I know, aren't we all? We should be scared. (Disclaimer here: I was scared to death when I first started the CSA and growing vegetables). But isn't it better to take some chances, even if we fail, then to let these opportunities pass us by? As one of my favorite writers, Henry Miller once said, it's time to "take that flying leap in the dark." (And it's not as dark as it once was, thanks to all those who helped to light the light). And so, we are all lighting the light. Just by being in the CSA. Sometimes just by composting all those delicious veggies that we can't seem to get around to using that week (yes, it's okay to not use all those veggies every week). (Disclaimer II: I don't always manage to use all those veggies in each week's share either). In fact, farmers plant entire fields of crops only to mow then down and let them rot. We call it "cover cropping" and it's one of the best ways to feed and improve the soil. Maybe we are cover cropping this next generation of young people. We plant them, fertilize them heavily in grammar school and high school, make them "pay" for college, then chop them down and let them rot (and still try to collect those student loans (no you can't default -- the banks have made sure of that! -- we now have a class of indentured servants -- no, slaves}). And some, like Zach, have been smart enough to avoid the trappings of debt-filled college but he's still not sure of his place in our narrow society. He knows there's got to be more than this. And so, he's nervous. But, we are here to catch you Zach. We support you. We applaud you. And we love your mushrooms!

Yes, it's all about the food, in more ways than we can imagine!