Plenty of Sunshine…

coming my way!   I feel so grateful for that!

This picture sort of tells a lot about the Free Farm Stand this past Sunday:

This was the van when we came back from picking up left-over produce and bread from Food Runners who picked it up from the Ferry Building Farmers market. The heavy rain on Saturday discouraged the crowds from shopping and there was a lot of unsold food. You can’t see it but we also had a lot of produce from the Free Farm, because  few people came out for free produce at the Free Farm. We also got more bread  that evening from Acme, so we had two van loads of food to give away.

So I was prepared for heavy rain, bringing with me the waterproof fisherman’s rain suit my friend Damon gave me at the farm on Saturday (it helped me harvest greens in the rain there). In the morning I volunteered at Martin de Porres soup kitchen and there was actually a flash flood that happened there just before we served brunch.  Then Maureen called me and said that the Stonestown mall farmer’s market was closed because of the rain and that we wouldn’t have a  second delivery of vegetables (and I was actually rather glad). I felt like a gladiator with my invincible gear ready to face the elements.

By the time I got to the park it had stopped raining and the sun came out and I left the rain suit in the van). It turned out to be a most beautiful day and we gave out a lot of produce.  In fact we gave almost all of it away, though a couple of bags of the arugula and some lettuce mix didn’t hold up and I had to compost it. I still have a lot of bread in the van (if anyone wants to come by and get some, perhaps distribute it to friends or ???…mostly baguettes).  I am going to take  what I have to Martin’s on Tuesday.  In reality there is so much extra bread in the cities it is hard to know what to do with it all.

One of the things that makes the Free Farm Stand so wonderful is that it gives people that volunteer a chance to be generous and sweet (and the people that come to the Stand have that opportunity also). I thought of this while listening to a volunteer giving out some vegetables to someone and she was so friendly in her interaction with the person getting the food.

I truly believe we are all like actors on a stage and have the chance to put on a good show every day.  Acting out of kindness, love, and compassion for each other is what we need to be doing in our work and lives to give the sad world around us a happier face. That is what our work at the Free Farm Stand is really about more than anything, sharing that message.

giant celery root

giant Yacón from 18th and Rhode Island garden