This morning, I noticed a new message in my inbox. It happened to be a recruiting mesage from none other than Monsanto. It read:

“Dear Brian,

I am reaching out to you, because I would like to network with you and find out more about your future career goals. You have the type of background that Monsanto values and I would like to connect to learn more about you. Can we schedule some time for a telephone call?

Cathy X”

Here is my public reply:

Dear Cathy,

Thank you for your message. I prefer to respond via my blog, so I hope you don’t mind.

My future career goals include helping people boycott Monsanto and its maddened pursuit of money and global domination. I believe that a genetically diverse flora, composed of open-pollinated members, is not only critical to the existence of the human race, but it is part of our shared birthright. We also deserve the ability to live in a world not polluted by petro-chemicals, greed and manipulation.

As you know, Monsanto is primarily a chemical producer. One of your famous products, Agent Orange, was used to destroy countless acres of vegetation and caused health problems wherever it was used. Monsanto started acquiring seed companies in order to create vertical markets for its chemical products. As a result, innumerable farmers have suffered cancers too horrible to describe.

Your company has a stated goal to own 100% of the seed market worldwide. To achieve this end, Monsanto has developed a radical genetic manipulation program. The nearly-uncontrolled and nearly-unchecked nature of this program has resulted in crop contamination via cross pollination. That is likely the mildest result since, to my knowledge, there has never been a scientifically adequate test of genetically modified organisms.

Never in the history of the world have humans developed something as insidious and dangerous as the Terminator gene, also a result of Monsanto’s efforts. This gene would devastate farmers across the globe by denying them the ability to do what humans have done since the beginning of agriculture: save seed. This is, by definition, a core element of agriculture. Yet, your company wants this to end.

At every step, Monsanto and I disagree. Since you mentioned my background, I assume that you mean my involvement in both marketing and farming. As a chemical-free family farmer, it is impossible for me to ally with your group. It goes against everything that I value and respect. Part of my motivation to start farming was that I wanted to provide my family with food free from undisclosed genetic modifications and routine chemical contamination.

As a marketer, I easily see through the lies that your organization spins. Marketing, in its best form, is connecting people with the products and services that will improve their lives, entertain them, fulfill their needs and raise their standard of living. Your company wants to enslave people by removing their ability to act in accordance with Nature and live without spending money with your corporation.

I hope that you have met your goal of learning more about me. Of course, I will not be a good fit for your organization or its culture, so I will decline a telephone call. I wish you the best when it comes time in your career to find a new position. And, I hope that it is soon.

Yours,

Brian

Every week, we’ll spotlight a particular item we love at Black Sheep Farms.  It may be a fruit, vegetable, flower, animal, or something else.   If you have any suggestions, send it to us at farm@BlackSheepFarms.com.

Babies!

No!  Not that kind of baby!  (Although, Comet sure was a cute little guy, wasn’t he?)

I’m talking baby veggies.

More like THESE cute little guys:

Aren’t these baby beets cute?  And boy are they tasty!  Now, in a lot of situations in life, bigger is better.  But when it comes to vegetables, I prefer babies.  Baby vegetables tend to have a more intense flavor, more sweetness and they seem to taste fresher to me.  When I plant crops like carrots and beets that have teeny tiny seeds, I always over seed no matter how careful I am.  But it works out well for me because I get to eat the baby veggies as I thin them.

Soon, we’ll have baby carrots to share as well.  Did you know most “baby carrots” sold at the grocery store are just giant carrots peeled to be small?  What a shame, because real baby carrots are so delicious!

Try and get your hands on some baby vegetables at your local market or in your own backyard.  You’ll be glad you did!

~Kelly

Over the last week, I have been surrounded by the love of my community. In retrospect, it’s been waiting for me to be open to it, so maybe it’s more accurate to say that I’ve noticed. It’s never been easy for me to ask for help or accept offers from friends. I’ve kept people at arm’s length or tried to do things myself, which is, of course, the most difficult path. It’s safe to say that my concept of interdependence was not balanced.

Last night, we lost a big limb from one of our maple trees in a storm. Today, our friends Barbi, Tom, Sarah and Ray offered to bring their chainsaws and help clean it up. Since I have a full-time job, I wouldn’t be able to start on it until Saturday. The gift of their effort has given me the equivalent of a full day’s labor.

This comes on the heels of several other events. On Saturday, we held a CSA work day, and several of our members transplanted 200 tomato plants, lots of eggplants, peppers and more. On Sunday, Ray, Brad and Marc spent a combined 19 hours disassembling a walk-in cooler from a fast food joint slated for demolition. Why? So we could use it in the future on the farm. Ray even brought his friends, Becca and Luis, who helped even though they had never met me. Several times during the day, I would have given up on the project if it hadn’t been for their perseverance.

All of these people have been incredibly generous with their time. I feel awash in gratitude for my friends and their actions. Often, when people ask, “Do you need any help?”, my first reaction is to say no. But by saying yes and letting people care for me, I feel like I’m part of a community. It’s a community that I have helped create, not only by sharing things in common, but by participating in the give-and-take.

Part of our farm’s mission is to create good community. I thought it would be a result of the things I did for others. Thanks to all the people in my community who have shown me the full scope of what community really means.

-Brian