Finding Rest in a Time of Exhaustion

The most common question I field this time of year is "Well, Ryan, do you have the farm put to bed?" I like the idea of tucking the farm and all the tractors into some warm flannel sheets for the winter. Ridiculous, I know, but the language of 'bed' makes sense this time of year. Like the land, we as humans need a cycle of rest after a season of exhaustion - even if you don't farm yourself, you may feel this pull. After millenia of your ancestors slaving like crazy in summer to make enough food or money to survive a winter, the instinct is baked into your being, into your genes.

Last Year Washing Produce at Midnight

In many respects, today's world makes rest even more critical. Instead of listening to our bodies and tuning into the seasons, we charge forward with a long to-do list in one hand and a grande Starbucks in the other, all the while glued to a devise which tells us constantly that we need to buy more stuff. In this environment, we're not only missing the subtle seasonal cues to slow down, we're running roughshod over human biology daily.


Taking on the role of your odd uncle who gives unsolicited advice to anybody who will listen, I think we all need to find an activity to unplug us from our 21st century problems, plug us into the rhythms of our physical world, and find some limits (Does that sound new agey?). Normall by this time of year I'm typically spent, completely burnt out. Last fall I had a hard time walking down the driveway to get mail - it was just too much of a task. This year I could go another two months with CSA harvests and deliveries. With the risk of sounding too hippy, I chalk it up to a year's worth of daily morning yoga. That's the activity that takes me out of my head and paying attention to myself. After abusing my body for 14 years at Lida Farm, only now do I think that I've found some limits, and, even though I could keep this farm season rolling, I'm ready to embrace fall and hang it up for a while - maybe even take a sauna.

In the box:

• Acorn Sqush 
• Pie Pumpkin: Perfect with this gnocci recipe attached with the sage
• Butternut Squash
• Harelred Apples: Nice for sauce or baking
• Yellow Onions
• Fresh Sage 
• Daikon Radish
• Salad Mix 
• A couple small Rutabagas
• Bunch of Beets
• Garlic

Awesome recipe Mar and I made this week - Gnocchi with Sage Butter: http://www.rachaelray.com/2013/12/27/pumpkin-gnocchi-with-sage-brown-butter/