Few things humble and renew the spirit like a close encounter with a raging wildfire. Threatening our home and livelihood all at once, it asked us to dive deep into this practice of surrender.
As we watched the Loyalton Fire come within a couple hundred feet of the farm on Sunday, with the winds blowing strongly in its direction, we were mentally preparing the email that would go out to you all—and emotionally preparing ourselves to be starting all over.
We're feeling extra grateful this week. Grateful for the crews that held a breathtakingly strong fire line and saved nearly every structure in our valley (and have been working for almost a week to contain this fire). Grateful for the trees still standing in the fire's charred wake. And grateful for the intricate ways fire bolsters our ecosystem, as an important part of nature's cycles.
Millions of pieces of burnt bark, from trees we watched explode into hundred foot towers of flames, now litter the farm like a solemn confetti, offering incredible benefit to the soil (as biochar). And the many lodgepole pines in the forest behind us are now able to reproduce, as their cones require the heat of fire to open and release its seeds. Fire offers the land potent and rapid transformation, despite our intrusions, and the dark scars left behind
beckon our respect.
Our increasing understanding of the way fire supports life (especially when unhindered by near-sighted forestry practices) continues to reveal the resilient balance nature has developed over eons. It invites us to reimagine our role in it, asking us to support rather than disrupt it. That new vision for us is evolving as quickly as it is emerging, with fresh ideas about regenerative anything morphing at the speed new information is shared. In so many ways we're on the edge of a cresting wave, with many of us holding our breath as we potentially crash back into the sea to carry on—or hit something terminally hard.
Despite it seeming like one small piece in an unfathomably large puzzle of factors, we see sensitive farming practices as an integral part of our way forward. It pulls together elements like carbon sequestration, environmental health, human health, localized economics, and increased connections with nature. From where we stand now, it can be hard to see over this cresting wave and imagine a world where more people buy their food from a local farmer than a local Walmart. Where clean, sustainable food dominates the cheap, disease-inducing competition. Where health is no longer a privilege.
But aren't the best visions like that? We only need a few of us to really "see" it to make it our reality. The leading edge always determines the course—and does a better edge exist?
If there ever were a time when our small little farm recognized the force of community, it's now. We were inundated with supportive messages, texts, and calls from so many of you. One of the firemen we talked with out here turned out to be a regular of ours at the farmers market. He said his wife had called to make sure he protected the salad beds first.
We actually don't believe the movement to regenerative farming and living will be from strength in numbers. We believe it will be from the magnetism of community. A desire for connecting deeply—with others and with nature herself—is burning with everything else. There is refreshment in coming together that even freshly harvested organic salad greens can't touch. With toes touching scorched land, we're reaching high for a refreshing future. And you're right here building it with us.
The fire still rages in the forest behind the farm, but our incredible farm team says "the harvest must continue!"
Inside Your Box This Week
Rainbow Chard
Dino Kale
Carrots
Celery
Zucchini
Cucumber
Salad Mix
Slicer Tomato
Scallions
Recipes Worth Trying...
{click images to go to recipe}
For supporting our small organic farm.
For helping pave a way forward for regenerative agriculture.
For investing in young farmers.
For buying local.
We're honored to nourish you!