The Rest of Spring, 2025
To all our loyal readers out there — my apologies for falling so far behind in the farm journal. The last few weeks of spring got so hectic, and I was not as steadfast a documentarian as I hoped. So — this belated entry is to cover everything from early May up through the middle of June!
Some May highlights:
A special guest! Martina (fall ’23 and spring ’24 cohorts) was here visiting and working with us for the whole month of May — and it was so good to have her back. She brought an unmatched willingness to get outside and broadfork the High Tunnel at 5am, fierce fandom of the Sheldon Public Library, and so much joy. We miss you already. 💔
A full moon work session — to celebrate Margalit’s last full moon on the farm, a group went out and spent a few hours planting sunflowers and sweet peas in the Strawberry Forest under the light of the full moon (I heard quite a bit of silliness was also involved).
A rodeo!
Summer planting continues, and our first harvests are starting to come in! Cherry Belle radishes, garlic scapes, and yet more spinach were our very first sales to Down at the Farms (the distribution network through which we sell a big chunk of our produce) this year.
Much to my relief and joy, the mushroom setup is starting to bear fruit (literally). After many weeks of anxiously watching mycelium networks continue to grow and spread through the buckets without bearing fruit, we are finally starting to harvest mushrooms regularly! Murphy’s Food King, a grocery store only 15 minutes from the farm, continues to buy a steady quantity of mushrooms each week, which I am so thrilled about — through this partnership, we get to support our local independent grocery store, bring fresh mushrooms to a rural community that wouldn’t have access to them otherwise, and participate directly in our local food system without going through a middleman. Our work to build a more community-oriented and resilient food system doesn’t get more local than this.
On May 16-18, we hosted a Jewish Farmers Network Shabbaton, inviting Jewish farmers across the Midwest and all around the country to join us for a weekend of Shabbat rest and reflection. We organized Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday night, morning prayers on Saturday morning, workshops and walks and restful activities throughout the day on Saturday, a bonfire and joyful silliness on Saturday night, and some group farm tasks on Sunday morning. Ayden (of the fall ’22 and spring ‘24 cohorts) visited from New York to join us for the event and graced us with their gift for holding ritual space and leading us in song. And the whole event was a massive! success! Our guests were so utterly wonderful — excited to be on the land with us, leading their own activities and workshops, and making every space feel easy and wonderful. And Gavi had prepped and cooked all the meals in advance, which went a long way toward making the event feel easeful all weekend.
Several trips to the Indiana Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. Every time I go, the sheer vastness and beauty of the lake takes my breath away.
Mass Culvers conversion in progress — Patricia has turned us on to the pure, unmitigated joy that is a scoop of frozen custard from Culvers and it is slowly taking over all of our brains and hearts. Wisconsin’s cultural influence continues to grow on the farm.
One Sunday in mid-May, we hosted a community dinner with Johnny Zumwalt — JR’s cousin and longtime friend of the farm, who has been essential to ZA’s operations since the very beginning. We ate lasagna outside as the sun set, and chatted about everything from how to stay calm when bad weather threatens the year’s harvest (Johnny’s advice: *shrug* think of England), to the similarities between cow and human birthing (😶). I’ve interacted with Johnny many times while working together on farm tasks, but I had never connected with him nearly as deeply as I did over community dinner. It’s such a simple thing, but I am continually struck by the power of inviting a neighbor over for dinner: every time we’ve done it so far this year, it’s felt like a profound deepening of our trust and care for each other. And it is political work, too. Building communities that stand up for each other is our best defense against tyranny.
Margalit and Martina left at the end of May, telling us once and for all that summer has come to springville, as my favorite June song puts it (link here). Margalit leaves a massive hole in her wake: she has been at ZA off and on since fall 2023, and though we’re thrilled to send her off to college this fall, I am feeling some serious empty-nest angst. We miss you! Desperately! Visit often!
The whole month of May felt like ramping up to summer: getting summer crops in the ground, planning for summer events, and starting to adjust to the heat and pace of long summer work days. Then, near the end of May and beginning of June, our summer fellow cohort started to arrive! Helen came first, in early May, and is already making all our spaces — both physical and emotional — sweeter and cozier.
Helen!
Bec and Andrew both arrived during the first week of June. Bec brings a wealth of experience with communal living on farms (some of which sound even stranger than us!), queer cabaret and drag performance, and a talent for gloriously ambitious cooking projects.
Bec!
And Andrew brings a love for folk punk and Russian romance, joyful openness to whatever adventure comes our way, and long afternoons strumming their guitar out by the cornfields.
Andrew!
We’re so lucky to have them! And so excited for what is shaping up to be a jam-packed, adventure-filled, sweet summer on the farm. It’s time for me to pass the torch to Helen, who’ll be holding down farm journals (hopefully much more consistently than I) over the summer, so — signing off for now! Love to all.
CEP
