Eater’s Almanac is our weekly newsletter for the Huss Project Farmer’s Market. You can receive a print copy each week at the market, which includes a recipe for seasonal vegetables!
The first day of summer was Monday, which means the days are starting to get shorter. Hard to believe, isn’t it?
The inconsistent weather has already created significant challenges for many farmers this year. We had a frost in late May—later than expected—that killed off many fruit blossoms, likely causing much lower yields of fruit crops. Then it got really, really hot with little to no rainfall for several weeks. And, of course, it now looks like it will rain for almost a week straight. It’s enough to make a farmer’s head spin!
For those of us trying to eat locally and seasonally, this can be disappointing. Due to weather extremes, we were only able to have strawberries at the market once this season. But when we choose to eat locally and to support local growers, we become more connected with our neighbors who grow our food and with the soil in which our food is grown. In the words of Kentucky farmer and writer Wendell Berry in his essay “The Pleasures of Eating:”
“Eating with the fullest pleasure— pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance—is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend.”
As June turns to July, we have much to look forward to (assuming the weather cooperates): tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, green beans, eggplant, okra, and more. We are grateful for the living mystery of the soil and for our neighbors who tend it, come what may.