Do You ALWAYS Eat Like This?

Spring Supper - 2012
(Tom's shot)

Years ago, Brother-in-law stopped by on his way home south of here.  He was dropping Mother-in-law off to visit us for a while.  They arrived just in time for supper…

It was the middle of summer, when food is at its finest on the farm.  As I recall, we had fairly typical summer fare: a roasted chicken, green beans, potatoes and possibly sliced tomatoes.  The rolls had freshly made butter from our Jersey cow on top of them. The rest of the meal escapes my memory.

Everyone sat down, the Boss thanked God for the food, and we began to eat.  Brother-in-law paused for a long time and then said “do you ALWAYS eat like this?” The Boss, the girls and I all looked up from our plates and nodded.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to us. The hard work of farm living is countered with amazingly fresh, amazingly delicious food options. I think sometimes we take that fact for granted.

Some things have changed since that meal so long ago.  The girls are grown and gone…and the milk cow is just a pleasant memory. But, we still live in a place surrounded by beautiful, nutritious, delicious food. We work hard to provide good food options for others; it would be a shame if we weren’t able to enjoy it as well. 

Our shared appreciation of good food is one of the reasons we started growing some of our own food years and years ago. As time went on, we experimented with more and more options. The large quantities and selling to the public enable us to do what we love, eat what we enjoy AND make a living at it. We will never have an impressive portfolio nor will we ever be able to retire…but, we do eat incredibly well.

I don’t know if there is anything finer sitting down to a tasty home-grown, home-cooked meal after a day’s work.  It gives us a chance to re-fuel our bodies and re-charge our spirits.  In a job where the usual benefits are sorely lacking, (i.e. paid vacation and health benefits to name a few) it is imperative to find pleasure in the task in order to stay in the game for the long haul. Suppertime is one of those pleasant times that we count on at the end of the day.

By enjoying the “fruits of our labors”, we get much needed information concerning our farm products. When presenting our wares at the Market, we can personally attest as to the tastiness, tenderness and quality.  We share tried and true preparation ideas.  In return, our customers have shared new recipes and techniques with us.  That sense of community and shared experience is one of my favorite aspects of the Market.

Sometimes, after all these years, when we have a particularly good meal, we look at each other and say, 

“You always eat like this?” 

   then we smile and say...

                     "OH YEAH!"