out my window, i hear sadly festive violins accompanying melancholic spanish crooning...the voice that comes from the kitchens at jong ga house, the well-known korean restaurant two doors down from mine, is more distinct than it normally is; maybe it's the heavy and warm august air that carries so clearly the sounds of his lovesick pining through my curtains this evening...

miles and miles away, but i still feel the warmth...miss you guys.

i'm heading back to oakland tomorrow...my summer here on the farm has come to a close. i've so much to write, but i just haven't been able to get the words out quite right lately. they'll come, in time. for now, i'll say, simply, that my heart is heavy as i leave this farm and this land and these people; this has become my home and i am going to miss it dearly. i'll miss grady, linda, nathan, cameron, callie, tosh, buster, miko and zikr...they're family, after all. i'll miss spending my entire day outside, watching the sun come up over the hills, sweating in the mid-day heat, snipping basil as evening comes and the sky fills with blue and purple hues...such connectedness...

if i had a ladder, a very tall one, i'd prop it up against one of the brightest stars that dust the night sky above. and i'd climb up that ladder, up past the treetops, far beyond the mountaintops in the east...towards the tiny glittering lights above...and i'd look back, back down on the fields we tend each day, the straight rows and voluptuous orchards. i'd look back down on the kitchen pulsing with life, on the kitties slumbering in produce boxes in the packing shed, on the river rambling at the edge of the farm...and i'd just smile a warm smile...happy, in amongst the shimmering lights that i gaze at before bed each night...

***

"i'd like to rest my heavy head tonight

on a bed of california stars.

i'd like to lay my weary bones tonight

on a bed of california stars.

*

i'd love to feel your hand touching mine,

and tell me why I must keep working on.

yes, I'd give my life to lay my head tonight

on a bed of california stars.

*

i'd like to dream my troubles all away

on a bed of california stars.

jump up from my starbed,make another day

underneath my california stars

*

they hang like grapes on vines that shine,

and warm the lovers' glass like friendly wine.

*

so, i'd give this world just to dream a dream with you

on our bed of california stars."

*

-woodie guthrie

'california stars'

for more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frostycakes

'it's not the long days, it's the short nights in-between...'

*

grady is fond of saying just that when customers comment on our visible fatigue at the saturday markets in arcata, our weary bodies shuffling produce onto tables and rearranging the bountiful displays.

*

and it's so true! it's not while i'm snapping asian long beans off their vines that i get weary, nor while i'm snipping zapotec pleated heirloom tomatoes off plants; it's not while i'm cutting squash out from amongst a sea of prickly leaves that i want to curl up and sleep, nor while i'm harvesting long stems of genovese basil and forming them into little $2 bouquets; it's saturday mornings, around 5:30 am when my alarm goes off, that i feel the burn.

*

this weekend, we were in the truck and out the gate by 6:00 am...grady driving, cameron in the passenger seat, and me nestled between them with a basket of market signage on my lap, the bed of the truck filled to the brim with produce that we'd spent until 11:00 pm the night before harvesting and packing. we were all barely awake, mumbling and grunting...a qualified conversation at that hour.

*

by the time got onto 299 west in willow creek, we were waking up. i've talked about that highway and how gorgeous it is heading east from redding, but heading west it's just as beautiful. especially early in the morning before the sun rises over the peaks along the trinity. a purple ceiling; a forest green carpet; a blue ribbon of winding water tying it together...

*

we got to the coast by 7:15 and started the immense task of unloading the buckets and bins and baskets and tables and umbrellas and cement blocks and wood blocks and tablecloths and signs that we need each week to set up our booth. the amount of produce that we brought was mind-boggling. we harvested over 1200 pounds of tomatoes, 250 pounds of squash and 450 pounds of cucumbers to bring...not to mention various eggplants, asian long beans, storage onions, herbs, garlic, and shallots! we tastefully arranged as much as we could on the tables, highlighting the abundance of the farm at this time of the season.

*

more to come, but later...i must go transplant brassicas in the back field...!

i'm still working on my list of 'mad satisfactions of living in hoopa'...i, of course, have to edit and muse for quite a bit longer before i'm ready to even attempt to parallel wendell berry in writing (not equal him, mind you!) but i'll give a sneak preview...

*

shake.

the dried, brown poppy flowers

sound like maracas;

the tiny seeds shower out:

black, brown, gray;

our mason jars filled to the brim

with promises of a sea of color next season...

*

that lil' thought was inspired by the poppy harvest on tuesday afternoon...the girls and i shook out all the dried poppies and collected their seeds to save and also to use in the much-anticipated poppy seed bread we are planning to make.

*

this past week and the coming week were and will be pretty eventful here at the farm. first and foremost, i have put forth a motion to change the name of the farm to green laser farm because i fully believe that we need to start implementing the use of lasers here. the idea started in the zikr field early one morning last week while linda, ben, jessica, cameron, callie and i were confusedly trudging through the undending rows of marketmore, suyo long, armenian and lemon cucumbers, our feet soaked from dewy leaves. the cukes were planted in clean rows months ago, but have since grown fully across those rows and into one another. the field is essentially just a sea of prickly leaves hiding the delicious edible fruits of the plant Cucumis sativus. we figured that we could use some *lasers* to deliniate the rows so that we would not get lost, but then figured that we could even cut the cukes with lasers instead of with fiskar snips! the more we thought about lasers, the more we realized how effective they would be! but, perhaps this all just gives a good indication of the perpetual state of deliriousness that we all function in here on the farm :) methinks grady will not go for the name change and that we won't be getting any lasers here anytime soon...so green fire farm it will remain.

*

on wednesday, we finally got to making preserves out of the blackberries that are growing rampant all around the farm and on the path down to the river. it was too hot on our lunchbreak to cool down anywhere on the farm (i tried everything - even sitting on the freezer by nathan's house, but nothing helped), so callie and i struck out into the blazing heat with a few fragile pint baskets and got to picking the dark blue berries. we dug through the painfully prickly vines to pluck the ripest ones; after half an hour and many scratches to the arms, neck and legs, we had our berries. that evening, linda shared her preserve-making expertise with us and guided us through the process...pectin, sugar, boiling, waiting...and we ended up with three jars of delicious preserves! we plan to do more...maybe some chutneys with pears and apples and onions, some relishes with the tomatoes and more preserves with the berries. mmm!

*

on thursday, a very exciting thing happened...my parents came to visit me on the farm! sadly, my directions were sub-par and they took forever to find the farm. we are pretty darn hidden, but i like it that way :)

*

it was wonderful to have them here; they were so up for the adventure! they dragged branches, spent hours in the blazing sun picking sungold cherry tomatoes, took loads of pictures, and spent the nights in a tent right next to mine. last night, my mom and i cooked up a mexican feast for the crew, replete with tostadas and mexican rice and margaritas! they got on well with everyone at the farm, which really warmed my heart...it truly was like one family meeting another :)

*

tomorrow, at the farm, we're having a big ole' celebration for nathan's birthday. there's talk of delicious foods, fellow farmers coming from all corners of the county, libating ourselves down by the river, music played by guitars and dobros and didgeridoos, and a pink strawberry cake (upon nathan's request). i'm really looking forward to it...

*

i'm starting to get a little nostalgic about this all...i've been fully aware the entire time that i've been here that this is such a special time in my life, and in the life of all of us here at the farm. we have an excellent crew, beautiful and healthy produce, and we've created a gorgeous and loving home and community on this little patch of land. grady and nathan and linda will continue to live on the farm, but callie and cameron and i are approaching our departure dates...and it's just hard. i love these folks, and i'm going to miss the hell out of each and every one of them.

*

but i'm going to wipe away the tears welling in my eye, pack up my bag and walk down the road to the pizza place where i'll meet everyone for a post-market get-together. we'll talk about how much we sold; we'll reminisce about the magnificent harvest we had last night; grady and nathan will get some pints and i'll get a glass of chardonnay...maybe i'll tell them all how much these past few months have meant to me and how much i'm going to miss being with them...or maybe, maybe i'll just give them each a long hug...that says what i'm feeling so much better than words can at the moment....