Hot on the heels of the running goats, I must ask:
“Could you, would you, with a goat?”
Image courtesy of ThePoeticsProject.com
When Dr. Suess wrote Green Eggs and Ham, he probably didn’t entertain any serious notion that someone could be coaxed into dining in the company of farm animals …
“I could not, would not, with a goat!”
But, hey, Sam-I-Am was eventually able to coerce the fellow in the book to try green food, and it seems that customers at the Sakuragaoka Cafe in Tokyo’s Shibuya District are a really rather receptive to the idea of noshing with nannies.
No kidding!
Take a look:
“I Love My Farmers Market” is a summer-long celebration sponsored by American Farmland Trust.
American Farmland Trust is the only national non-profit dedicated to saving America’s farmland (5 million acres to date) and keeping family farmers on their land. The land that family farmers cultivate to grow fresh food for our families is disappearing from under their feet. One acre of farmland has been lost to unchecked development every minute of every day in the U.S. At that rate, all the farms at your farmers’ market could be wiped out in less than an hour.
Farmers’ markets provide a vital link from farmers to shoppers. AFT’s I Love My Farmers Market Celebration works to raise national awareness about farmers’ markets. Participants pledge dollars they intend to spend at their farmers’ markets each week, then the Top 100 most celebrated markets will receive a special logo honoring their achievement, AFT’s “No Farms, No Food” gear, and recognition on the Celebration’s website.
Pledges can be cast at LoveMyFarmersMarket.org. And, if you make a donation to American Farmland Trust during the I Love My Farmers Market Celebration, AFT board member Tom Gallo will match it dollar-for-dollar, making your gift go twice as far to help family farmers.
Here’s my husband, Nick, and son, Brian, in 1996 manning our Farmers’ Market booth in 1996. Markets are such a great place to launch your farm dreams—mine were a tad elaborate as it turns out:)
Nick and Brian at the Moscow Farmers’ Market, circa 1996.
How do we celebrate Independence Day? Why, with a parade, of course. But this little gem is no ordinary parade. In the neighboring town of Johnson, Washington (population about 50-100 on a good day), hilarity, innovation, and creativity ensue while some 3,000 people converge on either side of a rural road leading to a huge grain silo, one of the only structures in Johnson. Marchers gather in an open field about 1/4 mile down the road, stroll to the grain elevator, and march back the way they came. Not only do attendees get to enjoy the parade as it passes by, but also when it passes BACK by! 
And what they might see includes a crazy array of kinetic sculpture (including a working Ferris wheel), 
a fire truck and firemen with large water guns who spray delighted youngsters with water, a flock of grown-up girls parading as pink flamingoes, the motley crew of the Moscow Volunteer Peace Band (think feather boas and tie-dye), bagpipers, soldiers, politicians, classic cars, a train made from recycled materials, and even farm equipment, both adorned and unadorned (a farmer loves to show off equipment). 
The year Michael Jackson died, a group of college girls dressed up in paint masks and single sparkly gloves and danced their way down the road and back. You’ll even see a little car that splits in half, each part driving independent of its other half. The parade was organized on a whim more than 40 years ago by a local farm family, the Druffels. Each parade is loosely organized around a theme; last year’s was Star Wars. Druffel patriarch, 93-year-old John, said he hadn’t heard of Star Wars, but he good-naturedly joined the fun, parading with a lightsaber dressed as Luke Skywalker. 
John passed away earlier this year, but on July 4th, his large family (over 70 members to date) will join with thousands of participants from nearby communities to honor this fun-loving farmer.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
