Clare Gardens Corner

The busy days of late summer can be a challenge. We’re hot, tired, made uncomfortable by mosquitoes and relentless humidity, but oh so grateful to be cultivating the abundance that really starts to pour in this time of year. Our totes are overflowing with peppers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, flowers, and all the rest. The easy way this time of year to put your head down and just keep doing the work, but I find it important to give my crew and indeed myself the grace and time to put into context what it is that we do.

Aldo Leopold, the writer and ecologist said, “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” Living by this code is not easy. But striving to build a sustainable system where we can harvest nutrient dense food and serve it to you while regenerating the land it grows on is the goal. Without healthy soil it is impossible to produce healthy food. Leopold, and indeed Christ, calls us to participate fully and joyously in our communities. To keep the standards high environmentally, socially, each component of what makes us tick. It is our ethical responsibility. And one that I take seriously. This slow food approach to the production and distribution of food encourages the creation of community and puts values above profits. It challenges us to take responsibility for the situations we find ourselves in (including politically, environmentally, socially, spiritually) with regards to how we eat. So I ask you, next time you sit down to a meal, consider what sharing a meal really means to you. Not just the grilled corn or salad, but who you sit with, and the stories you share.