F26 (WK3): The Good Pink-Eye (PEAS!)

Sep 14

Dear Farm Community,

If you know you know ~ do you know? You’d know if you knew, but if you’re not sure if you know……… yes, pink-eyed peas are in season!!!! We are harvesting a ton of gorgeous pink-eyed peas out of our fields and having a ball shelling them together. We’re seeing some sure signs that fall is on the way: an abundance of pink-eyed peas are ready for harvest, greens are coming out of our fields again (hello bok choy and lettuce!), and we’re gathering muscadine vine for this year’s wreath-making. Fall here we come :-)

As we continue to introduce y’all to our crew, we’d love to re-release some Know Your Farmers from two years ago when we started sharing this fun segment! Isaac has been with the farm for a long long time, and for just as long he has been bringing his earnest enthusiasm, honest to goodness kindness, compassionate leadership, and unending love for all things farming. It is nothing short of a joy to have him leading our Morton Rd crew. So for all those new around here or who might have missed it last time around, read on and get to know our boy Isaac :-)

What is your role on the farm?
I’m the manager of the farm property off Morton Road! I manage the crew through all of our daily tasks and operations, work with Carter to build our crop plan and set our weekly priorities, coordinate with the leadership team at the other farm to organize our harvests for market and CSA, spend lots of afternoons on the tractor, and all the other day to day farm tasks we all get up to! My job is wonderful because I get to constantly engage with both the bigger picture of our farm system and the nitty gritty details of crop cultivation, maintenance, and harvest!

Isaac’s Farming Journey
I started farming in 2020. It was deep COVID times, I had recently graduated college and been laid off from my service industry job, and I was searching for work that would be safe and rewarding and outside. I've always been interested in farming - my parents had a large vegetable garden growing up, and I've always been a sunshine lovin', Wendell Berry readin' kinda guy. So I asked around, searching for farm work, and through a chain of texts I ended up getting in touch with Carter. He texted me, "Hey. Come to this address at 8 am Monday," and DHF has had my heart ever since!

In 2022, I took a break from farming here in Georgia and spent 8 months at the Organic Farm School on Whidbey Island in Washington. My time out West introduced me to so many wonderful farmers and farming practices, greatly broadened my knowledge of all things organic farming, taught me a whole lot about myself, and gave me the confidence I needed to believe that I was capable of taking my farming adventure to the next stage. By the years end, I was driving back across the country, back into the loving arms of DHF, where I've been a lead farmer ever since!

What makes you passionate about organic farming?
Everything! In the big picture, I am very passionate about building community, protecting our environment, and the beauty and importance of labor. Farming has an amazing way of bringing together all of those passions! I am deeply drawn to how tangible farm work is, especially in the modern world where so much is intangible. To feel like I'm a part of a something bigger than myself, of both my community and a living, breathing natural system, to work with a beautiful community towards very real, tangible goals, to enjoy the literal fruits of my labor - how could I ever want to do literally anything else? I could wax poetic for paragraphs, but also, at the end of the day, I just love to grow and eat food, and sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.

What do you like to do when you’re not at the farm?
I have, hands down, the most wonderful friends and family in the entire world (it's not even close), so mostly I just spend time with them every single waking moment that I possibly can! When I'm not hugging my friends, I like to see live music, go camping, make movies with my brother, play music, read books, go hiking, drink beer, cook delicious meals, watch bad reality TV, eat peanut butter, and sleep!

ISAAC FUN FACTS!
I eat a peanut butter sandwich for lunch every single day on the farm, with only extremely rare exceptions, and I can wiggle my left ear like nobody's business.

What’s something you’ve done on the farm that you are proud of?
I think I am most proud of the wonderful community that I get to be a part of building. Farming is such a beautifully communal vocation, and it's so fun to see how the crew comes together every season. I love cultivating that community, connecting with new people, and watching the crew come together and grow closer. Laboring alongside someone has an amazing ability to bring people together, and it is so fun to manage a crew of so many wonderful people.

What’s your favorite crop to grow?
I love growing the vast majority of the things that we grow, and it's pretty hard for me to pick a favorite. Maybe sweet potatoes though ;-)

What’s your favorite crop to eat?
Winter squash! Do anything with a kabocha and it will taste like heaven.

What is a small thing on the farm that you are grateful for?
I am so grateful for the sunshine and the beautiful vegetables. I'm infamous around the farm for how positive I am, and for how often I call things "beautiful." I think Andrew has tried to tally up how many times I describe a vegetable as beautiful on a typical harvest day, and he usually loses count. So, yeah, I'm just grateful to be in the sun surrounded by such perfectly beautiful things.

If you were something on the farm, what would you be and why?
I would absolutely be a scuffle hoe. The most satisfying feeling in the world is spending hours hoeing a field, caught up in the rhythm of the scuffle, deep in thought, and then you look up and a beautifully weeded field of carrots looks back at you. It's just so satisfying and effective, and the progress you make with a scuffle hoe is so tangible and clear. If I was a vegetable, I'd like to think I'd be a carrot.

In your opinion, what’s the best season and why?
I think early fall is the best! Firstly, the weather is perfect because it's still hot in the afternoons (which is so great) but it's cool in the mornings and the evenings. Secondly, it's very exciting to watch the variety of what we're able to grown expand so rapidly as the days start to cool. Summer can get monotonous, so when fall approaches and we can start growing more leafy greens and roots again, it's very satisfying.

What’s your favorite way to pass the time weeding with other farmers?
Conversation! I'm a very extroverted person, and weeding next to someone really brings out good, deep talks! Something about having the more base, motor skills part of your brain occupied helps free up the rest of your mind for more honest, deep conversation. Or, sometimes more often than deep conversation, we pass the time by building the silliest, most elaborately nonsensical jokes imaginable.

What are your aspirations at the farm?
I just want to see the farm be as effective and successful as it can be! I want to maintain a great, happy crew of folks who are invested in the farm, who are enriched by the work, and who enjoy being out in the field every day as much as I do! And I want to continue improving our crop successes every year, learning from what works and what doesn't so that we can grow the most wonderful vegetables possible.

We’re all in the pack shed finishing up a big market harvest and you’re handed the AUX. What do you play?
Hog of the Forsaken by Michael Hurley, no question. I'm notorious for listening to the same song over and over and over again. When I'm working on one task for a long time, especially if it's monotonous or tedious, I love finding the right song that either matches or ironically mismatches with the energy of the task I'm doing, and listening to it over and over again until I'm done. It just feels right!

What is your favorite DHF memory?
It's hard to pick one favorite memory, but I think back constantly to moments I've been lucky enough to share with fellow farmers over my years at Diamond Hill. I've met some of the most wonderful people I will ever meet in these fields, and undoubtedly many people who will be in my life until the day I die! I have so many memories to look back on, so much love and hard work shared among the company of wonderful humans and beautiful vegetables.

For the full Know Your Farmer experience, head to our instagram page to see the post - all set to Isaac’s pack shed tune and full of more photos!

Everybody’s getting pink eyed peas this week!!! If you’re new to pink eyed peas but know their cousin, the black eyed pea, you have sort of an idea of what you’re in for. However, pink-eyed peas are creamier, more delicate, and way more delicious! A true southern summer delicacy, you can cook them up traditional style with garlic, onions, and pork, or go veg with a meat-free version. If you’d like to make a cool summer salad with them, try out this recipe that calls for mayo, cucumbers, vinegar, basil, and feta. You can also boil them ahead of time and use them in sub of black eyed peas in a cowboy caviar, the perfect little recipe for when you’re feeling snacky ~ and it keeps all week.

Happy Eating!
Diamond Hill Farmers

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