Jake Tobin from the
Stillwater ALC High School joined us in the garden this morning. He was here bright and early at 8am, ready to harvest that which was hiding from the cold and the wind. He has been in the garden from the first day we planted seeds in this soil and has had the opportunity to watch the garden flourish from a brown landscape to a green canvas, dotted with little bits of color and flavor everywhere.
Jake is full of life in the garden, has an infectious smile and genuine enthusiasm for this project. He is a joy to have an open dialogue with about heirloom plants, seeds and ‘where our food comes from’. I have a poem that someone shared with me that aligned perfectly with the passionate spirit that Jake brings to the garden.
"I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live
so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit."
-Dawna Markova
We picked 128.2 pounds of white eggplant, onions, lettuce, green peppers, hot peppers, squash, tomatoes and cucumber this morning. Jake asked if he could stop in anytime and help out in the garden, even after he graduates. The answer? ‘Yes’, a hundred times ‘yes’.
Thank you Jake for sharing your zest for life in this garden. These recipes are for you;