I still pinch myself every day with the decision I made to leave DC for a farm in Northern California. And every single day, I am thankful that I did.
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| Broccoli. It's actually little flowers! (Florets?) |
It's not to say that I don't miss my life, mostly the people, from my good ol' hood in DC. I do, terribly. But being here just feels right. It feels good to see mountains bordering the horizon and not buildings. It feels good to see the stars at night and the occasional sunrise. It feels good to hear wild turkeys calls and cow moos rather than sirens and cars honking. Nothing is inherently wrong with city life, and relatively soon I'll probably be returning to some version of it, but for now, this break in nature is a settling one.
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| Redwoods |
Farm days are by no means lazy, though it may seem like a dreamy idyll. Standing up (rather than sitting down) all day, working with my hands, getting dirty, lifting things, working till 8/9 at night after starting early---these things are tiring, but at least balanced with mornings and sometimes the middles of the day spent reading, writing, doing yoga, meditating, or just splashing around in a river. There's a balance that I'm slowly settling into, a little bit each day, and it is a damn good thing.
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| Collecting kale, chard, chives, parsley, and broccoli leaves for garden pesto |
Another good thing: all the food tips I'm learning! For example, last week I made fresh egg pasta as well as a batch of oatmeal cookies with just-cracked walnuts from a tree by the kitchen. Naturally, the only solution to all of these new things that were in front of me was to make a big ol' pasta dish with Walnut Pesto as a fancy Friday dinner treat. HELLO, WORLD.
Fresh Garden Pesto with basil, kale, and parsley from the garden and walnuts from the tree? I think I just went to heaven, but I know I'm somewhere in California. Friends! Come visit me here! Food is local and magical!
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| Garden pesto with homemade orecchiette pasta |
Pesto in general is killer easy to make as long as you have a food processor or blender, and delicious enough to keep around to put on anything from veggies to meat to pasta, (plus it's so lovely and green to look at). Your pesto-filled summer ahead is already thanking you, as are your friends.
Also? The Legendary Boonville Beer Festival was this past weekend, put on by Anderson Valley Brewing Company, which was oh-so-fun and I saw an impressive amount of 80's clothes and neon tutus. Did you know they speak a dialect in that area of Mendocino county called 'Boontling'??
It's true. Wineries and breweries and boontling, oh my. As the good people of Boonville like to say: Bahl hornin!
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