Life on Peace and Plenty Farm
When a saffron crocus corm (a corm being similar to, but not a true bulb) is growing and reproducing, the "daughter" corms feed off of the "mother" corm and grow in size as the mother eventually becomes just a small, dried-out and shriveled remnant that then disintegrates entirely into the soil. Each corm can make many daughters, and a successful saffron farmer hopes for many large, fat daughters produced every year, thereby multiplying their yields of saffron in coming years. Plant one corm, and end up with dozens of saffron plants - it’s a great investment into the future.
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You know what it is like to watch a seed germinate and get its first real leaves and then grow into a little mini plant...its pure magic watching the seed gather up the strength from the sun, soil, and water to burst out of its protective casing and emerge out of the soil.
We are honored to be providing our saffron and garlic for the dinner honoring Kara Walker and her Contemporary Vision Award at the SF MOMA next month.
My last blog post was May 9th, and then such a whirlwind of activities and work began that I lost sight of this moment of reflection and writing about our farm. We've had some big things happen this summer, most notably, a wildfire that forced us to evacuate our farm and once returned, live in the nearly unlivable conditions of smoke and soot-filled air.
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As a new farmer and former vegetarian, I am grappling with the question of whether I will continue to eat chicken once we have chickens of our own.
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