Spunk and splendor

Bucking a gloomy forecast, the sun shone pretty consistently this week and our little crew got a lot of plants into the ground: even more onions, fennel, parsley, napa cabbage, five beds of red gold potatoes and zucchini and summer squash.  We're in the final countdown of weeks until CSA begins, and Laura is on her third week of farmer's market.  The watermelon, winter squash, and brussel sprout seedlings are popping in the greenhouse, and things are about to bust open and boom.  Our second apprentice Shannon joins us today and just in time - we're going to need that extra pair of hands as we hustle to finish out our transplanting and prepare for summer harvest.

This week, Laura gave a talk at a Pecha Kucha event at an art gallery in Biddeford, a mill town about 15 miles from the farm that is a burgeoning scene for creatives and small business owners.  Pecha Kucha is a presentation format, kind of like a TED talk on fast forward, that allows a speaker to show 20 images for 20 seconds each to share their ideas and projects.  Laura was an engaging and energetic presenter and made me proud to be affiliated with Black Kettle Farm and a participant in the greater cause for healthy communities and healthy food.  The other six presenters includes local craftsmen, artists, and chefs, a very inspired and diverse array that left me impressed with this spunky small town.

Today marks one month since I've left NYC, and I'm finally starting to feel like I've settled into the rhythm and have oriented myself to my new life here and I can start to explore.  I bought a hiking guide for Southern Maine and borrowed another from Bill & Adrienne and have begun plotting weekend excursions.  I'm eager to explore this beautiful state, by car and by foot, and now that I have my bearings and the weekends are bringing more sun and less rain, it's go time.  Yesterday, after heavy rains in the morning cleared and the sun came out, I made my way to the Steedman woods near York.  A causeway extends out into the bay and a small suspension footbridge connects to a preserve with a 1-mile loop trail.  It was a charming walk, but I wished it was longer for extended meanderings.

I had a date with a guy I met online in the evening and needed to kill some time beforehand so I wandered into Kittery to visit River Run bookstore and grab an ice cream cone.  I sat outside the ice cream shop in the sun, licking on raspberry chip and coconut stracciatella, determining that the summer would bring many afternoons just like this.  I feel such a spaciousness on my weekends these days - the hours seems endless and the days very long and easy-going.

I met my date at a brewpub in Dover, NH, and we chatted happily over pulled pork sliders and local ale.  He then walked me up to a lookout tower on a hill for a nighttime panorama of the area, pointing out the direction of the White Mountains, Kittery, and Portsmouth.  We agreed to meet up again for a hike and he sweetly kissed me goodnight before I got into my car and headed home.  It was better than any date I had in a decade of attempting to navigate the plenty-of-fish waters of New York City.  Walking through the meadow back to my camper around midnight, I noticed how full and illuminating the moon was that night - I didn't need my headlamp to help show me the way, and the clear sky was full of stars and breathtaking.

This morning, I woke early and drove out to the East Point preserve for a look at the ocean.  Maine, you knock my socks off.