Circle M Farm

I had an epiphany while planting the spring garden this past week. Prostrate on the ground, hands cupped and gently sprinkling compost on the just-embedded seeds, I realized that I was praying. Really praying. In the process of sowing, I touched each seed and asked God to give each plant what it needed. Not so much in words or even thoughts, but with my whole being I prayed and hoped for these plants. Being on your knees is perhaps just symbolically connected, since it’s certainly possible to pray in any position. But the whole mental posture of planting is one of dependency on God. After doing these few wise things (carefully tending the soil, planting the seed at the correct time and depth), the planter can do nothing but trust in the good provision of the Maker. The exercise is quite humbling and quite exhilarating at the same time.

Planting is prayer. Shortly after realizing that, I had another epiphany on my knees. (It seems that I ought to spend more time there…) If planting is prayer, then bugs are the answer. Or perhaps not so much an answer as a response. As I lifted my heart to God over the seeds, I felt my gaze focus on the intense activity of the waking insects in the newly warmed soil. Suddenly I heard the voice of God in my contemplation: the bugs were evidence – assurance – of the health of the soil. Where there are bugs in dirt, there are life, fertility and food to nourish the plants. Never have I been so thrilled to be surrounded by buzzing, burrowing, even biting bugs. I think those plants are going to do just fine.

Our nearly total immersion as a race into the culture of industrial agriculture has conditioned us to fear bugs and strive to eradicate them. We wouldn’t think of purchasing a grocery store lettuce that was full of holes left by a caterpillar or beetle, regardless of how much lettuce still remained to eat on that head. Most of our food is raised in nearly-antiseptic “soil” that’s been bombed by pesticides to kill the bugs and herbicides to kill the weeds and artificial fertilizers to give the plants something on which to feed. Not much nutrition in those plants, but no bugs, either.

I recently learned a clever slogan from friends who sell organic produce at Madison’s Dane County Farmer’s Market. “Don’t panic, it’s organic!” In other words, you’ve got to expect a few bugs or a few holes in a product that hasn’t been treated with any sort of ”-cides” at all. After all, bugs and dirt and plants are part of the same ecosystem. They belong together and need each other. They feed each other in a circle of fertility, death, life and nurture. Plants need rotting organic matter to eat, and bugs (of all sizes, from worms to microscopic fungi and bacteria) break that material down into usable nutrients. They also keep the soil loose and aerated so the plant roots can grow. Dead plants replenish the soil with rotting matter and the circle starts all over again.

I do love circles! And praying in the dirt. You know, you’re welcome to come give it a try. We’ll be planting pretty much continuously here for the next few months, feeding ourselves and getting our fledgling CSA off the ground. We’re only accepting 5 families this year, as we’re just starting out and learning a ton! You can work for a share, if you think this sort of meditation would suit you. See our CSA page for more information.