Hi Laurel,
Well, I am 31 years old, married and
living in Halifax, MA. I grew up in Marshfield and have my
own private acupuncture practice there, Stone Acupuncture.
I am an acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and yoga teacher,
so health and wellness are very important to me. I grew up
eating well (had a hiatus from that in college) and began
to discover cooking in my early 20’s. I believe that
how a person feels in terms of health and vitality has alot
to do with their lifestyle and especially what kinds of
foods they eat. I try to eat a balanced diet, high in
fruits and veggies. I also believe in the importance of
sustainable living and have always wanted to grow my own
veggies. Not having the right type of land for it, I began
looking for an alternative. I heard of Community Supported
Agriculture and began looking into local participating
farms; this was 2 years ago. I found Colchester’s
website and thought it looked well done and homey. They
had a choice between a regular sized farm box or a Jumbo so
I asked my mother if she wanted to join with me as we share
many of the same interests, beliefs and values. She said
yes and we signed up as Colchester CSA members!
What I have loved about doing the farm box instead of say,
going to the farmer’s market, is that I get many
vegetables I would not normally buy or try. I have
discovered some great vegetarian websites (I am not
vegetarian, but you can find some really creative recipes on
these sites; one is www.twobluelemons.com)
and have really enjoyed spending summer afternoons
experimenting with vegetables! I also discovered mustard
greens which rank as #1 favorite vegetable alongside jumbo
yellow tomatoes and fresh garlic.
It isn’t just the food that makes Colchester a special
place, though… It is obvious Ron and Connie care deeply
about organic farming, sustainability and creating a
cooperative community. I love my trips to Colchester.
Picking out cheeses, getting a dozen freshly laid eggs,
picking strawberries from the patch. I hope that their
dream of the 500 mile diet comes to fruition because I am on
board!
Let me know if there is anything else I can answer or
clarify.
Take care,
Kate
Hi Laurel
I’m Kate’s mom. I’ve lived in Marshfield since 1986,
and I have a private practice in clinical psychology in
town.
I grew up in northern Virginia in a suburb of D.C. and
moved to Mass. in 1967 to go to Radcliffe. I loved the
history, the climate, and the intellectual atmosphere, and I
never went back South to live.
I love cooking and fresh food. For a short while I
was vegetarian, and I whole heartedly support its
philosophy. We were never a fast food or convenience
food family.
My father (Wayne D. Rasmussen) was the historian at the
U.S. Dept of Agriculture for decades and wrote many books
and papers about family farms, soil, conservation,
etc. He was highly respected for fighting the good
fight for sustainable agriculture. In addition, I
personally have been worried about global warming since I
learned about it in the 1970’s. Healthy food, a focus
on vegetables, my father, my concern about global warming
all made the idea of CSA’s very appealing.
Kate asked me to join her in being a member of the farm,
and I was excited to do so.
One of the things I most appreciate about the farm has to
do with my concerns about the future of climate and the
economy. I don’t know that we will always be able to
eat raspberries from Chile, etc with impunity, or for that
matter, that we will even have the opportunity. I
believe a healthy future demands a more local economy.
I also love Connie’s literary references!
Sincerely,
Karen Stone
