A Farmer's Wife

As I was praying about what to write about this week a thought came to my head...What was I doing at the time? Well, I was cutting up store bought cabbage (the last from a late winter purchase) to steam. I had just peeled 3 freshly cut kohlrabi and slice them into the cabbage pot when the thought hit me. What is the difference between store bought vegetables and the ones I had been packing since early morning? (By the way it is now 8:21 p.m.) Here are some thoughts...

1. Our vegetables have been prayed over. Not only by us, but our church is also praying for rain with us...are you?

2. If you are about my age or a bit younger you have fond memories of hours spent pouring over the Sears and Robuck Wish Book each December. There was page after page of toy cars, dolls, games, building and craft sets that stretched our imaginations to the limit. This scene is similar to seed buying time here at Colvin Family Farm! My boys start planning when the first catalogs come in the mail in November...no we're not really done when I see them huddled around a new catalog from Johnny's Select Seeds, Fedco, Peaceful Valley, or Territorial Seeds. The furry grows towards the end of December as they have to be among the first to order to guarantee receiving their choice of snap pea or seed potato. Picture our 12' farmhouse kitchen table with about 5 boys huddled around a catalog...now you may get a glimpse at the care that goes into our seed choice. Whereas the seed pool used by commercial growers offers very few varieties of vegetables. The seeds are even "copyrighted" like the soybean with the poison "Round-Up" bread right into it. There are thousands of varieties, but only a limited number is offered to commercial growers. Commercial varieties are chosen for durability in shipment and short days to maturity, not taste. Our standards? TASTE, ability to grow in organically, and what our customers prefer.

3. Grocery store vegetables are grown in ground that is depleted of needed nutrients. How does this affect you? Well, the tomato that looks soo good most likely doesn't have the vitamins and minerals the Lord designed for it to have. We are duped into thinking we are eating healthy when we are eating "empty vitamins".

4. Each of the vegetables that we pack for you is picked by hand by a member of our family. Big farms have harvesters that are cruised through the field cutting the lettuce, picking the beans, or harvesting the corn, or they hire migrant workers seasonally to pick and pack their harvest for market. At this point we don't hire Mexicans, or other outside workers as other farms do. By joining with our farm you are supporting a local family farm...and all that it means to be a family.

5. Our vegetables are harvested and in your hands within about 24 hours. Store bought vegetables are sprayed with preservatives which enable them to last weeks. I can taste it worst on salad mixes that folks sometimes serve. These are poisons! We deliver shares weekly for that's about the shelf life for most of what we produce.

6. We pick RIPE vegetables. We live in a rural farming community. They specialize in tomatoes and pumpkins. Now, I'm not being overly critical of their methods, but they raise what you typically see in your local stores. They pick their tomatoes green, gas them, then ship them off...you are essentially eating a green tomato. Sound yummy?

7. I'll stop on the Biblical number of perfection...our vegetables! No, they're not perfect, but they are as close as you can get to having a garden of your own without the work a garden entails. We consider each of our fields a work of God. When your family eats a yummy fresh salad, bites into a sweet snap pea, or shreds up zucchini for a homemade bread, you are partaking of His blessing. Praise God for His provision with us, and enjoy your season of FRESH, LOCALLY GROWN GOODNESS!

So, what will your choice be? The convenience of the local store...or the path less trod to wholesome eating? The answer is plain to us...that is why we farm for YOU!

Have a great week! May God bless each of you as you seek His face.

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray; and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." II Chronicles 7:14

Abundant Blessings,
The Farmer's Wife
Val Colvin