Farming, while manipulative, is one of the most intimate
ways to interact with Mother Nature. When you dig your hands into damp soil,
situate a young plant neatly in the fresh divot, nurture the plant with food
and water – giving it adequate space and limiting its competition – and then
harvest a leaf or a fruit or a root to nourish your own body, there is an oddly
spiritual and cyclical connection between your body and Earth. Using organic
practices, you are taking care of your Mother and she is taking care of you. A
timeless relationship exists that each being – human or otherwise – can take
part in and become more in-tune with the intricacies of our home.
Over the course of seasons, your body reflects the state of
the farm’s body. Your body will reflect the foods available as well as the
activity in the layers of soil. Your energy will mimic the intensity of the
work to be done. Your skin will change to match the weathering of the ground,
the crops. You will be as enthusiastic as the sun and as tired as the moon. The
times you need the most energy, the Mother will provide you with the most food
– the times you need to recover, the Mother will go to rest and remain fallow
until you are ready to work again.
Spring: The time to prepare.
It was a long winter, as you’ll remember from an earlier
blog post. My body was heavy and full of thickness – stagnant. Now that I’m a
month into my new apprenticeship, I can feel the thickness moving out. The workload
is constantly ramping up each week, the days are becoming longer, and more
plants are in the ground at the end of each day. I’m discovering new muscles
and the creases in my hands are becoming stained with dirt. The snow melted
about a month ago and the soil is becoming more active with every hour; the
bugs are awakening from dormancy and the weeds are finding enough sunlight to
keep up with the newly planted greens. To reflect this awaking, my body is
finding fresh energy each morning. I fall asleep by 10pm each night, exhausted,
but wake up rested and eager to work – eager to keep up with the compounding
activity on the farm.
To help push out the thickness, Mother Nature will provide
greens now, in the early spring. In a week or two, we will have crisp and leafy
spinach, salad mix, and radishes ready to be eaten. Strawberries, scallions,
and baby Bok Choi will hydrate my body and flush winter’s toxins away. My
joints will loosen, my muscles will become lean, and my skin will prepare for
summer’s heat.
Summer: The time to work.
Summer is the height of the season. A farmer’s job is to try
her best to keep up with the endless list of tasks and surprises. The days will
be long, the pests will be ruthless – but the food will be abundant and
progressively more energetic. The soil will be a monstrous organism operating
at full capacity. Crops and weeds will grow at astonishing rates during the
heat of the day and the demand for water will be at an all-time high. My body
will reflect this: with the thickness of winter gone, my muscles will have room
to grow, strengthened by the long days of labor and the densely nutritious food
coming from the ground; my skin will be callused in all the right places and
tanned to protect that which the sunscreen can’t; my energy will be as hot as
the sun during the day, as dependent on water as the plants, and as quiet as
the birds at night.
To keep up with the physical demands of summer on a farm,
Mother Nature will not disappoint. Summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower,
tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, collards, carrots, cabbage, garlic, sweet
onions, melons and peaches, and all the greens of spring will be fresh and
rapidly available. These foods are dense, full of an array of nutrients, and
cook-able in countless ways. The copious proteins and fibers will be the building
blocks for my tightening muscles and the fuel for my constantly moving body.
Autumn: The time to celebrate.
While autumn will continue to be busy, the farm will be a
well-oiled machine – all bodies will be working in harmony and the soil will be
striding after the long haul of summer. The morning will feel slower and the
nights will require a heavier jacket. Hardly anything new will be planted and
the promises of root vegetables will be realized. All the vegetables of summer
will still be available and it is time to celebrate the work of the farmer and
her Mother. My body will have more time to rest in the evenings and more food
than it could ever consume. The necessity to share and commune with friends and
family will become obvious – and there will be time to do so!
My blood will be thick with nutrients and my muscles will
welcome the celebratory cushion of fat as it prepares for winter. My skin will
shed the heat and hardness of summer as I spend more time inside baking winter
squash and beets, roasting corn and shallots, steaming green beans, turnips,
and celery root. The remnants of fresh greens will be on the table alongside
the root vegetables meant to last through the winter – a true cornucopia. My
body will be busy canning and preserving the final fruits of summer so that
winter will be more bearable. My body will be stocking up, inviting the
thickness of winter to return, preparing for rest and recovery.
Winter: The time to rest.
The cold will creep in and the days will be short. The snow
will fall upon the fields and everything will go to sleep. Some kale may
survive the brisk nights, but like the body, it will not grow with much energy.
My skin will pale and my body will be much more still than the previous months.
While the thickness is irritating in the context of my personal body image, it
is healing. It will cloak my tendons and joints, soften my muscles, and weigh
down my eyelids. It will repair that which needs repairing and remind me that
rest is vital to a successful future – like the farm, where rested soil is
healthy soil; amended soil is energetic and ready to give life.
Mother Nature provides the densest and fattiest foods for
this time of the cycle. Potatoes and squash, storage onions and cabbage, kale,
garlic, and nuts – these are the foods with all the energy of summer and autumn
wrapped in protective layers to nourish the body through the long nights. These
foods will keep the cold from penetrating my bones and will force me to be
still. With such a limited food supply, winter will be mentally challenging.
Winter will be a time for contemplation and reflection on the abundance of the
previous year – it will be a time to make resolutions, detail plans, and gather
strength for the coming spring.
My partner, Brian, always says that he truly appreciates the
farm body because it is as strong as it needs to be. The farm body is never
more than is necessary – to keep a farmer humble and honest – and is never
lacking in necessity – to keep a farmer motivated and sustainable. I love my
farm body. I love the way it reflects my Mother Nature and directly connects me
with the nutrients I put in it. This beautiful, mutually beneficial
relationship will last a lifetime and will teach me to love my body, love the
Earth, and pay great attention to the never-changing cycle of seasons.
