Last week of Sabzi!
Salam Hamegi!
Today is your last chance to order Sabzi this summer! It's been such a joy to bring you sabzi this year, and I appreciate each and every one of you who has ordered in this first season of Reyhan Herb Farm :)
What to expect from the farm in the coming months:
- Currently I'm working on some red marigold garlands :) You can reply to me here if you're interested in buying one. Strung with love and care <3 Pickup in Oakland!
- I'm going to start planting crops to overwinter in October! I'm aiming to have loads of sabzi ready for Nowruz next year, but it's possible that some will be ready early. I'll contact you here or on Instagram to let you know if there are herbs or flowers available :)
- I'm also working on cleaning seed from this year's sabzi, and I'm hoping to have seed available for you to buy this Fall!
- Scheming on propagating some Iranian perennial herbs for sale this Fall... would you like your own Gol Gaav Zaboon or Espand plant? Stay tuned!
- Maybe there will be some Reyhan Herb Farm posters and stickers this Winter as well! Loving these test prints from Jasmine Djavahery!
That's all I can think of for now! I'm so excited to start working on these projects. :)
On Sunday, I co-hosted an event with Kristyn Leach (Namu Farm) and Steve Joo (Joodooboo), highlighting the use of herbs/sabzi/ssam and cucumbers in Iranian and Korean culture! It feels full-circle to work with Kristyn after admiring her work for so long. I learned about Kristyn's farm in 2020 (via this podcast) and it was the first time that I had heard from a farmer that I felt connected to. Soon after, I reached out to her online and she called me and offered encouragement and advice for my first season backyard-farming sabzi. Years later, she is doing even more incredible work with Second Generation Seeds, and she continues to mentor young BIPOC farmers on the side. We are so grateful for Kristyn's generous mentorship and support, and so lucky that at every turn, she continues to spread resources and lift others up. Also, big congrats to Steve for rounding out two years of Joodooboo! It's hard to build any sort of business, and I have a lot of reverence for people trying to highlight their cultural foodways and bring traditional food to their community in diaspora.
During the event, we asked participants to write memories, recipes, and more about herbs and cucumbers. I am reading through these responses now and I'm overwhelmed by the beauty and connectivity that everyone has expressed. We will be compiling these responses for a creative project that Kristyn is working on and sharing it with you :) But for now, please enjoy this excerpt.
Alt text: I've always loved eating things LOGHMEH* style. I love the variety of herbs, but also the jams, butter, and cheese... but the most important ingredient, which I realized once I started eating meals away from home, is to have people to eat with. The beauty of this slow, relaxed style is that you have the time to check in with your loved ones. See how they slept, how their day was, etc. Vakhti tanha loghmeh mikhoram**, it doesn't feel the same. ***
The Memo health update is that he is thankfully doing a bit better on pain medication this week. He was hobbling around and in distress for a while there, but now he is able to curl up in a little ball again. :) He's been staying home from the farm so he can rest.
Thank you for reading! It might be a while before you hear from me again, so goodbye for now and I hope to see you on Thursday.
Be omide didar,
Farmer Sama :)
*Loghmeh is a word used to describe a small bite of food, assembled from different pieces of a dish to maximize deliciousness.
**"Vakhti tanha loghmeh mikhoram" means "when I eat loghmeh alone"
***There is also a small drawing in the excerpt of a curly-haired person sleeping and dreaming of cucumbers.
P.S. Thank you to the sweet people who respond to my silly little newsletter every week! Please feel free to break that fourth wall and let me know what you think. <3
This entry was originally submitted on 8/29/23
