Letter from the Executive Director: Tending a Culture of Gratitude

As we begin another beautiful season together at Pitney Meadows, I find myself reflecting on the powerful message we shared last year: Let’s root for one another. That invitation remains at the heart of who we are. This year, I want to add another layer to that vision: Let’s grow in gratitude.

Pitney Meadows is more than a place of transaction. It’s a living, breathing community—an interwoven ecosystem of people, plants, purpose, and place. Every seed planted, every wheelbarrow pushed, every conversation exchanged in the fields or over fresh produce at the Farm Stand—these are acts of shared abundance.

And yet, we face a cultural challenge. Sometimes, our community programs—like the CSA, Community Garden, trails, and Farm Stand—are experienced as individual transactions. But at its heart, this space offers something more: an invitation to step into a shared rhythm of community care, where our presence and participation help cultivate a sense of belonging for all.

Unlike a typical marketplace or attraction, where outcomes are clearly defined and tailored to individual needs, Pitney Meadows is a living, growing space shaped by collective effort. It thrives on mutual investment—of time, kindness, and flexibility. Here, we’re invited into a different kind of relationship, one that asks us to consider not only our own experience, but the wellbeing of the broader community as we share in the gifts of this land together.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Author of The Serviceberry and Braiding Sweetgrass, writes:

"Many Indigenous Peoples, including my Anishinaabe relatives and my Haudenosaunee neighbors, inherit what is known as a 'culture of gratitude,' where lifeways are organized around recognition and responsibility for earthly gifts, both ceremonial and pragmatic. Our oldest teaching stories remind us that failure to show gratitude dishonors the gift and brings serious consequences. If you dishonor the Beavers by taking too many they will leave. If you waste the Corn, you'll go hungry. 

Enumerating the gifts you've received creates a sense of abundance, the knowing that you already have what you need. Recognizing 'enoughness' is a radical act in an economy that is always urging us to consume more… The relationships nurtured by gift thinking diminish our sense of scarcity and want. In that climate of sufficiency, our hunger for more abates and we take only what we need, in respect for generosity of the giver."

What a powerful lesson for us, here on this land. When we slow down enough to recognize the gifts around us—the soil, the volunteers who harvest alongside us, the neighbors who share recipes or swap seeds—something shifts. We start to see enoughness. We start to live in gratitude rather than entitlement. We remember that the truest value of Pitney Meadows is not in what any one of us receives, but in what we collectively create.

So this season, I invite you to approach every moment on the farm with gratitude. Thank the land. Thank each other. Share your skills, your kindness, your patience. And when things don’t go perfectly—when the lettuce wilts or a staff member is slower than you’d like—remember that this is not a customer service counter. It’s a community. Your energy helps shape what we’re building together.

Let’s root for one another. Let’s grow in gratitude. And let’s remember that the harvest we seek is not just in vegetables, but in connection.

With appreciation,
Brooke