Community

Clare Schaecher

Friday, May 2, 2008 at 2:40 AM

Last Saturday, Cedar Valley Sustainable and Mike & Clare’s Farm hosted a Field Day at the farm, followed by a potluck. At 1 pm, cars pulled into Cedar Valley’s long driveway from Ottawa, DeKalb and Chicago, and out piled families and friends ready to look around the place. It was a sunny day, but the wind whipped all of the warmth away. As we led everyone around the farm, our CSA members smiled, hugged themselves for warmth, and strained to hear us over the wind. The day was a pleasing confusion of dogs, babies and the occasional dodge of electric fencing. At the end of it, we gathered over homemade potluck dishes, discussing local food, farming, and just generally getting to know each other. When everyone left, Mike and I smiled at each other and I confessed that I was in love with every single one of our members.

Before I started farming, I always thought of it as a lonely occupation. As I was leaving for my first organic farming job, I admitted to my friends my fears of isolation. It was a silly thing to worry about. I didn’t understand that farming is an implicitly social act. Mike and I grow food for people – real people who we know – real people who are funny and charming and interesting. We grow food for people who are concerned about where their food is coming from, and who want to know us just as much as we want to know them. Mike and I, sometimes with the help of volunteers and friends, place each seed in a plug, place each transplant in the ground, and harvest each vegetable. Farming this way is personal, it’s communal, and it feels in so many ways whole. And it’s good to be whole.