It is not easy coming up with topics for the newsletter each week. And sometimes I feel, perhaps, I share too much of me here, my personal struggles traveling through a life filled with grief. But then I think grief is a reality here on the farm. We have lost our farmer, and I have lost my soul mate.
Living each and every day completely immersed in a life, a business and a home, created by Nigel, I find there is little escape for me. Having to learn so many things without him here to guide me or to answer my many questions. Through it all, I realize Eatwell is who I have become. I am so very proud of the work we do here, all of us, you guys included. I am living and working the change I want to see in this world. To be honest, I am very much in love with this place, only now, I have to live and experience every day with my new companion.
When Nigel passed away, I chose to postpone his memorial until this summer. I was so overwhelmed at the time, and truly felt I could not do him justice at the time, or even be very present. I had hoped that given the space of many months, the process and ideas for his memorial would be easier. I don’t think it has, the difference is I have the advantage of more time to plan something a bit more worthy of someone who gave so much.
Nigel’s memorial is scheduled for June 17th. It is the weekend before the Summer Solstice which is right around the time of our Solstice/Garlic Party. This year, rather than garlic harvest/braiding, I would like us to take on a project and make something special for the members garden, a permanent memorial to Nigel. For years, he dreamed of building a big pizza oven in the garden. Of course, that’s my first thought.
I think it could be an excellent community project to do together, but I will need your help. I will reach out to some friends who have built a couple of pizza ovens, but if any of you have experience doing this type of project or you are interested in the earlier stages of planning/helping, please let me know. And in general, I believe I can only pull this off if I get a good sense of how many people are wanting to come and make this happen. After our work is done on Saturday, there will be a special dinner provided by the farm, and of course our campfire and overnight. The memorial itself will happen on Sunday. To make sure we can accommodate as many people as possible, we will send out an invitation via Brown Paper Tickets. In the meantime, if you want to help out with the pizza oven please contact me either by email organic@eatwell.com or you can text me directly 530-554-3971. I think together we can make something we can all enjoy, and it will be a really wonderful way to have a bit of Nigel out in the Member Garden for years to come.