vacation – Box of Good

Actually, I am looking for a good rain to clean the air and end the fire season early or at least allow a respite for all the fire crews and families directly impacted by all the forest fires. And for the rest of us breathing this smoke, it would be most appreciated too. Lord, please send the rain.

Last week, Joelle and I and a few of the kiddos snuck off to Moclips for a few days before soccer starts, school begins and the final push to the Fall farm season. Fortuitously, it also happened to have the best air quality in the state, not great but not above 100 either.

We just played at the beach.

The waves just kept coming and coming and coming! Awesome power and rhythmic. When all was quiet during the wee hours of the morning, (I might be on a vacation, but I still get up at 5am) you could hear the constant roar of the ocean, like a freight train, but it is never accompanied by a crossing signal or the faint coming or going of a train. What power, magnificent power!

Most of us reading this newsletter, appreciate the tide coming and going as it pertains to the Puget Sound of Salish Sea. And for sure the sound can be very stormy, but it is a tame beast compared to the Pacific Ocean.

We wandered out into the Griffiths-Priday state park and waded the quiet waters of the Copalis River. We made our way to the mouth of the river, a completely different experience than the Stillaguamish and Skagit Rivers. There we came across the biggest hoof prints I have ever seen. Definitely not coastal black tail, or horses, they belonged to an elk. I guess Elk Creek was appropriately named after all! The tracks were huge, and the gait had to be 6 feet between hoof prints. We followed the tracks in the wet sand till it crossed back over the Copalis River and though we searched and searched, we couldn’t find the tracks on the other side of the river. But it was fun to look and since we are on vacation and no need to be anywhere at the moment, looking was perfectly acceptable.

Nature is beautiful. It is beautiful at the ocean, and in the city and on the farm. There is so much intricacy on a centipede or a robin or skate. Leaves floating above the water and leaves jostling below the water both making their way to the ocean or the bottom, but both destined to rejuvenate the ecosystem.

It is a privilege to participate actively or passively with nature and all its wonder.

Tristan

Last week wanderer, this week farmer

The Klesick family carved out some unusually hard-to-find space during the summer and went to visit Joelle’s sister in Manhattan last week. Mostly, it took a lot of early planning of what crops to plant and when to plant them. It also helped that we have an amazing team of people we work with to keep the farm going.

NYC: what an eye opening experience that was. Of course, I have been to big cities, but nothing quite like New York City. We logged over 60 miles on our feet (Joanna, our intrepid 5 year old, walked every one of them!).

I keep thinking about the story, Country Mouse, City Mouse. We live on 40 acres in the floodplain and they live in a 15 story high rise apartment in Manhattan. We pick berries, apples, kale, cucumbers as we walk the fields and they stop by the grocery store in the bottom floor of their apartment. Amazing!

I am sure when they come to see us, it is too quiet for them to sleep, as for us, that city never sleeps – it just slows down a notch. We did the tourist thing from Central Park, to The Met, the Museum of Natural History, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. The 9/11 Memorial was intense and beautiful. We even went to a Yankees vs Red Sox game via the subway. Now that was an experience! Just imagine trying to squeeze twelve more people into a Prius that already has five passengers. Definitely no personal bubble space!

On our way to DC and Philadelphia, I got to see some farmland in NJ, PA, DE, MD and VA. Yes, there is still farmland back east and it is a good thing, because when I was in NYC, I had this heavy thought on my mind: “We have to save farmland, because someone has to feed all these people, FOREVER!”

As a farmer, I couldn’t help but think about what it would take logistically to keep NYC fed. That is a daunting task. No one has a car, let alone a freezer or a garden. Yes, there are farmers markets, but they pale in the need to feed millions of people surrounded by high rises and streets. The city is dependent upon outside resources. In fact, I would venture to say that most New Yorkers don’t even think about it. Why would they? They have to trust the system.

America has amazing infrastructure in place to grow, harvest, process, and deliver food to people everywhere, but if that chain is disrupted even for a day or two, NYC is in a world of hurt. Imagine what a simple snow storm does to grocery store shelves. What would happen if California and Florida were both in a drought and couldn’t produce their traditional volumes of food?

As your farmer, I am working to not only grow healthy food, but preserve the ability to feed future generations. After my visit to NYC, saving Farmland is of even more paramount importance, every acre everywhere!