Thanksgoating – Day eighteen. Old Macdonald
13We’ve been blessed in this society with the ability to walk into a grocery store and throw whatever we need or would like into our cart. We sit in the checkout mumbling to ourselves about how long it’s taking, then get our bags, toss them in the car, and go home. If I was a betting man, and I am, I’d wager that most folks don’t spend any time thinking about how what they’ve got in their bags got there.
Today I am thankful for farmers.
My father grew up in small town America. And the economy there was agriculturally driven. My grandfather was the manager of the local grain company. Worked hard days. My dad worked driving farm combines during harvest season. Earned his calluses. One summer… I think I was 7 or 8, we were driving from Seattle to Eastern Washington. There is a lot of nothing on that trip. But at one point my dad saw a harvester in the fields. He pulled over and when the harvester made a nearby pass, my dad waved him down. My dad and the driver had a brief chat and my dad basically said, ‘Hey… I used to do this. My son knows nothing about it, would you let him ride along for one pass?’ The guy was like… sure, I guess. And I got put in a 10 ton tractor with a complete stranger. It was the late 70’s. It was cool. And it was really cool. 
I try to buy local whenever possible. If I ever see a farmers’ market, I’m pulling over and throwing cash. I’ve found local online co-ops for both meat and veg/fruit. It’s more expensive than the grocery store, but my vegetables don’t have barcoded stickers on them. And they are pretty great
So, thank you farmers everywhere! I’ll just leave this here… it made me chuckle.
- 4 comments, 2 replies
- Comment
Massive respect for our farmer’s, their families & the communities in which they operate. Absolute lifeblood of our nation! Without a stable, productive food supply we’d be nowhere near as prosperous of a country. I’ve been fortunate enough to be born, live in & assist in the successes of the farming community. God Bless Our Farmers!!
Farmers? You mean like Bill Gates?
@macromeh Yeah, no.
One of the best things about summer is the farmers markets. The fresh fruits and veggies taste so much better than the stuff you buy in the store.
I worked at the farmers markets for a couple years (selling flowers and plants) but it was the best job I ever had. I didn’t care that I had to be there at 4am or do tons of manual labor, stand outside all day long) it was talking to the farmers and being there every morning to have first dibs on what came off the trucks. I ate so much veggies that year it was awesome.
WORKER BEES! HERCULES! TURKEY GREASE! AWESOME!
Never farmed for a living, though my grandparents were seed merchants in France. I do have a penchant for ‘gardening’ though, and grow a bunch of stuff that I either eat personally with my family/friends, or give away.
This is the haul I pulled in from my garden a couple of days ago to keep it from freezing with the first hard frost that night. It was a bit over 40 lbs
Yesterday I sorted and cleaned it all, brought in a bunch of jalapenos and eggplants for my co-workers and put a ton of green tomatoes on trays to ripen further.
Today I brought in fresh jalapeno poppers to have with a Dr that I know likes hot stuff. He was very happy.
Having a veggie garden or even just a couple of herb plants puts you in contact with the earth and lets you get a little dirt under your nails. Both of those are good for you.