"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."- John Muir

Shauna, here. I'm new and you'll be hearing from me a lot.

I've just finished my second week at the Farmacy. Whew! What can I say? I am astounded by the work that is being done on this land and how fast the season seems to be going already. It's hard to believe we will soon be packing up boxes for the CSM. 

In the midst of stories of fracking, factory farming, and polluted waterways, it is easy these days for me and lots of others who care for the Earth to become so caught up in the news and the negativity that seems to abound. It's not always easy being green. 

Our staff orientation came just two days after Obama signed the Monsanto Protection Act. As we sat on a circle of straw bales discussing the plans for the season, Eli mentioned the unfortunate event. I wondered how she stays so positive. What gives her hope? She told me it was places like this and people like us, communities coming together, supporting each other and the land. After just two very fast weeks of working here, I get it. As soon as I come up over the crest of the hill, it's like I've arrived in a different world. A world where we work hard and stand strong for the things we believe in. It's a place where the future generation is safe and we can all eat and breathe and drink in the goodness the Earth has provided for us. And when I leave, I can take it with me into my life. Ah, the sweet taste of hope. 

It is especially refreshing to see the baby here in the fields. He sits among us as we pull up weeds and prepare the soil, examines dormant hives, and thoroughly enjoys our lunch times. He's a tiny scientist experimenting and observing this world around him, constantly taking in so much information, learning, seeing. Inspiring.

I've been doing my best over the past few years to grow as much of my own food as possible, eat local, and joined a CSA this winter. I've also learned to forage and have been incorporating wild foods into my diet regularly. Still, as I ate my very first sprig of asparagus straight out of the field last week (forget about ever buying it from the store again) and saw folks searching the tree line for nettles, it finally hit me. So THIS is what "farm fresh" tastes like and "wild crafted" looks like! I can't imagine anything better.

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to experience a place like this. To put myself into work that is meaningful and refreshing and that will serve others in ways I can only hope to one day fully grasp.

I'm breathing now and life's a little lighter.
Thanks, Lancaster Farmacy.

-Shauna