If I Were a Farmer...

Before the day got underway yesterday I headed out for a run. It was sunny with a nice ocean breeze so I decided to run to the beach and back, which would total just over 2 miles. The shin splints started right away, my back was tight and my shoulders felt like they had been glued to my ears.

As is typical with me, I fought in my head with pushing through the pain and going easy on my body. I actually settled for a happy medium of running and walking all the way to the beach, which put me around a 16 minute mile. I ran down the beach and then up the main road to get home, which put my total distance just under 3 miles. Running on the beach was much easier on my back and shins, and might be worth the stress of wearing my new, beautiful shoes on the beach. I maintained a 16 minute mile the rest of the way too.

As I was stretching at the entrance of the beach I heard a couple talking about the weather. One of them said, 'If I were a farmer I would complain about this weather, but I'm not a farmer'. I almost responded about how I am on my way to being a farmer and really enjoy growing my own food and growing food with folks. I said nothing. I thought for a few minutes that this sentiment is very out of touch. If the farmers are complaining then we will surely end up complaining. Prices, variety and quality are all dependent on the weather and we are all dependent on farmers. Not to say they don't think this and it was just an off the cuff comment, but it was just another reminder to me how far out of touch we have come with the food we eat.

Quick Garden Update: I built 2 more beds, both 4'x4' and 10 inches deep. I transplanted our pole beans, cucumbers and tomatoes. The seeds for melons, okra, more tomatoes, bush beans, basil and lavender were started on Thursday. I lightened the soil in one of the larger beds, which meant I harvested a lot of onions, kale and Swiss chard yesterday. Some of the soil was moved to the new bed and a lot of peat was added to both to improve air and water flow. I will have more garden news, with pictures, soon!