When Sarah arrived Friday night, we were both secretly a bit worried about our bloggy-friend adventure. Have you ever gone to the airport to pick someone up and had to look for an avatar? Yes, well, Friday was a first for me. But I knew somehow that having a friend from the blogosphere come for a weekend of knitting, eating, laying the park, going to church and speaking of faith, talking about books, watching documentaries and maybe a sangria margarita or two would be nothing short of fabulous. Sarah was up for it all, including a Ya Ya dinner party where she fell right into the cackle of our gaggle of girls. We’ve chatted over the years after finding each other’s blogs and knew many of our interests were mutual. She’s a knitting triathlete. How bad could this be?
When I told her Saturday morning our plans for the day included driving to Superstition Farms to visit state “Ag” day, she didn’t wince. Perhaps its her Midwestern manners, as she was a trouper. As a food bank advocate, I wanted to attend the event to show support. The farm hosted anyone who wanted to come learn more about sustainable agriculture, have a cheap $1 lunch, see a petting zoo, ride a horse, etc. It cost $2 a person to attend, or 3 cans of food. The food went to a local food bank and in turn, provided great exposure to hunger issues in the Valley. We were scooped up in the parking lot by a tractor-pull and I knew then the fun was just beginning. While this Missourian girl has way more experience than I do with country life, we were both squealing a bit at the fun of being driven around by a tractor. The ride proved to be both fun and informative too. We just got chatting with the farmer who owns the tractor and apparently, they’re thinking of upgrading their machines for more efficient farming. It seems that there’s a kind of eBay for tractors and other farm equipment that needs to be sold off; these farmers were thinking of auctioning off their machines to buy some newer ones. With grays and other online sellers, this is actually possible! Who knew? Farming practices have so much that we don’t really know about. City girls, meet dairy farm.
After wandering around a bit, eating too much kettle corn, getting some good information on an upcoming Master Gardener’s course I’m going to take, and running into a group of Burundian refugees (no joke), we headed home. We watched the documentary, “Farmer John and the Real Dirt” which is exceptionally strange and entertaining. If you are interested in community supported agriculture, I’d highly recommend it. Sarah did indeed teach me to knit socks. I’d show you a photo, but my progress is so miniscule at this point you’d need a microscope to see what I’d accomplished. Regardless, she taught me the magic loop technique and I’m certain to have a pair done in the next five years or so. Tedious, tiny stitches, but they will be pretty.
We also raided my garden (for the first time!) to gather goodies to take to the aforementioned dinner party. Cilantro for some cilantro jalapeno hummus and greens for a salad. I am fully aware how silly it is that I’m this happy to be growing a few vegetables, but having a productive garden has been a life goal. So Saturday’s “harvest” was a celebrated event.
It was a very content moment when I washed dirt off of these vegetables to prepare them for friends — organic small-scale gardening at its best.
I look forward to Sarah’s return!
~K