If you’ve had the opportunity to walk through the fields of a small farm in America, you’ll notice that no matter what the farmers grow, it’s never too much extra work for them to plant a few flowers, even if only by the farmhouse. This is especially true at Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, a tiny town in the redwoods along the San Lorenzo River in San Lorenzo Valley, California.
While Cynthia Sandberg is known in the Valley as the “Tomato Lady” – supplying varieties of love apples (tomatoes), vegetables, and herbs to gourmet restaurants and the public and teaching others from near and far how to Grow Better Veggies (the name of her popular blog) – she cultivates some pretty amazing hydrangeas, roses, sunflowers, lilies of the valley, irises, cosmos, and dahlias (notice the unusual colors of this one ~ rt).
When I arrived early Friday morning, the farm was buzzing with activity. Cynthia’s gentle dog came to greet me at the gate and stayed close by. Young farm hands were weeding beds, watering, and planning the day’s work to the mellow sound of acoustic guitar and voice harmonies on the CD player turned up just loud enough. In the back, next to chicken pen, I saw a large new greenhouse constructed since my last visit, full of young tomato plants. Everywhere I turned, there was something beautiful to photograph.
Which set me to thinking about farmers. They’re patient, but like to see progress. They’re knowledgeable, but modest, knowing how quickly things can change. And, I have a hunch, they’re part philosopher, too, because they see life’s interconnectedness and marvel at it every day.
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Living in close contact with the land and with nature, through farming, must give them a certain sense of things that could be a part of the perspectives some philosophers seek.
On May 24, 2010, Cynthia was on the Martha Stewart Show explaining her biodynamic gardening along with Chef David Kinch of Manresa Restaurant. View the show.