May 9, 2022
Currently on my mind:
I don’t cook that much anymore and I miss it. I did make stuffed peppers from this cookbook recently (the cookbook is fine; its simple ingredients and general unfussiness were basically what I needed to jumpstart myself back into the habit of cooking), which then turned into an impromptu dinner with a friend we hadn’t seen in a long time, which then served as a reminder that people need to see each other, that the internet is a terrible companion, and that loneliness and solitude are completely different things.
My two kids + my eldest’s partner and how beautiful they are, how thoughtful and self-aware. For those who don’t know, my kids are grown-ass adults, 29 and 23; the eldest + his partner live in Chicago, and the youngest lives here in town. I was surprised by all three for Mother’s Day, after a solo morning planting containers and wondering how much weeding I could get done before the heat wave arrived (the answer: none). We ate and drank and received mildish sunburns before the guys had to depart for Chicago and their lives there. The day went so fast. I’m so glad we were all together.
[It’s a little startling, how often I stand in the backyard, brought up short by brief flashes of my kids’ childhoods and their time in our garden and then at the parks and on the prairie, learning about the weather and the creatures living in the creeks.]
Enervation. Hours spent on the phone dealing with fraud. Calculating covid risk every time I consider attending a gathering. Current events. The constant urge to pick up my phone. The disempowerment I feel and how tired I am of it.
Will energy created by action defeat this malaise? Signs point to yes. It’s just… the getting there.
The garden. The peas actually came up and were beautiful until something ate every single plant. EVERY SINGLE ONE, OK? Asparagus continues to dominate, though this heat wave will probably cut the season a bit short; I think the stalks I cut this afternoon emerged from the ground yesterday, which means they grew about 10” in one day. The rain has kept me out of the garden as much as I’d like, and the weeds are legion; the view from upstairs at our house is totally mortifying. Lilies of the valley just started blooming, and my peonies are about 10 days out. I mentioned my longstanding Mother’s Day planting ritual above—I see it as a mom-to-mom kind of thing. Every year, each season means more and I strive to live in the moment, but I’m still anxious to get the summer show on the road.
Farewell, Blue Moon Farm. Without Blue Moon Farm, there would be no Backyard Industry. I simply would not be here today, writing this, nor would I have ever made audio and video about food (oddly, I only did one piece with Blue Moon Farm, and that was in 2012). They were among the first farms I encountered when I moved here from Chicago in the 1990s, and they were definitely the first farm that truly piqued my interest in local food.
That they’re done, that it’s over, just doesn’t compute. I took for granted that they would last forever, that “someone” would always want to take on a farm of such dedicated, pure quality, that there would always be the passing of a torch, a baton, a shovel, whatever. They straight-up anchored Urbana’s Market at the Square; last Saturday’s opening day without them felt like a total aberration. I wasn’t fully aware they were done after the indoor winter market ended last month, and it totally tracks that what turned out to be my final transaction with BMF was with its founder and former owner Jon Cherniss, with whom I had my first transaction in June 1996… almost exactly 26 years ago.
It goes without saying that everyone I know who cares about food in this burg is incredibly grateful to Jon and Michelle and Lorien and every single person who ever worked there for keeping our community in such remarkable organic vegetables for so long. C-U’s food nerds will be processing this loss for awhile.
The next few weeks will be ones of intense transition for me. I welcome them.
LOTSA (Lisa’s Open Tabs, Saved Aggessively)
Heard about Strongtowns on a podcast called Peoples and Things
A piece about “scruffy hospitality” - thanks to my friend KM for pointing it out
I, too, have noticed an uptick in chatter about medieval peasants lately
Thanks to KL for recommending Hot Farm
This interview with Rosie Perez is a goddamned delight
So, so impressed with this organization
Sold a lot of these when I worked in indie rock