Along with producing and distributing fresh organic produce (which, right now, seems more relevant and important than ever), a big part of Durst Organic Growers’ mission is to serve as an educational, sustainable, and social network for our surrounding community.  During this pandemic we, like everyone else, have had to get a little creative in how we continue to accomplish that.

Writing a newsletter in this time is something this Durst Organic Grower has been putting off. This has felt like a daunting task:

• to acknowledge the current crisis our country, and the world, is experiencing 

• to assure you of the measures we have put in place and considerations we are taking for the safety of our employees and community partners

• to address what we have been doing to help our community where we can

• and to thank and celebrate others who have shifted gears, donated time, or shared skills to help others

(Phew -- do pandemics make everything seem overwhelming?)

On the other hand, while very tempting, it feels frivolous to bypass all that "big" stuff and just offer an update on our current crops and tasks we’ve been working on in the fields -- Is it in poor taste to remind you that our asparagus will continue to be available for a few more weeks and our snap peas have hit the shelves of the grocery stores that you might not be able to safely go to?

So, that said, rather than try to get too big by addressing and offering solutions to all the world’s problems, which we can’t even come close to blowing the dust off of, we’ll just share some things we do know in this time of uncertainty. And maybe ask a few more rhetoric questions while we’re at it…

It is the beginning of May, and amidst figuring out all our plantings, fieldwork, packing and shipping, we find ourselves with an ongoing set of questions that we, and everybody else, have never before faced: How do we keep our employees safe while still working to get our produce out to our communities? How can we help our neighbors in a time when we need to be “distant”? Where can we make connections and offer support to alleviate some stressors?

Weekly “COVID-19 Response Team” meetings have become a regular thing around here. Every Friday, a group of us get together via conference call (distance!) and we keep each other informed about new research and guidelines, brainstorm ways to keep everyone on the farm safe while keeping things running smoothly, and talk about ways we can help the community. Education has been something we feel is really important in keeping our employees safe. We want to help everyone stay up to date about the virus, how it spreads, what symptoms to look for, and guidelines being set by public health officials. We want anyone on our farm to feel comfortable asking questions and giving feedback on our safety efforts.

We are all in this together.

Additionally, we have been thinking about crops we could grow in smaller amounts for local food banks -- crops that would be ready to harvest soon, are easy to care for, substantial elements to a meal, and easy to send off to those in need. We donate much of what we already grow, but when there’s a produce shortage in our food pantries this is an easy and obvious place we, as an organic vegetable producer, can help.
 
One of our more creative solutions to helping, however, was through donating boxes to the Yolo Food Bank. They needed to switch up their operations by way of pre-packaging foods in order to offer home deliveries for the community they serve, but found themselves short on packaging supplies. Thanks to our excellent inventory keeper, we had an abundance of cardboard boxes in storage so Jim put in a call to see if the Yolo Food Bank food could use them (they worked out great!). A tiny silver lining to this pandemic crisis has been remembering the importance of neighbors, community, and asking for (or offering!) help. When you reach out and connect with your neighbors you may be surprised by the little, yet impactful, ways we can all help each other. You might even find that the real first responders are generally your neighbors.

We are all in this together.

Another change we have come across is a slight shift in our sales outlets. We are still largely selling to distributors, but we are seeing more home-delivery services purchasing our produce as people are being asked to stay home and avoid public spaces. We also see some of the distributors we sell to who typically work with restaurants, and local chefs, working together to create meal kits using our donated produce. More local businesses have been sourcing from us, too, which (greater implications aside) is something we love to see!

With these shifts we have been wondering, will these changes stick with the “new normal”? Will these shifts in shopping patterns and sourcing continue? Will they shift again, in a different direction? Will our local food hubs and business maintain this renewed sense of community? What will the future meals made with our produce look like?

Despite uncertainty, we continue to plant. Because at least one thing remains certain – if you plant seeds, give them soil, sunshine, water, and care, they will grow. This is one place we can find some sense of normalcy: it is May and we are in the thick of planting.

The plants that will make up our third planting of cherry tomatoes arrived and they have been transplanted into our fields. Meanwhile the first tomato planting is already getting trellised, with the second soon to follow.  We’ve planted five successions of watermelon, three successions of green beans, and even started planting some of our winter squash! We put in another field of asparagus last week. We are seeding melons weekly, and filling in gaps with zucchini, peppers, and cucumbers. It is good to find things to be excited about, and right now the summer veggie bounty that we have in store is very exciting. We hope it will be something we can share both with our community at large and at the dinner table with loved ones.

We are all in this together.

And to (finally) finish off here today, we will share some gratitude. We are thankful for our health, well-being, and ability to continue our farming operations. We are thankful for our ability to grow and distribute fresh produce. We give thanks for the food on our tables, the food we can share with others, and for the generosity of our neighbors and support from our community near and far. We are grateful for those who are working so hard to get the pandemic under control, those who are risking their lives daily for the sake of us all.

We are all in this together.