Field Notes

This post is just a REposting of several of our recent social media posts. If you follow us there you may have seen this content. If you don't follow us there you can catch up with this post!

What Color Is Broccoli?

A lot of people don't realize that broccoli plants often have a bluish tint. Just look at this un-doctored photo of rows of broccoli from our garden. What do you think?

We all just accept that vegetable leaves are green. But if you can “unhinge” your eyes from what you've been told, you sometimes see things in a new way – a way that is not quite the same as what you've been told. Especially when it comes to color and shape.

Just a friendly reminder to look carefully. Seeing things rightly takes work.

What Color Is Your Garden?

I'm often struck by the diversity in color when it comes to leaves in the garden. When I walk by a spot in the garden where several crops are all growing within the same 10 feet, I really notice it.

And while all that diversity is beautifully on display right next to each other in the garden, it is also reflects the important of ecological balance and abundance. Nature rarely fills spaces with just one thing. That's highly artificial.

It is also an extremely brittle system. Whenever you focus on one species, you run the risk of becoming more susceptible to harmful organisms. Any predator, disease, pest, or disaster that threatens to destroy that primary crop, threatens to wipe out the entire population.

Monoculture is, in essence, a system working against the farms natural ecological process. A diversified system doesn't have this weakness.

Huzzah for fields full of MANY different growing things!

Are You Willing To Pay The Price?

This is Daniel. Daniel is working hard in this picture -- just like real life. His back is bent. The sun is hot. He's working hard to repair a coop to keep our chickens safe.

Not just chickens, but baby chickens. Why would a tall, handsome, and educated young man stoop and sweat for baby chickens?