August visit to Broadturn Farm on Tuesday the 11th. My last visit was in March, when we trudged about through mud and the last vestiges of winter's snow. Now the farm is lush and vibrant.
On Tuesday the 11th, I walked about and took pictures: of the chickens in their convenient home next to the tomatoes, of the cabins where the interns live, of the sunflowers. I sat with the farm campers (ages 4-10) as they ate their snack. They told me about feeding the chickens, the ones that lay eggs and the ones that don't, and they explained where the turkeys live and that there are three baby pigs. Farmer Stacy was showing her Saturday bride the flowers. I dug potatoes with Farmer John and three farm share workers. They explained that we were harvesting the potatoes early because of the "blight" which affects both tomatoes and potatoes. This is apparently the same blight that caused the Irish potato famine and tends to appear every year, but this year it has arrived early and set to work with surprising severity due to the sale of plants at big box retailers. I followed behind the shovel pulling hard red tubers out of loose soil and tried to explain this project. Farmers, actors, giant puppets. You know, community-based theater.
