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Greetings from my (very crowded) kitchen island! One of my favorite things about summer is how accessible fresh produce becomes; between the farm share and my garden (and, of course, the grocery store — those bananas are definitely not local!) it feels like my fruit bowl and fridge are overflowing with great stuff to eat. And although it feels like summer has only just started, time has been flying by — I can’t believe that it is already the last week of July, and summer is actually half over! It means we’re reaching the end of the Early Summer farm shares, and we’ll soon be transitioning into the Late Summer program. […]

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. While still grieving Ashes, I took on some major home projects (electrical, structural, aesthetic and financial!), launched KC Zine Con’s virtual zine fest applications, and somehow still found time to garden… all while a pandemic still surges and spreads, with no real leadership, or social safety net, or end in sight. Honestly, I’m surprised I’m not more overwhelmed. But through it all, there’s been the delicious stability of my weekly CSA bag to enjoy. There’s been plenty of old favorites like bok choy and new (not-quite-yet) favorites like kale (which I’m starting to embrace! It isn’t just for smoothies anymore!) And just as […]

This is a difficult post to write. I can’t find the right words to articulate the way that I’m feeling, elaboration feels incongruous, and every word I type just doesn’t compute, it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t feel real. So here are just the facts: on Saturday, Ashes died. She was my friend and companion for 20 years, and now she is gone. Sweet and grumpy, soft and small, she was a gift for my 10th birthday. Ashes loved rubbing her face against the zipper on the cat nip bag, laying in puddles of sunshine on the kitchen floor, and sitting with Tom and I on the couch each weekend morning. She […]

Hey there! It’s time for another peek into the grocery bag. Here’s the produce I received during week 3 of the New Roots for Refugees early summer farm share program: I was so excited to see kohlrabi in this week’s share, as it’s a vegetable I’ve always been eager to try. And the slightly alien-looking Brassica ended up being a big hit in our household: I paired it with mint and cilantro from the garden in this pleasantly crisp Kohlrabi and Apple slaw. The bouquet of rainbow-ribbed Swiss chard tasted just as good as it looked! After I sliced each leaf into ribbons (and diced all the stems), I sauteed everything […]

This year, spring felt like a gift. Plants seemed to be growing larger than usual, verdant and lush. My lawn was bedazzled with bright pops of color from all the blossoming flowers. Birdsong tolled day and night, joyful and loud. At the end of May, I wrote on my Instagram: “everything is in bloom: peonies, roses, columbine, sage, dandelions, henbit, clover. We went for a walk at dusk last night and the air was perfumed with the scent of irises. The worlds a mess, but at least there is this spring, opulent with flowers.” At first I wondered if spring had always been this beautiful. Was I just getting to appreciate […]