Ocra in the cove

Dear all,

Yesterday morning I defected from the island and made the 40 minute drive northwest to Sequatchie Cove Farm. Along the way, you dip briefly into Dade County Georgia and you cross into the Central Time Zone. This makes the drive seem more substantial. I was drinking strong coffee and listening to a podcast lecture about the Etruscans and their unfortunate encounters with the Romans en route. It was very close to the perfect morning.

Padgett Arnold and her crew of CSA workshares were planting ocra and tomatoes. It's typically too cold to plant ocra on the central coast of California, so I jumped at the opportunity. We planted 400 bed feet at twelve-inch spacing. That's a lot of ocra.

Sequatchie Cove is owned and operated by the Keener family, of whom my fellow islander Kelsey is the prodigal son (having returned from his stint at UC Santa Cruz). Their land at the cove is immodestly gorgeous. One of these days I will give the property a proper exploration and try to write a thing or two about the place. Until then, suffice it to say that it is immodestly gorgeous and that if you are ever within a three state radius of Tennessee it is worth a look-see.

On the 24th of May, the island will play host to an afternoon of workshops, talks, tours, and a potluck. Rain has pushed back the event date almost a month, but we have a good feeling about the 24th.

On June 7th, I am conspiring with my friends Tim and Amy Andonian to host an afternoon potluck and discussion on vocation (my next writing topic) at their house in Sunnyvale. Details to come. We'll hope to see some of you there.

And finally, here are some new photos from the farm and surrounds. Some are in the beloved sepia and others are in color. And to top it all off, here are three lovely poems by my friend Deena Miller. Deena read these at the March 14 event at the Alan Chadwick garden in Santa Cruz, and I've been meaning to post them ever since. Enjoy!

Chad