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Hello!
Fifty years ago we celebrated the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Perhaps not coincidentally, this period of increased awareness of the finitude of Earth’s resources was around the same time astronauts were leaving our atmosphere and giving us the opportunity to see our home from afar, such as in the famous “Earthrise” photograph. At the sight of the blue planet rising above the horizon, Jim Lovell, one of the astronauts on that Apollo 8 mission, said “The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth.” While most people will never have the chance to see our common home from this perspective, I hope you are able to catch a glimpse of that wonder today by contemplating life in all its uniqueness.
In gratitude,
Matt Jones
Farm & Outreach Coordinator
P.S.: Please feel free to share this with others who might appreciate it! If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to receive future emails.
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Feast Day of Blessed Giles of Assisi
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Last week we celebrated the feast day of Blessed Giles of Assisi, the patron of Little Portion Farm. Blessed Giles was a farmer and early follower of St. Francis of Assisi whose life embodied a unique combination of care for the poor and care for the land. We strive to emulate his love and service to others in our work on the farm.
The farm typically benefits from a second collection at the Sunday Mass before the feast day, but since this is not possible this year, we would ask you to consider making a donation online or by mail.
In his homily on Blessed Giles’ feast day, Friar Mike Lasky urged us all, in our own way, to “be a cheerful giver.” “Our generous sowing of love in the ground, on chilly mornings between the cold April showers will bring about much-needed harvests all year long, not to be rationed, but to be generously given in its entirety to those experiencing food insecurity,” he said. Blessed Giles, pray for us!
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Drivers Needed!
If you or someone you know is interested in making deliveries of our harvested produce to the Franciscan Center of Baltimore, please contact Matt Jones (by email at matt@littleportionfarm.org or phone at (443)-274-5430). This is a great opportunity to get involved and become an integral part of our effort to bring food from the farm to the table of those most in need!
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April has been a busy month of planting on the farm. We now have more beds planted than we did all of last year! With the help of friars and lay volunteers over the last few weeks, we have planted over a thousand plants by hand, including strawberries, asparagus, potatoes, onions, and lettuce. We have also planted a few new crops from last year, including leeks, shallots, and arugula.
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New beds ready for planting
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Spinach soon to be harvested
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The asparagus and strawberries will not be harvested at all this year to allow for the plants to become well-established for success in future years (but it is exciting to see the first spears emerging!). We will begin harvesting other plants soon, however, with the spinach and radishes likely to be the first crops of the season!
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One of the first asparagus spears
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Planting onion sets
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Cardboard
If you ever find yourself with a lot of cardboard boxes laying around, please bring them to the farm! We use a lot of cardboard as a mulch material in various ways, so we’d greatly appreciate anything you can provide. The only exceptions are cardboard with a waxy surface and/or cardboard with a lot of colored ink, as these contain toxic chemicals. Cardboard can be dropped off right next to the green portable restroom. If you have any questions, you can email Matt at matt@littleportionfarm.org.
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Marigolds on the farm last year
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“Every crisis contains both danger and opportunity: the opportunity to move out from the danger. Today I believe we have to slow down our rate of production and consumption and to learn to understand and contemplate the natural world. We need to reconnect with our real surroundings. This is the opportunity for conversion.”
- Pope Francis in a recent interview
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