This morning on the Yearlong Retreat call it occurred to me that, above all, this Thanksgiving I want to thank all of us for all of us. I don’t have words to convey the gratitude I feel at going through this life with this Sangha. Truly. The experience is far, far beyond anything I could ever have imagined. I know we say it often and hopefully the repetition makes it go deeper rather than just becoming more familiar: We are so fortunate.
“So, what about A Long View Farm?” did I hear someone ask? Oh, my goodness, so much. In no particular order:
We had an offer to come dig up some baby trees growing over a recently installed septic system. The estimate was 30-40. When we got there, it quickly became apparent that there were many more candidates for a new home. We didn’t come close to getting all of them, and over the next few days more than a hundred have found permanent spots with us. For those of you with a mental picture of the Farm, these border the road and make the turn along the property line back toward the forest. Each of them will get a layer of wood chips for warmth and a “dress” to protect them from deer nibbles.
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 Tub transport! |
Sadly, we have no pictures of Brian replanting the trees.
But here we haul chips to create warmth for the little trees:
And make little dresses to protect them
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 Baby tree in its dress. |
These will rest in the greenhouse till they move to their permanent home.
With the compost piles already complete, we will likely have enough compost to get next year’s plantings started, and so the new piles we’re creating going forward won’t 
need to be so “curated.” The ones we’ve had from the beginning, the ones that have produced such spectacular compost, have been turned every day. This is a level of physical work and commitment that, frankly, I cannot imagine for myself. However, our Farmer loves making soil and insists it’s not the hardship for him it surely would be for the rest of us.
Winter provides a respite
from flipping compost.
We still need to open the packaged goods donated to us, but things like whole vegetables, corn stalks, fruit and such can be added directly to giant piles that will compost at their own speed through the winter.
On a political note, it is truly disturbing to see the amount of food waste that goes into landfills. What’s even more horrifying is the packaging. Plastic containers filled with smaller and smaller plastic containers of sauces and dressings for pre-prepared meals. We remove all the food we can and then send mountains of plastic off to the landfill. And, we are just one small group of people receiving a very small amount of what 
would otherwise be hauled off to the dump. And, as disturbing as the whole process is, we’re very happy to be doing our bit to keep as much as we can out of the landfill, as well as helping to turn this unwanted food into healthy soil to support wanted and cared-for plants to provide more food. To that end we feel ready to find a local restaurant or two that will contribute their kitchen scraps to our project. More scraps, less plastic.
As more drainage ditches are dug, more raised beds are created in the market garden space. Brian, our Farmer, realized that with the very tall fence posts around that space it will be easy to create a structure on which tomatoes and other vegetables can climb. We’re looking forward to cucumbers and peas climbing as well as some cantaloupes. We shall see. 
Next to the enclosed market garden area we have a new growing area that will have to grow itself before it can accommodate others. It’s a fenced area, the fence of which is willow trees. Really eager to see that one evolve.
It’s hard to see but if you look closely
you can see the brown spots where the
willows are planted beyond the fence.
Perhaps you recall a while back when we harvested the chestnuts? In that first batch we only got three trees that seem to be making it. This latest foray involves about 200 “seeds” from which we’re hoping to net 20-30 trees. All experimental. This whole Farm is one big experiment as we save seeds and take cuttings.
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 Hardwood cuttings in the greenhouse |
 Seed collection grows |
Speaking of experimental, our herb garden is expanding. With a self-watering system that makes good use of discarded plastic buckets, soda cans, and yogurt containers, we’re hoping herbs will be a big part of what we can offer the Food Bank next summer. A final batch of tomatoes went to the Food Bank just in time for Thanksgiving.
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 The last of the Tomatoes |
On a walk I came across this sign and am hoping someone will do a version of it for us. Kind of says it all. The Farm’s motto.
We’ve had the first power outage of the year at the Farm. We quickly realized we had neglected one very important aspect of going solar—we have no way to gain access, for the house, to any of that lovely electricity the solar array generates. Oops. A call to the folks who installed the system helped us understand the missing piece and that has been added. An outlet has been installed that will allow Rosie (the Riveting) to provide power to the house the next time there’s an outage. Yes, she is not just gorgeous, she’s a hard worker. Here she is hauling downed trees that will be chipped up to supply the endless amounts of wood chips the plants need.
We have one more fun possibility that doesn’t have to do with the Farm, which might be surprising since for the last year the Farm has been our sole focus. Those of you who have visited Sequim know about, and have likely explored, the city park next to what has been dubbed Four Acre Zen Center (FAZC). At the front of the park, set just a bit back from the street is an old farm house. Several months ago I read in the paper that the city was planning to get rid of all the buildings that had comprised the farm, including the house, and were taking bids from those who would like the materials. They were hoping someone would make an offer on the house and have a mover take it to a new location. It seems, because it’s somewhat historical, that they don’t want to have to demolish it. (I also have learned it would cost up to fifty thousand dollars to have it dismantled and taken to the landfill.) 
There was, for me, a brief moment of “I wish we could do that,” followed by, I must say surprisingly for those who know me well, “We can’t do that.” Too much work, too few workers, overwhelming task. (This is where I always say, “If I were 20 years younger…”) In the ensuing months I watched the destruction of all the outbuildings, hoping the materials were making their way to new homes and not to the dump. This was followed by months of not thinking about any of it, until I drove by and noticed that the very cute old house was still there. I had realized the house was still there as I drive by it on a regular basis, but what was different this time was a very clear small voice saying, “Why don’t you look into that.” It wasn’t a question; it was a suggestion.
I called the city and, sure enough, no one has made an offer on the house. It’s old, it’s in a difficult location to move, those who wanted it were too far away to make the move financially feasible. Ah ha! So, the wheels are turning. I’ve met with the chap who moves houses. At first he was quite adamant that this was a bad idea until he realized we have a straight shot from where the house sits now across the park, across the neighbor’s open property, on to the upper acre (you might know it as the SOS parking lot) of the FAZC.
There are the ten thousand details to work out. What might the city require in terms of hook-ups? Will the neighbor let us roll across his back yard? Will the city let us leave it there until the ground gets firm enough again for the move? Might they let us work on it where it stands? Will it, after we have a chance to look into its construction, be worth the effort?
Obviously we have no way of knowing how all this will go, but it’s certainly fun to consider. And, the main reason I continue to pursue it is that, with no input from me, I keep seeing the house up there on that one acre above the main part of FAZC. It just seems to be headed there.
Even with all the work that would be required, what it would give us would be invaluable. The property now has no “hub.” It’s just a little grouping of buildings that, while each has its own contribution, cannot stand alone. They need a center! This old jewel could be that centerpiece in the arrangement. We shall see.
We’re quite excited about the coming year in practice so stay tuned for the Practice Calendar announcement on Dec 3!
In gasshō
ch