Miracle of Holler Fest

-
It was Friday morning, August 22, and Holler Fest would begin in a few hours. I had lots to d0 - I had more things to do than I even knew I had to do! I was up at the barn "doing" - focused, intent, and looking down at the task at hand. Something made me look up.

The barn overlooks the garden, and as I straightened up and looked out, I caught a glimpse of the new lettuce patch. This is the patch that we seeded weeks ago in order to have a fall crop. We planted it in our best ground, watered diligently, and waited...and waited. This year's drought seemed too much for us, and we had all but given up the possibility that those tender seedlings could or would even want to germinate into the relentless sun and heat that has characterized the summer of '08. Daily we would check for seedling emergence and daily we saw only dirt. Maybe they knew best.

But my glance toward the garden that busy morning caught a faint glimmer of green coming from the lettuce patch. I stopped, looked harder, and saw the rows just emerging - pale hues of light and darker greens. No, it hadn't rained. No, we hadn't even watered the night before. It was just time, and a good time it was.

As Holler Fest got under way, folks started coming, and they kept coming all weekend. They came to sing, to eat, to play, to walk, to camp, to simply breathe. They came to help. They came to be part of something bigger than the King family putting on a music festival. They came because it was just time, and a good time it was.

If you were there, thanks for coming! If you missed it, join us next year!(www.hollerfest.com) And come by the stall in three weeks or so for some fresh, tender and very special lettuce!

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2008 at 6:47 PM

    It was a wonderful evening (we went on Friday). Thank you for putting this together for the community :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. patsySeptember 8, 2008 at 9:38 AM

    When I woke up during the night because I was cold I shut the window and worried about your garden.
    I didn't have to worry about mine because I didn't get it together to replant greens even though I did buy material to protect them against frost! I had dreams of picking greens for Thanksgiving dinner.
    You folks work so hard and your little seedlings know that you will protect them. When I saw them yesterday they were not so little anymore. Thank goodness you have the wisdom and energy to supply me with what I need. Thankyou.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My road to Frog Holler, by Paul Burger

-
I graduated from Michigan State in 2010 with strong passions for local organic food, community development, and a healthy (or maybe unhealthy) fear of not making enough money in the career path that I would eventually be forced to choose. The looming decision often weighed on me heavily as my inner self struggled to put a value on working with my passions vs. working for a salary. Towards the end of my college career, I spent weeks toiling over the situation. After contracting shingles and likely straining many of my interpersonal relationships, I still felt as if I had not made any progress in terms of knowing what was right. I eventually decided that I would “sacrifice” a year in order to pursue work that I really loved before zeroing in on a more lucrative desk job. I was lucky enough to find a dream job in my hometown of Ann Arbor working for Avalon Housing in coordination with Growing Hope on gardening and nutrition education for low-income Ann Arbor residents. I loved my wo...
Read more
-
Image
Yeah, Spike Spinach back. Frog Lady says I should write sumthin' about strawberries cuz all the food blogs is oohing and aahing about them these days. Well, she ain't so creative, I guess, but I s'pose I'll have to join the chorus...in my own way. Yeah, I'm happy to set the record straight on strawberries! Someone asked why they were so hard to grow. I'll tell you why - cuz the berries make it hard! Sheez - talk about prima donnas. They can't grow the same year you plant them - oh no, they have to be planted the year before. AND you have to feed them just right and at just the right time. If they don't like what you serve, they won't make much berries. But, right, you don't find that out til the next year. Talk about holdin' a grudge! And even though they make you plant them one year early, they don't like to go through the winter, I guess, cuz they demand to be covered! Sheez, talk about mixed messages. So the frog farmers get out th...
Read more

Humble beginnings

-
Image
We mixed our first batch of soil this week. There it sits in the wheelbarrow in the greenhouse. Nothing too special -- peat and vermiculite for the most part. But we'll start our first batch of seedlings in that soil. Once they have two or so "true leaves", the tiny plants will be transplanted to their little compartments -- three or four to a "cell". They will continue to grow in their new quarters until the stems are stocky and the roots established. When the weather welcomes, we will transplant the young sprouts to the field. There, good Lord willin', they will thrive in the springtime sun, rains and gentle breezes. When they have come into their varieties of vegetal fullness - mostly green and leafy - we will harvest them, wash, pack and transport to market. They will shine on the market table, waiting for you to put them in your basket. They'll ride home with you, to be washed, prepared and set on your table. From there to your plate, and then your ...
Read more