Saturday, January 17, 2009

New year, new lessons

And so ends a year of surprises. Certainly, I would never have guessed in January '08 that January '09 would find me working a farm, blanching broccoli and butchering chickens.

Here at ECHO, vegetable season is in full swing. While the rest of the nation shovels snow, we who straddle the border of temperate and tropic are harvesting bright red strawberries, filling buckets with sugar snap peas, and hand-pollinating pumpkins. I must confess that the tropical abnegation of seasons still strikes me as bizarre, but who can complain in the face of vine-ripe tomatoes? Though temperature highs never broached 60 on Thursday (the southwest Florida equivalent of a blizzard), most days hover around the upper 70's to lower 80's. Don't be jealous... I'll have to pay off my climatological debt when the summer hits!

What has happened since the last update (November!)...

- ECHO Agricultural Conference - Missionaries, development workers and nationals from developing countries converged on Fort Myers for a week long conference in December. Speakers discussed a number of issues: the global food crisis; underutilized food crops; cultural land tenure problems in Indonesia. Perhaps more importantly, opportunities were given for people to network together, sharing struggles and solutions they've faced while working overseas.

- Responsibility overload - As of December I completely took over stewardship of the Monsoon garden from Heidi, my predecessor. The agricultural complexity of managing crops, animals, and trees is still a little overwhelming for this city boy. When is the proper stage for harvesting broccoli? Who knew that Okra becomes unedible if not picked young (aka near-daily)? What is Jicama?

I think I'm coming to enjoy the labor of seed, transplant, cultivate, harvest, weed, weed, weed, weed, weed. The cultivation of food is a lifestyle that transforms daily patterns, as you slowly become tied to the land on which you live. Chickens need daily care, plants need water, crops must be harvested or else lost. It reminds me that every piece of food that passes my lips was once alive in one form or another, and that 99.9% of it was intentionally cultivated by someone, somewhere.

I inspect my thumb periodically for any green pigmentation. So far I haven't noticed any, but I take comfort in the surprising resilience of young plants, and the vigorous abundance of God's creation in general. Perhaps the green thumb will come one day.

- Christmas - The Christmas season was made brilliant by my family's week-long visit to the ECHO farm. It was strange not being in Atlanta; strange to not see friends; strange to miss the flickering candles at ECPC's Eve service; strange to step outside from Christmas dinner into 80 degree sun. But there was still family, food, and singing. And those alone are luxuries beyond belief. And we reflected on Glory, incarnated in weakness. On Love, submitting to persecution in order to redeem the persecutors.

With the rest of my time I've read a lot, and spent time with the community here on the farm. I've been thinking a lot about the future, wondering what God has planned. It would be nice to be given a glimpse of one's future, but He knows best.

I miss all of you from Marietta and Chattanooga. I'm a terrible distance communicator, but please feel free to call or email.

4 comments:

Wilson W. said...

I can see your green thumb from Charlottesville, Trey, so stop your complaining! Admittedly, I was using google earth, so it was a bit blurry. Still, I miss the times when you lived up the hall or, even better, next door. I got an Italian cookbook for Christmas that would make your mouth water.

AND, I almost won a game of Battle of the Sexes because I'm endowed with your Moroccan factoids. Almost, because I defined tagine instead of tourine. Mere details.

Thanks for the update.

J. Reif said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J. Reif said...

Trey -- just discovered you had a blog! It was interesting to read about what you're doing with ECHO. It makes law school seem so . . . tedious and unfulfilling.

I resonate with your comment that it would nice to have a glimpse of one's future but God knows best. Indeed, we believe in a sovereign Providence who has orchestrated the details of our lives for our good and His glory. I, too, need constant reminder of that fact!

Hope all is well in Florida. Hope to see you sometime soon.

- Josh

Heather Louise Nation said...

Hello big brother. I miss you, and I am actually quite jealous thinking about your little monsoon garden. I truly enjoyed weeding and harvesting and all that. Perhaps I will somehow find my way back and share your misery for a week or so this summer. ;) Say hello to the chickens for me.