In The Dirt

This past week, I volunteered at Earth Dance Farm and it just emphasized my desire to try and grow food. There was something beautiful about being in the dirt picking spinach, big, glorious heads of spinach, then making a salad with them the next day. I LOVE IT. It feels like the way food should be.

Don't get me wrong, there are many other things that I enjoy about the creating and presenting of food for others. But, digging up spinach from the ground that it transformed from a mere seedling to giant emerald fans blowing in the wind - now that is what I call a miracle!

During my few hours in this farm in the "city" (it was near the city but felt like it was deep in the country!), I found a new favorite food - Mustard Greens! The only way I can describe it, besides amazing, is that it has the pepper aftertaste of arugula, but with more spice. Just like Mustard! I got to take some of the Mustard Greens home, and I cooked them like Collard Greens and paired them with Steak...incredible. Steaming the greens in a fat (my choice is butter) did take a bit of the spicy aftertaste away, but it was still divine.

My entire farm experience was great! I had my knees covered in dirt and a tub full of lettuce, and I was accompanied by a yellow guardian lion - a sweet yellow cat with a big belly! His fur shone in the morning sun. It was just me and my thoughts and the birds' songs.

After we finished the collecting, all of the volunteers came together to the main barn to wash and pack the vegetables. Earth Dance provides a "Pay What You Can" farm stand for the local Ferguson community, and they also provide fresh vegetables to soup kitchens. I really appreciate their mission to as a teaching farm, providing practical impact for the community around them. Their volunteer hours are 8-11am Tuesdays and Fridays. I highly recommend spending a morning at Earth Dance.