Daily Harvest 11/10/13

Late fall and the garden is still giving. Time to set up hoops and plant more.

Breaking ground for new farmers on Ivory Silo Farm

Some of the first signs of Bill and Ariel's presence as farmers here. Ariel will use most of this for herbs! in the spring.

The beds near the front were planted by Bill-garlic for home use. He is busy planning for veggies in next year's season. We are planning many great things together, like berry orchards. It is exciting to see the amazing potential here sprout new buds again, in such variety. I attribute much of this to the presence of Bill and Ariel who moved into the farmhouse ell recently.

Farmer Ed has help now with stone wall clearing(Bill has cleared this one) and can concentrate on the over all picture. He describes the farm as a huge painting that he is slowly working on...improving one area, then adding to another...over time creating his masterpiece.

Well, he calls it his painting but I consider it a master piece...

If you could only see it.

Early Winter Pumpkin

Carving projects continue due to the abundance of pumpkins and the lack of a marketing plan due to uncertainty in a new crop. In other words we were afraid to plan for the possibility of success.

Pumpkins that rotted or got damaged by frost are being composted or put at the edge of a new field to sprout again next spring.

Sugar pumpkins are being stored, frozen, canned and cooked. Pumpkin Kibbeh is on the list of recipes to perfect.

Musings on the ripening of new possibilities and whether or not we are ready for them

Listening to NPR last night, I learned about a sweet new section or "habitable zone" of the universe that has planets similar to Earth in size and distance from their stars. These planets, although their density is not known, possibly receive the right amount of "energy" which translates to heat creating the right termperature to support life. Tom Ashbrook questioned weather this makes our planet less "special."

Thinking about this made me realize how "special" our home really is. Yes there may be 10-40 billion more planets around 12 light years away that possibly have some form of life(and this new habitable zone is just a small part of our vast universe that we have had a chance to somewhat observe,)but to me that doesnt make Earth less "special," but more. We have a moon, and a view of the Milky Way that is no doubt like no other.

Not to say that other planets will not have a beautiful view. And It is fascinating to speculate what forms life could take on other planets. Someone did call in to question if liquid water was needed to support life or if we would recognize life if it came in a form supported by another liquid. I have always wondered if life exists that we cannot see with our eyes or instruments. Tom Ashbrook wanted to know if "they" were out there mowing their lawns. I am sure some minds try to visualize what these alien neighbors could look like.

 I wondered if these potential beings were peaceful or whether they fight over their precious resources and want to conquer other lands, and planets as we do. One caller called in to ask if this meant we were looking for an exit plan since we are destroying this planet. I have always thought that we need to learn to live here without destroying our environment, other species and each other before we travel to and probably do the same to wherever we find to go. Why is it acceptable that we proceed to eradicate the possibility of life on one planet while looking for others that support life? And why if another could support life wouldn't there already be life there? And why then is it justifiable to expect it to be our "exit plan?" Have we not learned anything from our invasions of other continents here on Earth? The scientist whose team discovered the possibility for life elsewhere put it more eloquently. "My personal opinion is that we need to resolve our differences here before we...(send our 'offspring' to search for other opportunities.") Thank you. Since we cant venture off to explore these places yet because at this point they are millions of years travel time away from us, maybe we have time to learn a few more skills in diplomacy, and work on sustaining ourselves without rendering our current home uninhabitable and losing our unique perspective...

 No matter how many billions of other lifeforms are living in this universe with us there is only one Earth and the more I walk amongst its beauty the more respect I have for the intelligence of its Nature...

and the more I wonder how giving in to greed ignorance and fear could be worth even the possibility of its destruction...

and why do we not believe in the value of each life or conceive that extinction of any creature may possibly lead to our own.

Making Apple Cider 11/3/13

Remember those apples...(see post Daily Harvest 10/21/13 Apple Picking.) Well Tony has a press and wanted to get together to make apple cider, so even though it was a cold day we brought our apples yesterday to help and be helped in the process.

First we washed the apples, and with ours this was no easy task. Our apples were not sprayed with anything and had a layer of fungus or something coating them.

Coming from a very old tree that had not been pruned, they were also small and each one had to be scrubbed.

These are washed and ready for the press.

First they needed to be milled and ground into a slatted bucket covered with cheese cloth.

Then the full bucket of chopped ground apples is pulled forward to be pressed and another bucket is put under the mill.

Pressing...cider flowing...that tasted really good...tart and sweet with a rich flavor.

Apparently all that hard work washing paid off because the color was good and clear. Thanks everyone! Unfortunately or maybe not, I started concentrating on the work and didnt take more pictures of the process after this. But it was really fun. Simon had some food prepared and the younger crowd made a fire to warm up beside. More people showed up to help and watch and gallons of cider were put in the basement to ferment.

Comparing 3 traditions-musings on our march toward death

Halloween October 31st-this years date 10/31/13 which adds up to 9 is very auspicious-celebrates the darker side; death, rot, ghouls and ghosts and gives people a chance to dress up and present any part of themselves they have been repressing or wanting to express. Children are encouraged to go door to door and say "Trick or Treat." Who could give them a trick without a treat? This year I was the wicked queen in Snow White disguised as a peasant woman selling poison apples.
That was my trick, because I did have treats-expensive candy with no artificial anything. However, some of the children expressed an extreme desire to take an apple as well. One little boy didnt even take the candy. He ran away squealing with delight "I got an apple!" while holding it up in the air. Had he never heard of the razor blades that could be in anything not packaged? I wondered as I gave them out-organic apples-how it even would be possible for a misguided individual to disguise a sharp object in a piece of fruit and it not be detected, and hoping these children who really seemed to crave something healthy would be allowed to eat their apples.

According to Wikipedia All Hallow's Eve is a Christianized feast that was originally a Celtic Harvest Festival. It coincides with a late fall Harvest, nuts, apples, roots and squashes-pumpkins!
In pagan and wiccan tradition this is the 3rd and final Harvest Holiday which is the beginning of the Celtic year. This festival is called Samhain.

Samhain November 1st, or more specifically celebrated sunset October 31st to Sunset November 1st is not only the final harvest but symbolizes the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the darker half of the year. Animals were slaughtered for winter and rituals performed like lighting bonfires for cleansing. It was/is seen as a time when the veil between the worlds-the spiritual world of spirits, faeries, elves, etc. and the physical world-is thinner so there is more of a chance to call spirits of the dead or other spiritual beings into the world or to communicate with them. Costumes were worn door to door as one of the rituals. The costumes were possibly employed to disguise oneself from the faery folk. Also places were set at table for ancestors and their spirits were offered to sit and partake in the feast. The Roman Catholic Church changed Samhain to All Saints Day on November 1st and eventually All Souls Day on November 2nd.

All Souls Day as practiced by Western Christianity was to help the souls of the dead who were not cleansed from temporal punishment and could not attain the beatific vision. It is also known as Day of the Dead which is practiced in Mexico and other countries around the world to honor those who have died. Again food-the favorite foods of those deceased being honored-is placed on alters built for the occasion and graves are visited. This tradition is also based in the ancient culture-in this case Aztec culture-and the festival lasting for a month honors a goddess known as The Lady of the Dead. Now in Mexico Dia de los Muertos is celebrated sometimes for 3 days-October 31st through November 2nd. November 1st is often Dia de los Angelitos, honoring children and infants.

It seems that this time of the year which in this half of the hemisphere is when fall brings beautiful death to things in nature has inspired similar festival feasting and ritual. And closer to the equator there was still a celebration involving feasting and honoring ancestors that was celebrated.

I like the idea of a time to honor ancestors and this year I am honoring my grandmothers. I have 3, one is a Great Aunt or distant cousin who was an influential person in my life. I want to thank them all for their love, appreciate what they have shown me, and together strengthen and heal the continuum for those who come after us. And today being November 1st I am honoring my own sweet sister angel and my cat companion of 17 years, Icy.

I liked the idea of the evil Queen at this time of year when the unconscious gets expression and death is the predominant observance. I also liked the idea of a double disguise. A rich woman disguising herself as poor? A middle aged woman disguising herself as old. She expresses her regret in the aging process and exemplifies her envy of youth, or more simply expresses fear(of being left behind.) Although most of us hope to be more graceful in the aging process and generous to those who are in an earlier stage on this continuum than this evil queen, we do regret and we do mourn at many stages in life. This time of year gives voice to those darker fears and feelings. The evil queen uses magic to hold onto her youth, which fall reminds us is impossible, and when she cannot becomes jealous of her step daughter's beauty. Although evil is expressed, it does not win, but what does...is love.

Last nights game pumpkin-while the Red Sox won the world series!

Moon Pumpkin

Sun and Moon and a Star

Carving will go on until Halloween

or until the Red Sox are done keeping us all up late. Or maybe beyond the World Series and Halloween because we still have a lot of pumpkins.

Pumpkin Carving by the farmers

Ed carved and then scooped, and I scooped and then carved.

We were selling pumpkins outside of my house in Boston and we needed some advertising.

Mine still not quite finished...

I tested it with a candle

before going for the final touches...

and adding some more flames.

What people are doing with their pumpkins...

making funny faces...

decorating...

and creating scenes...

and don't forget to roast the seeds...

delicious and nutritious.

A Pumpkin for those who give us shit.

Horse shit that is...manure.

Not only do we practice sustainably-we do not use chemicals and enrich the soil with only compost manure seaweed and fish-but we are careful to make or get these natural fertilizers from those who do not use hormones antibiotics, and other chemicals on/in their animals.

Daily Harvests 10/26/13 final squashes

Little Zukes the day after a frost

and the final pumpkin harvest just before dark. I love the green ones!

We took all but rotten and eaten fruit. It felt like we were the gleaners of our own field. If you haven't seen the film "The Gleaners & I" by Agnes Varda, I highly recommend it.

Daily Harvest 10/25/13 Before a Frost

A lot of Basil

and beans, more cherries and peppers...

and few of hundreds of nasturtium...

Shannon processing the basil...

for Pesto!

Delicious!

After a long day of planting Winter Rye.