At Home on my CSA Farm
by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC
I belong to a CSA where I get a weekly supply of unpasteurized cheese, butter, milk and eggs. Each of the members takes a turn picking up the group’s weekly supplies. I had my turn last week. After a quiet 40-minute drive on a two lane road, I arrived at “my” farm. There were 11 cows, including a 10-day-old baby who nibbled my fingers when I was petting her. There were lots of chickens roaming freely around the barn and small house, seemingly oblivious to the cats and a dog.
While the farmers, Brandon and Andrea, quietly and busily filled my coolers with orders, their two small children toddled around, playing with sticks and picking through pebbles. At one point I saw Chloe, a tiny blond girl of around 4, walk confidently up to a newly hunted deer hanging under the porch. It’s head was covered in burlap and hung close to the ground. I watched as she lovingly placed her arms around its neck and rubbed her hands through the fur, whispering something that I could not hear.
When I was loaded up, I found myself reluctant to drive away. Something drew me in to this scene on this cold, sunny day. I can only imagine it was life itself.
I know the farmer who raises and milks the animals who give me milk to drink and feeds the chickens whose eggs I eat. I now know the animals themselves. I know a whole lot more than I used to.
February 11th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
i love your small sweet and tender story….yes, i can see why you were taken by this kind of life. isn’t it wonderful that this family. this farm, feeds you and other families. if there is such a thing as perfect, this might be it. a family that farms good, clean and healthy produce and animals, and families like yours who enjoy all this and are able to pay for this pleasure and good life.
sounds like almost perfection…………..thanks for retelling the story