Newsletter 7/29/20

Greetings Friends and Neighbors, 

What magic there is at work in the world. The Valley String Ensemble, with a touch of whimsy, announces the arrival of Summer’s Second Act. If you walk quietly through the fields this week, you might notice that you are being serenaded by thousands of insects who make music by rubbing their legs together, their distinct notes and rhythms layering to construct an invisible House of Sound. The shortening days of Cricket Season have arrived.

We are excited to offer two delicious Soups this Friday and nearly 300 loaves of Fresh Bread, available between 4 and 6pm. Your willingness to make the effort to stop by the Gift Stand – maybe nudging other plans forward or back – means a great deal to us. If our hunch is correct, the act of giving and receiving Gifts could begin a conversation by asking: How shall we live together in this time of confounding and compounding calamities? We encourage you to take an extra loaf for the fridge or freezer, as the Stand will be closed 8/7, open again Friday 8/14. We are asking for your help in covering the remaining balance in our July budget -- $2100 still left with just a few days to go in the month. Thank you for your consideration. See below for information on how to make a gift. 

Sometimes I think, "Who am I to ask for your time and attention by sending you these humble scrawlings?" In other moments I ask, "Who am I not to?" Either way, since you are clearly now reading, there is some weight to the worthwhile choice and arrangement of the words.

I am often asked: How would you describe the work of the Farm? I might answer:

There is a Farm called the Brush Brook Community Farm, or at least there are some cleared fields in the neighborhood, some powerful Winds who generously deliver the Rain Clouds, and kindly Sun who warms the ground between the passing storms. And then there are the Grasses, carried over from the Old Country, hardworking companions and accomplices in the dirty work of clearing a ‘New’ England from the heavily forested home hunting-grounds of the Abenaki. The invasive grass meadows – complexly – now sustain Deer, Woodchuck, Kestrel and Bobolink. And then there are the Cows and the Sheep who still carry the names of the places where they were once at home – Jersey, Dexter, Dorset, Leicester. These gentle co-workers afford us the opportunity to live from the Gifts of this place – the Valley’s specific allotment of soil, sunlight and rainfall – Abundant and Limited both. Their Hunger for Life drives them forward, as it does the humans who they, in turn, feed. But as you observe the Cows and Sheep working out in the fields you begin to notice that their hunger – their desire – is rooted in ecological function, in relationship, in reciprocity. And this seems so very different from our own. And it is this longing that animates the work of the Farm, to remember a human ecological function, to remember our place in a very real – and very endangered – web of relationships that make up the experience we call Life.

Here is what you will find in this letter:

1. SOUP MENU for 7/31
2. INVITATION: FOOD DISTRIBUTION DETAILS
3. WORK PARTY: Please join us August 9^th.
4. BUDGET UPDATE – $2100 left to cover the July Budget. 

With Great Care, 

Adam and the Brush Brook Community Farm Team

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SOUP MENU

1. Brush Brook Soup – Zucchini, Beet Greens, Scallions, Celeriac, Beets, Beef, Herbs, Bone Broth.  
2. Vegetarian Soup – Pureed Cucumber, Sweet Potato, Tomato and Garlic.

Please bring a pint or quart container with you from home and we will fill it for you.

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INVITATION: FOOD DISTRIBUTION DETAILS 

Friday 7/31, 4:00pm – 6:00 pm
Brush Brook Community Farm & Running Stone Bread
4582 Main Road, Huntington, VT.

Bread Varieties this week:  Simple Wheat, Polenta, 3 Seed, Rye, Sprouted Grain, Backcountry Loaf (gf)

Would you consider coming by for bread and soup for your household, and/or some to drop off to a neighbor on your way home?

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BUDGET UPDATE: Thank you for Considering the July Budget

Many heartfelt thanks to all who have responded to these invitations by sending in Financial Gifts. If you would like to support our work, you can mail checks made out to Brush Brook Community Farm to PO Box 202, Huntington, VT, 05462, bring gifts to the Bread and Soup Stand, or donate through the website. We are 100% financially supported by these personal financial gifts. 

Brush Brook Community Farm and Bakery – July Budget
	As of 7/22
Gifts Received in July	$       3175.00
Estimated Expenses for July
Production Expenses
Bread Ingredients & Packaging	$       1,115.50
Bakery Overhead (Insur., Electric, etc.)	$        555.86
Bakery Rent	$        300.00
Farm Expenses	$       1,051.76
Farm/Bakery Team Requested Gifts
Adam Wilson Personal Living (full time)	$        648.08
Adam Wilson Rent	$        200.00
Erik Weil (part time) Rent/Housing	$        500.00
Collin McCarthy (part time) Utilities	$        100.00
Investments
Bakery Deferred Maintenance Fund	$        400.00
Fees
Estimated Federal/State Taxes	$        351.22
Paypal Fees	$         75.00
Total	$       5,297.42
Balance	$      (2,122.42)