Gleaning for Food and Information

Having recently moved to the island full-time, my family is settling into a more laid-back routine in Vineyard Haven.

As I mentioned to a neighbor, we lived in a pretty intense town in New Jersey. His response was, "Every town in New Jersey is pretty intense." I suppose that is the view of many folks who call Martha's Vineyard home. I had to chuckle, and incidentally, have become quite fond of that surmise.

For the past several years in New Jersey, I was an active volunteer with the high school PTO. My responsibilities were primarily in communications. I disseminated information to the parent/teacher community as the editor of a monthly newsletter and blog. It was a well-informed community, with a high school population near 1,100 students.

As I was searching the local Vineyard websites for information on Tuesday's Back-to-School night at MVRHS, I came across a help-wanted announcement for needed to work at a nearby farm.

I planned my morning accordingly, and gave up looking for information relating the the high school event. After all, I thought, it's a much smaller school, and this is a more relaxed community. I'll just show up at school at the time posted on the school's marquee. What more do I need to know? It takes time to quiet the New Jersey mind. I put on my boots.

Volunteers were already in the field by the time I arrived at the farm. The wet morning fog dissipated, and a bright autumn sun helped clarify the bounty of stragglers. The last of the harvest, long and plump green beans, dangled deep inside the hideout of their wombs.

After fussing with the first couple of plants, I acquired a pinch-and-tug technique, which enabled me to move intently through the rows. It was deeply satisfying to work the land, get dirty and bask in the unexpected warmth of the late-September sunshine and conversation.

Each pod collected was a treasure. A fresh, wholesome gift for a hungry mouth to enjoy, and sustenance for my soul, I relished the goodwill of neighbors working together to feed a community in need.

Thoughts of migrant workers from days gone by, tanned and blistered from laboring the harvest for mere pittance, drifted in and out of mind. I worried about the creatures hiding under foot, and the bees drawn to the sweat on my brow. I was itchy. Was I getting a rash from a pesticide or were these organic beans?

It takes time to quiet the New Jersey mind.

We moved to the plum tomatoes. The fruit flies were feasting and hogging what remained of the crop. We salvaged some beautiful fruit, and then said our good-byes in the early afternoon, comforted by knowing the food we collected will be distributed to the schools, elders and islanders in need.

Back home on the computer, a previously misdirected email guided me to a parent portal through the MVRHS web service. There, before my very eyes, was a wealth of information.

A state-of-the-art platform for parents and students to be fully informed of all the necessary goings-on about school, including Back-to-School night, exists just beyond my now-filthy fingernails. 

Technology and communication at its most finest and useful is actually part of this laid-back community. I was amazed, and admittedly, somewhat disheartened.

It then occurred to me that "laid-back" does not necessarily mean "lacking information."

It takes time to quiet the New Jersey mind, and gleaning has its rewards.