pluswise, no bux nearby, so that's a drawback right there.

it was drive-yourself day at carpool, so i was not busy conversing during the commute, i was busy listening to jakob dylan. i heard:

plant and reap and plow and sow...
but tell me, will it grow?
will it grow?

i am fairly certain this song is about actual farming practices and not the metaphorical planting of love, although the words fit either way. but i do think it's about real dirt & water farming. i personally know a dirt & water farmer. no, really. i do. she's got a blog and all but i don't do links, so if you were wanting to know more about her, you can google sunnyfieldfarmlife. this is the one you want:


the thought of chucking suburbia and venturing into a dirt & water existence is tempting. the simplicity of working where you live. the daily engagement with the earth and the animals. the straightforward garden-to-table subsistence. but it's a serious asston of work.

plant and reap and plow and sow... and plant and sow and plow and reap... and plant and plow and sow and reap... and plow and sow and reap and plant... and again... and again... and again. it's relentless work and it doesn't even always pay off. the stupid chickens die and the stupid apple trees get infested with japanese beetles. as much as life is right there in your hands on a farm, so is death.

so, it's not easy and not always fun, but work that is so closely tied to its outcome is innately appealing. who doesn't want to see the fruits of their labor? to think, i had a hand in this. i had a hand in this goat's milk. i had a hand in this honey. i had a hand in these berries. i had a hand in this.

i would like to join a csa - community supported agriculture. in case if you don't know, it's where you buy a share or two in a farm, and you get a share or two of the produce. farming requires a big up-front investement every year, so you pay into the spring planting. then, all summer and fall, the csa delivers (or, you pick it up, or whatever, shut up with the details) boxes of food to you. produce. eggs. honey. milk. cheese. meat. different csa's do different stuff. csa's are not big commercial ops. they're small family farms, growing stuff organically, the kids in the field pulling up beets, barefoot in the organic chicken poo fertilizer probably getting worms.


but i digress.

i would like to join a csa, but i am afraid. it's the relentlessness all over again. every week with a freaking load of produce that i am going to have to process. i am not a big produce processor. i don't make bok choy bread or corn tater soufflé. pluswise, there's just the two of us. we cannot absorb a bushel of brussels sprouts in an entire year, much less in a week.

i know. i could learn to use the produce. i know. i could share with my coworkers. i know. i could share with the less fortunate. i know. it's good to support the local economy and the local small farmer. I KNOW, OKAY? jeez, get off my back. you're such a nag.

i would like to join a csa because i would like to be that sort of person who belongs to a csa. a vicarious farmer.


but even vicarious farming's a commitment. you've got to take the box of produce every week and do something with it. you've got to commit to spend the time on it, which means you have to carve out the time and set it aside, and you have to plan around it. elsewise, you're just throwing your money away. what if i get invited to six flags, but i cannot go because there's a box of beets relying on me. yikes. i feel all hemmed in just thinking about it.

howbout i go to the farmers market and buy some local produce of a type i will use in an amount i will use up within a reasonable timeframe? not vicarious farming so much as vicarious csa membership. yes, i think that's a commitment i could manage.