Week 47 | 2023
Since the early part of the last century there has been an exodus from the food-producing countryside to the cities of concrete, fumes, and noise. Industrial agriculture, fueled by cheap credit and cheaper oil, steadily replaced diversified family farms with monoculture corporations. Farmers were told to go big or go home.
Today, the family farm and its life-giving nourishment is a foggy memory in the minds of the elderly and a romantic dream in the minds of the young and the restless.
Big Ag promised much. First, it promised freedom from the drudgeries of farm life for a life of ease. It never delivered. As we run the rat race of life people are more exhausted, stressed, and indebted than ever before.
Modern agriculture also promised higher production, greater food-security, and a fully stocked supermarket. At first glance, it seems to have succeeded. Hybridization, mechanization, centralization, chemical fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides have given a massive boost in production. But at what cost?
Unfortunately, our supermarkets overflow with calorie-rich, nutritionally empty, artificial foods and it’s often loaded with toxins. Our collective health is failing, we’re losing our biodiversity, and our polluted waterways call out for vengeance.
Our aim at Local Harvest is to restore the connections between the eater and the producer between the land and the caretakers of the land. We’re a small farm with a big vision that extends beyond the boundaries of our property. We envision a food-secure community where every citizen has access to quality, local food, year-round.
When you eat local, you vote for a return of the self-sufficient farm. Family farms are the bedrock of a community and once restored they’ll bring life and vitality to our fragmented society.
When you eat local, you call for the protection of farmland and the restoration of a biodiverse, food system that harmonizes with the environment.
Finally, when you eat local, you also rekindle that dream in your own heart that calls for you to be reunited with the land. Local Harvest, we hope, reminds you that we must seek every opportunity to own land on this planet to grow food like this for yourself and your family. There’s enough land for us all and there is an urgent need for more stewards of this most precious resource.
Today, we’re proud to present the best foods the season and the region offers and as you prepare and eat this food together, please accept our thanks as we work together to rebuild and strengthen the bond of love and appreciation between us, and the good earth.
Farm Grown Celery
Our celery began it’s life on this farm. In early June, we dropped small seeds into trays filled with fertile seedling soil that we make using our own compost. By the end of July, the delicate seedlings were planted by hand in the field where they grew steadily through the heat of summer. Celery needs consistent moisture and rich soil for a succulent stalk and vibrant green leaves.
In September, as the overnight temperature dropped, these plants put on rapid growth and the stalks began to fatten up. These cold-tolerant plants even endured the early and unexpected late October cold-spell suffering only minor damage from the icy winds that burned some of their leaves. If the fall weather stays mild, we expect to have celery until Christmas.
Like everything we produce, this celery was grown organically without chemical fertilizers and zero sprays.