April 28, 2020
I was listening to a radio program the other day. The guest, Dr. Omid Safi, Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University, admitted that in the first few days of the Corona lockdown, he found himself experiencing a deep sense of loss, focusing on all of the things that we would no longer be able to do. Dr. Safi’s wife didn’t see it that way. Her response to her husband was, “Well, you know, everyone is talking about everything that is prohibited or recommended against. What is it that we are getting to do? What is it that we do want to use this time for?”
As difficult and scary as the past several months have been, I have seen a few silver linings —- and one, is the opportunity to step back from the busyness of our lives and ask ourselves, what do we want to use this time for? What kind of new, soul-gratifying normal do we want to create within the smaller circles that have become our lives?
The answer to that question for me (and for many Wisconsinites from what I’ve read) is gardening —- and since I’m not yet much of a gardener, I will start small. I’m envisioning pots of herbs and alliums around my deck that I will use for cooking; rows of zinnias in the sunny spot behind the garage to attract bees and butterflies; and perhaps combos of flowers and easy-to-grow veggies to fill in the bare patches of our already-established gardens.
Farmer Kim and her staff will have all of the seedlings that I need to create my “new normal.” Thank goodness for community farms like this one!
Stone Bank Farm’s annual Spring Plant Sale begins on May 6th. Over 200 varieties of organic, heirloom, non-GMO vegetable, herb and annual flower seedlings will be available for transplant. Soil amendments such as compost from West Star Organics and worm castings from Hartland Organic Family Farm are also available.
Go to stonebankmarket.com to download the catalog and learn more about how to shop the Plant Sale online!
