Dear friends,

We’ve been hunkering down on farm, trying to figure out how to make sense of our new pandemic landscape. There’s been so much to figure out - how to take care of our health and finances, how to plan for the farming season, trying to gauge what are (what might be) the greatest needs of our community, trying to get our minds and hearts around the scale of human suffering and loss around the world. I’ve been struggling to make some sort of rational plan, waiting to have some sort of coherent message to send out to our community, but the truth is, so much is still uncertain. My brain feels overwhelmed. How do we run a community farm without gatherings of people? It’s slightly reassuring to hear that many other people are also having trouble focusing and making decisions.

We do know some things.
We are planning on growing as much food this year as we are able, while maintaining the health and well-being of our workers, and we are planning on sharing that food as best we can. We have always thought that healthy food is an essential service and a human right, and we are striving to make sure that we are able to do our part in this time of even greater need. Last year, we had decreased our food production to complete numerous projects on the farm. These projects are about 90% completed, and we plan to be back at our full-scale food production this year. Spring is here and we have started planting.

We are still planning on having our paid CSA, our workshares, and delivering to our many donation distribution partners. Many of these partners are also making changes - so we will need to adjust accordingly. As usual, we will be delivering these veggies directly to people’s homes. We know that this is a valuable service right now and there might be a higher than usual demand. At the moment, our paid CSA is full, though there are so many unknowns, that could change in the future. We do have more gift shares available - let us know if you are in financial need at any point in the season and we will try to deliver vegetables to your home.

There’s a lot that we still need to figure out:

We are attempting to learn about this virus in relation to food safety, worker safety, and food distribution.

Also,
Volunteers?: The Mustard Seed Community Farm is 100% volunteer. We have always relied on the commitment of a few skilled volunteers, the dedication and leadership of our farm team, our regular trained workshares, and on groups of unskilled volunteers to accomplish all the farm’s work of food growing, education, stewardship, and justice. We know we need to change the way we do things during this crucial time. It’s still not clear how to completely keep ourselves and others safe - so many people are dying from this pandemic and yet farmers also need to keep growing food for the future. For now, we are trying to be very cautious, with only a few workers on the farm at once, with lots of distance between workers, with extra sanitation and protection measures. If you are interested in volunteering at this time, we are looking for a small pool of people who are interested in coming out regularly and being trained to work independently.

Events?: For now, we are not planning any public events. Hopefully, that will change at some point, because these gatherings for fun, learning, and relationship are an important part of the work of the farm.

Farmer’s Market?: For now we are not planning to be at the farmers market. However, we will have available for sale:
Prairie plants and vegetable plants
We’re not sure how we will do this yet - we will share more info when these plants are more ready, like mid may.

We are also taking this time to assess - how can we best serve our community?
We have always thought it was important to support people growing food at home and sharing it with those nearby, but perhaps this is a good time to emphasize this possibility even more. What can we do to help people grow food at home? We usually teach numerous in-person gardening and farming classes during the year - is this important? Should we find a way to do this without gathering - like sharing documents, videos, radio shows? Can we share more plants and seeds with people starting gardens?

Needs:
Protective gear: We are looking for people who would be able to make washable, re-usable, fabric masks for our workers. We would also be interested in acquiring some surgical gloves and sanitizing cleaners, but only if they are not needed more urgently elsewhere.

Help - If you are interested in volunteering on the farm, helping with projects at home, or helping us problem-solve and plan, please contact Alice by both email and text. (I’m working outside a lot right now and having trouble keeping up with all communications. mustardseedbee@gmail.com and 978-471-8414)

Here on the farm, we are feeling confused and overwhelmed, but then I imagine - what must it be like in refugee camp, in places without running water, in areas where the hospitals don’t have enough space or supplies? In this last week of lent, let our prayers, fasting, and almsgiving be dedicated to our great human family. We are all suffering and scared. Let us have the humility to ask for help, and let us also remember those around the world in great need and ask what we can do to reach out in solidarity and aid.

Our hearts are with you all in these crazy times.
Peace and health,
alice mcgary, nate kemperman,
and the mustard seed community farm team