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April 22, 2008

Dear Ones,

“I have idea!” That’s what my little niece used to say frequently when she was a thought-factory of a toddler. Whenever she said it, all the fawning adults would stop what they were doing immediately and respond to her with exaggerated excitement, “What’s your idea, Ellie?” Her face, surrounded by tight golden curls, would tip back and beam up at us, her eyes nearly squinted shut by the cheeky bigness of her smile. But then she would shrug her shoulders merrily and keep her idea to herself. Maybe the “idea” was just to get a little attention, but I don’t think so. I think she’s been storing them up all along, sorting them into the folds of her cerebrum like a squirrel packing its cheeks with nuts (or, as in the case of the one I was watching through the sanctuary glass on Sunday morning, with pieces of broken Seder matsot). This little blondie niece of mine is a teenager now in the process of choosing a college. The ideas she’s packed away over the years are on their way to becoming theories and experiments and adventures. Out of them she’ll weave an identity, an expertise, a purpose, a dream, a legacy. What a miracle!

I myself “had idea!” some weeks ago. I emailed it to Monique Bosch, chair of our Green Sanctuary and Environmental Justice committees. Did she think UCW might be able to develop a mutually supportive relationship with a local farmer switching from traditional agribusiness to Community Supported Agriculture? WOW! she replied. And it wasn’t long before the idea took root. Stacia Monahan and her husband Fred and two little boys grow vegetables and flowers on Stone Gardens Farm in Shelton. They market their produce at a number of regional farmers markets, sell them at their own farm stand on Sawmill City Road, and offer CSA shares.

What’s a CSA? Here’s how it works: You pay $600.00 up front for a weekly share of the farm’s harvest, a box of fresh vegetables that feeds a family of four omnivores or two vegetarians. This money allows the farmers to invest in seed, labor and equipment for the season. The shares are distributed from the first week of June through Thanksgiving, about 25 weeks all together. You can divide a share with others, if you like. In June, your boxes will contain lettuce, scallions, dandelion greens, escarole, broccoli raab, some herbs, peas, beets with greens, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, radishes, and more! Towards the end of June, the greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pickles, beans, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are all coming in. Field tomatoes, onions, peppers, eggplants, and the sweet corn, for which the farm is famous, show up in your box in July. Fall brings leeks, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnip greens, turnips, kale, Brussels sprouts, radishes, lettuce, spinach, winter squash, and sugar pumpkins. The peaches, plums, and apples they grow are also available in season. Eggs are available each week as well as vegetable plants, flowers, hanging baskets, corn stalks, or mums, at request, and sometimes fresh chicken.

In partnering with a farmer to preserve Connecticut farmland, to share her risk from season to season by guaranteeing her family income up front, and to support her progress toward organic growing techniques, we as a congregation make a powerful consumer choice in favor of earth stewardship. We’ll create a UCW shareholder co-op to rotate the job of delivering the weekly boxes to 10 Lyons Plains Rd. so that families who purchase shares get fresh, wholesome and flavorful locally grown food at minimal cost to leisure time, the household budget and the environment. In addition, Stacia welcomes church families and RE classes to the farm for hands-on experience at the source of life. This alliance can move us closer to obtaining official “Green Sanctuary” status as a congregation. It’s a win-win: Stone Gardens Farm.

Email Stacia - .

Do you “have idea?”  Our congregation is an idea farm! Our imaginations are the seedbeds, our shared values the fertile soil, our many hands the collective energy that en-courage life-loving ideas to sprout, blossom and fruit. The fruit of faith—taste it and you’re hooked for life!

Joy to you on Earth Day,

margie

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