Since we began five years ago we’ve always grown a big garden to supply our bakery and home with fresh produce. Some years we’ve done row crops with a more intensive style, but mostly we go with a no-till deep mulch system in our garden here on @midnightsfarm . For the bakery this year we’re growing out golden flax, black cumin, fennel seed, dill, blue fenugreek, Ziar bread seed poppies, parsley, marjoram, oregano, savory, thyme, basil, chives, japanese cherry tomatoes, summer squash and their blossoms, peas and shoots, amaranth, kale, calendula, nasturtiums, borage, four rare heritage wheats, black einkorn, and chervil. In addition we do about two acres of heritage grain trials and seed expansions. Sometimes when we’re at the farmer’s market and dead dog tired trying to sell a few more loaves or hand pies, we have to wonder if it’s worth the extra effort to not just be bakers but grow some of our ingredients too, and it’s evenings like these in the garden as the plants reach their peak and the sun gets thick that we are like, heck yes, totally and definitely, yeah. The joy and challenge of partnering with the non-human world of the garden seems like a humans most basic role. Just like working with our sourdough community to make our loaves rise, we look to befriend our soil ecology to grow the ingredients. Also huge shout out to @uprising.seeds and@tanddfarms for the seeds and starts that get our garden growing every year.

Sage Dilts and Nathan Hodges