Take A Stand For The Land

Take A Stand For The Land

Dance at Sod House NW of 36-27-10

Dance at Sod House NW of 36-27-10

It is really fortunate that we have such amazing records of familial history on both sides. This is a small story with huge heart of my husbands' people who came to Canada in 1903 with lots of hopes and dreams to build a good life on the wide and wild prairie.

 

They arrived from England in 1903. In April of 1905 they set off by ox team from Saskatoon to their newly claimed land section in the (then) N.W. Territories. The province of Saskatchewan did not get established till later that year. They lived in a tent until they could build their sod house. Although great grandfather was a very good carpenter he did not know that you built the sod house first and then could lumber line it from the inside. He built a frame first and then put sod around it. Well it worked but wasn't as efficient as the usual way.

 

These were amazingly efficient homes when you consider it. A floor was dug down below the frost line and filled with chips and then a thick layer of packed clay. The temperature of the earth stays fairly constant once you dig below the frost line. The best sods were cut from dried out slough areas as the roots were much thicker and therefore held the house together much better. The sods were usually about 100mm deep by 0.91m wide by 1.5m long. These were then layered to the height you wanted and a roof put on. It was solid sod on three sides with door and windows only on one side, away from the wind. The high density of the earth changes temperature very slowly and so provided a fairly consistent temperature even when the temperatures fluctuated between -40C in winter to +40 in summer.

 

Great grandparents' home became the centre of the social scene. A dance was held in their sod home every two weeks and a Club was formed. Music was supplied by several bachelors and Mr. Bert had a gramophone. Great grandmother would clear the room of beds and stuff and put them in the shed. Dances started at 8 pm and carried on until morning. Great grandmother and grandmother Flo served two lunches. One at midnight and the other before the dance ended in the mornings. The Club would all contribute to these goods. At the end of the season the Club presented the family with an armchair and a rocker to thank them for their hospitality and the express how much the community appreciated the fun.

 

It is easy to think that times were tough in those days and they were, but it is sure wonderful and inspiring to know that they took the time to enjoy friends and music and dance the night away on a regular basis. It must have been great fun.

 

Everyone had arrived in Canada with similar hopes, dreams and aspirations. Everyone was a stranger and yet they formed tight and solvent communities in a very short time. Everyone pitched in, helped each other out. They worked hard together and then they played and rejoiced in their accomplishments.

 

I had the pleasure of knowing Grandmother Flo for a short time. She was a woman ahead of her time. She was the forerunner of the woman's movement let me tell you. She was great. Still took the stairs instead of the elevator at 98, liked to beat men at cards and liked her finger of rye each night.

 

Don't make them like that anymore.

KNIT WIT

It is the time of year where the pressures of the farm are on low dial for now. It gives me the luxury of fiddling around and about the house. About a month ago I was looking for Christmas paper to wrap something and it started something really big. I got very upset and angry with myself as I began to realize how much stuff I had accumulated and saved for all the rainy days. I am one of those, " I might need this one day" kind of people. Well I just don't have room anymore for all the "one day" things.

 

It is now at least a month later and I am still sorting and organizing and ruthlessly throwing out those "one day I'll use it things."

 

My biggest load of stuff has turned out to be all the knitting and crochet paraphernalia I have accumulated over 30 + years. I have thrown very little out to be truthful but it was truly all over the place. It is now organized and all in one place. It is labelled and sorted and I certainly don't need to purchase yarn or patterns for, well, almost forever.

 

Of all the creative things I have learned to do and love to do in my life this has got to be the one I enjoy most. It gives me endless hours of quiet pleasure. All the studies that tell you to do crosswords and stuff have nothing on learning and creating a challenging pattern of stitches. Plus you get something lovely you have created and can give yourself or someone else.

 

So the clutter is down to a minimum. Its a good feeling. Probably the only one who needs to fear me once I am through with sorting my things is my husband. Workshop. Watch out !!!  "ha, ha. Only kidding honey."



A Story of Soup

Today I made soup. One of my favourite foods. I grew up on a lot of soup. The Germans have a word for creating soup. EINTOPF, it means one pot. At the end of the week everything leftover goes into one pot and it becomes soup. The origin of the word soup is suppa.  An old word, before Latin even. In German the word for soup is still suppe. It means "to sop".

 

Until bread was invented there was NO soup. Only a thick kind of gruel at best. Made from pounded grains or plants with maybe some meat cooked into it.( It doesn't sound good.) The "sop" part of soup is the thick slice of bread that was placed on the bottom of the bowl and then the soup ladled over it to sop it up.

 

Soups could be very, very nutritious when cooked over a length of time to extract the goodness of the marrow in the bones and stuff. The soup became a staple food in most medieval homes. They could afford to make soup from basically the scraps of leftover food, especially the bones which couldn't be eaten and were until then thrown to the dogs.

 

What is most interesting is that the invention of soup also beget the first restaurant. The word comes from the root "to restore". A Frenchman had the brilliant idea to make a nutritious soup and sell it to the weary travellers who needed something with sustenance to restore their energy.

 

Now you understand my little drawing. No criticism please. Drawing on the tablet isn't the easiest thing to do but I am trying. As good as it gets folks.

 

A little bit of fun - "oui?"

 

Types of Soup

Bouillon -concentrated

brown stock

Consomme -clarified

brown stock

Broths -clear

Jellied -made from

bones and clarified

Vegetable -prepared

with or without meat

Puree -with/without

cream

Bisques -shellfish based

cream soup (my fave)

Chowders -thick, fish

meat and vegie base

Fruit soups - huh???

what ?? (if you are

European you know.

I grew up on this.

Delicious !!! )

Pie in the Sky

Today I was preparing a turkey pie for our supper and my stream of thought took me to thinking about pie crusts and their purpose. Preserving food was a very difficult task before refrigeration, freezers and canning. These are all very recent methods of keeping our foods fresher, longer. Food had to be dealt with quickly and eaten within a very short time. 

Pie crusts became a way of keeping the food within them a few days longer. They were made with lard and usually in a heavy, deep dish. The crust would be thick and heavy as to envelope the food and protect it. It was most often a meat dish. Usually hunted game or pork. It was baked in a wood fired oven and then set to cool. 

Pie cupboards were created to keep the vermin out of the food. They were made mostly of wood with holes (vents) drilled into the sides to allow air to flow through. The vents were tacked with bits of metal grating so no creatures could get in. 

These pie safes, as they were called, are very collectable now and often found as decorative furniture in some homes. 

My mother tells of a story when she was young. The pie safe was full of goodies as Christmas was near. My grandmother had a lock on it. She was out and so my grandfather conspired with the children to enter the cupboard from below and remove some of the tasty morsels. He was positively delighted to be conducting this prank with the children and all anticipated how my grandmother would react once she discovered the theft !

I don't think you have to imagine too hard how my grandmother reacted. At first she just couldn't figure it out but once she did she was angry. Problem was, she couldn't get mad at the children because their father had set them to it. 

Needless to say they didn't try it a second time. Its always interesting to me how food got to be presented the way it is. There is always a story, usually practical and makes perfect sense. 

By the way. Our turkey pie tonight was delicious. 

A TISKET, A TASKET, A LOOK IN MY BASKET.....

"hi" everyone. The New Year is upon us. What will it bring ? In german there is a great saying for the new year that roughly translates as "wishing you a good slide into the new year." That is what I wish for everyone, including myself. A good, smooth ride for us all throughout 2014.

I have been very silent on this blog for a long time but the past year and a half have drained me of any urge to post. There were challenges to life that took priority and needed my full attention. Life is like that. It takes you where you are needed most at the time. Suffice to say that for the time being life is on a more even keel and sailing along.

I have had the urge to open the blog and write for some time now. Sometimes I do believe I think far too hard about what to write and once I get going all the well thought out thoughts change as they begin to form words on the screen.

The picture of my basket has inspired me today. Its a glimpse into my life on a daily basis. A basket that appears to collect and disperse various objects throughout the day. Right now it has accumulated what is going on today. The farm has allowed me a bit of down time and so I am reading my first Alice Munro book, learning some new crochet techniques with my new hooks and a book about how to create the best blogs !  The binoculars were a rush to take a better look at a bald eagle outside my window alighting in the pine tree and looking with great curiousity at something on or in the tree. When I opened the window to see he took off. There does appear to be something high up on the tree's trunk that is attracting his attention. Might be a squirrel hole.

So on this eve of the last day of 2013 I am being drawn back to the door I closed for a while and opening it again. That's the wonderful thing about doors. They are never really closed forever. You can choose to walk through at any time. What you see when you open it the next time, now that is something we can never know until we open it.

It feels good to be standing with the door open again as I enter the coming year.

Again. " I wish you ALL a good ride through 2014. "



tisket, a tasket. a day in my basket.
 

A Wortcunner - to know plants

I learned a new word recently. "Wortcunner"  A wortcunner, a simpler . Wortcunners were those that lived with and understood plants on another level. These were the folks, the wise women who truly understood all the ways of plants. Not just what they were useful for but the magick of them as well. They learned and knew how to engage the "spirit" of the plant and see beyond what was seen by the naked eye.

I have always loved and been forever enamored with plants. I grew up in the city but we had a lovely garden and our neighbour, Mr. Wilson, had a double lot and grew flowers for the florists in Vancouver. Chrysanthemums by the hundreds of every colour and variety. Our home was always full of flowers. My mother always had spring flowers and lots of roses in the garden. We had a weeping cherry tree in the front yard and I can remember countless hours spent lying under the graceful, bent down branches. It was like a living tent that hid me in the garden and allowed my spirit to roam free.

My mother has often told me what a "vivid" imagination I had. I was always communicating with living things and telling my mother the stories they were telling me. Lucky me that my mother never told me to "stop that nonsense !" My mother has always thought that I would become a writer and I guess in a way I have. I have many stories inside me.

It is interesting that as I become older I am also remembering and retrieving memories of "simpler" times. As an adult I went to school and studied herbal medicine and have taken countless courses to learn as much as I can about plants and how they can help us. But my "true" love has always been the "magick" of them. What they can tell us if we move past the physical reality and see beyond, into the ethers.

Plantago lancelata - Ribwort plantain 

Plants are SO much more "connected" than we are. Of course they are ! They are "rooted" into the earth and grow under the influence of planetary forces and so much more. They are here to help us this much I know. We cannot live without them. 

grows under the influence of Venus. 

I have spent a lifetime trying to figure out what I really want to be when I grow up. "EUREKA" I have found it, in the definition of this very appropriate word, wortcunner. I am an aspiring wortcunner and still have a lot to learn. The plants will teach me and I am doing  my very best to be a worthy student. 

Stay tuned :-)

The Natural World

To see a World in a Grain of Sand,

comfrey

  And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the Palm of your hand,

  And Eternity in an hour.

          William Blake

  

 

 

I have often sat amongst the natural flora and fauna of my surroundings and allowed myself  to become immersed in the moment of what is taking place around me. It is always a deep and thoughtful experience. 

It takes me "out" of "who" I am and into the realm of being part of the whole experience of the living world. To really "look" at a flower, a stone, a handful of soil takes time and focus. It is really a type of meditation that leaves me feeling very, very connected and "rooted" into the living, natural world. 

These "trips" have made me SO much more aware of my surroundings all the time. Where am I going ?, What am I doing ? How are my footsteps, my body, my energy impacting the space I am filling ?

horsetail

At this time of year the farm is very, very busy. There is a lot to do. Lots of planting of seeds and transplants and walking on the earth. Cultivated or not the soil is a "living" skin that deserves our respect when we move over it. 

When we are teaching and educating interns here on the farm part of the learning is becoming "aware" of yourself and how you impact the space with every move you make. Learning to walk with your eyes to the ground and being mindful of where you are stepping and what you are stepping on. Our large bodies can do a lot of damage as we mindlessly brush by plants without being conscious of them. We would never "bump" into another person without excusing ourselves and plants deserve the same good manners. Each participant is encouraged to touch, feel, smell, taste and "think about" what they are experiencing.   

So many years of observing and teaching "newcomers" gives me an indication of why it is so difficult to get the masses to be more supportive and responsive to environmental concerns and issues. Most people move through their environments almost "devoid" of consciousness.  The body and head are NOT connected with their physical actions. They have to get from point A to point B but not really paying attention to how they will get there in a mindful, respectful manner, with the least impact and footprint behind them.

tulips

The most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life is to choose to use the farm as a "tool" to charm the uninitiated into coming here and having them discover themselves through more conscientious awareness of their surroundings and observing the Natural World. That soil and worms and bugs and plants are NOT "yucky" but important,  living things that are valuable and vital to their microcosms. Look at them within the context of their environments and they are no longer those "yucky" things but beautiful in their own right.

fawn lillies

Change happens through learned experiences, one person at a time. The student becomes the teacher and so it passes from one to the next. Once the "earth" has "soiled" you, there is no turning back.

That is Magical !

 

Plan Now, Reap Later

By now many of you will have ordered seeds or even begun working in your gardens or greenhouses. It is a great time of year, before it gets much busier, to do a little planning.

Plan on paper. Draw out your area. Label the beds and rows and determine what is going where according to your crop rotation cycle.

Plan for your needs. Order/ purchase seeds/ plants. Look at your tools. What needs fixing, sharpening, replacing? Can I get something new ? Have a look at your irrigation needs. Are hoses, pipes, sprinklers in good working order ? Has anything changed with water tables, wells ? Is the pump in good repair ?

 Plan to assess and walk your garden more this year. There is an old saying "THE BEST FERTILIZER IS THE FARMER'S SHADOW." This could not be more true ! Walk through your garden regularly at every time of day to properly "SEE" and inspect what is going on. Are the plants thoroughly watered ? Are there too many weeds? Are the plants disease free ? Are there any pests evident ? By walking about on a regular basis you will notice what needs to be taken care of and dealt with quickly before it becomes a problem.

Most of all PLAN to enjoy every moment you have in your gardens and they will reward you abundantly !

Saving Seeds

 Tomato seeds are one of the easiest types of seed to save. This is usually done in September when fruits are at their peak and seeds have filled the fruit cavities.

We usually try and take seed from a number of plants of the same variety looking for the most robust tomato off of each vine.

I bring them into the house and cut them open and literally squeeze, squish the seeds out and into clean mason jars. I add some water to cover them. Unchlorinated water. Then they are allowed to sit for a week or more until a scum forms and the fruit itself is beginning to rot.

Black Plum

At this point I empty the contents of the jar into a clean bucket and rinse, rinse, rinse the seeds till they are free of the membrane and tissue connecting the seeds to the fruit.

I use a sifter to pour off the water and collect the seed. Then dump the seeds into the bucket again and again. I repeat this process until I am happy they are cleaned.

With newspaper I make a kind of blotter paper to absorb the water as the seeds dry. I fold up the paper so it is about 8-10 layers thick and put a piece of clean, white paper towel on top. 
This way I can see the seeds. I prepare one blotter for each variety and label them with black felt markers. Each day I remove the paper towel gently and refold the newspaper so a new "dry" spot is exposed. Then I put the paper towel with the seeds back on top. This way the moisture is "wicked" away quicker.
Spread the seeds out so they don't touch as much as possible and make sure they dry thoroughly otherwise you are going to have rot and mold once you put them into envelopes and store them.

Brown Berry

Heritage seed tomatoes that are open-pollinated give you the best chance of having a favorite variety come true. This is one of the best reasons for growing heritage seeds. It helps to keep diversity going.

It may seem odd that I am writing about saving seeds now but it is time to start bringing out the seeds you have saved and begin growing them out. Early varieties can certainly be started now.

If you haven't saved seed then now is the time to check out Seedy Saturdays and local farmer's markets for growers of local seeds so you get the pick from the best selection.

If you have a garden planner, journal or calendar think about putting a note on it for the month of August that you need to begin thinking about and selecting what tomato seeds you might want to save and preserve for next year. I do this a lot for all kinds of reminders. Some things have marginal windows of opportunity in the gardening year and the only way is to remind myself as the date draws near.

Saving seed. I really hope you'll all give it a try.

SEEDS

catkins on alders

 The signs are everywhere. The landscape is "waking" up from its' winter sleep. Time to start planting for the upcoming season.

fragrant violets

The first seed order should be arriving in the mail soon.

Seeds are the most amazing things. Each one holding the complete potential of a new living plant.

Each one is an embryo plant. Each has enough food stored within it to feed itself until it has formed a root and seed leaves. It takes about 10 to 30 days to reach that stage. Then the process of manufacturing food begins.  The little plant needs air, warmth, light, moisture and access to nutrients to grow on. Vegetative growth occurs at the tips of roots and stems.

seeded trays of early greens

Utmost care must be taken handling these precious seedlings when transplanting. They each have only ONE stem and ONE root . They can afford to lose a leaf but not the others. The best way to handle the plant is by holding it on one of the leaves and gently placing it into the soil.
This transaction should be done as quickly and efficiently as possible so the plant has the best chance of recovery from this "trans plant" shock.

It is truly amazing to be part of process of watching a plant go from seed to fully matured and ready for harvest. From a small beginning to a plant that is often hundreds times the size of the original seed in a matter of months.

It never ceases to astonish and surprise me.

All the Right Tools

 I know why I love baking and gardening.

Both let me get my hands into it.
As a child I remember how much I liked "feeling" things.
The many different textures and sensations.
Nothing has changed. I still like it !

 I also learned from my mother that having the right tool for a job made things a lot easier in the kitchen.
I do everything with hand tools.
I have cultivated quite a collection over the years.
When I am in the thrift stores I am always on the look out for those forgotten, neglected hand gadgets that don't get used by most people anymore. Many of mine were old when I got them but they work like new every time and have stood the test of time.
They don't make things like that anymore.



On bake day, out come the essential tools I need to accomplish the task of creating wonderful breads and more.

 Best of all I get to have my hands involved. They are absolutely my BEST tool. They give me the ability to feel, sense and know when the doughs are at their right moment.

Dough is alive and has different feelings through the course of its' creation from culture to bread.  


I love being in my kitchen and knowing
that I have all the things I need at
my fingertips so that I can pull up my
sleeves and get my hands busy whenever it strikes me.

Working in the garden or out in the fields is the same. The work goes a whole lot better when the tools are there when you need them.
Mostly though I like to have my hands in the soil, feeling it and knowing it. When I think about it I already knew as a child what my destiny was going to be.

Thank goodness my inner child followed through.

RAGS TO RAGS

I like to think nothing goes to waste around here. 

This sweatshirt has seen better days. 

I cut off all the seams and then cut everything into pieces small enough to stuff into a pocket and carry around with me. 

Handy for cleaning off a tool, my hands, the sweat off my brow.

You can never have enough rags.

Ground Beetles

Harpalus pennsylvanicus 

aka BIG DINGY GROUND BEETLE

Today I got reacquainted with one of our gardens beneficial predators. 

I was out pruning a rose bush and disturbed his habitat. I was lucky enough to get these great photos of him. 

This is a regular ground beetle. It is one of our most common beetles. 

Quick to scurry when disturbed.  Usually found under rocks, plant litter, old pots or just below the soil surface. 

Never harm them as they are ferocious eaters of many of our pest insects.  I love the way the light shows off his iridescent shell. Beautiful.

Spring is Teasing Us

Snowdrops along the creek

The weather has been spectacular and warm and sunny the past three days. We have recorded a high of 12C during the day but it went down to -1C last night with hard frost this morning. It was even colder up in the open fields. The weather in general has been above normal since late January. The propagation greenhouse is bursting with seedlings but they are afforded the warmth and protection of a more controlled environment. We can close the doors and put covers over the heated propagation tables. It is all too tempting to try and plant something out too soon. Our records show that we have received frosts as late as the final week of May. I have a few videos from the last 3 years alone that show all too clearly how quickly a hail storm can wreak havoc here. We always have plastic covers ready to put over plants just in case. More than once we have been found scrambling to get tender, precious seedlings under cover out of the weather. A good guide is to prune your roses when the forsythia bloom. Forsythia are one of our earliest blooming shrubs with their bright yellow flowers. Branches can be cut and brought indoors for a forced bloom. What this tells you is that this plant will only bloom when the temperature is of a reliable warmth. Some plants are genetically predisposed to bloom at a certain time irregardless of temperature and some can gauge when is the right time. Forsythia is of the latter. Roses can still die if they are pruned back too far too early. So as tempting as it is to get started with clearing and cleaning and planting and pruning be wary of what time of year this still is. It is only mid-February folks.Go out, stroll through your gardens and take a peek at all the lovely plants bursting forth to spur on the coming of spring. Turn the compost, clean up the yard, order seeds, plant seeds indoors. There is lots to do. It feels good !

Aconites

Sweet Violets

Blissing Out On A Glorious Day

Today was a spectacularly glorious day. The first day of this new year that one could see, smell, sense the spring in the air. A fine day to be part of. I sat at the beach across from the farm. The tide was out and Waterloo Creek was burbling it's way to meet the sun sparkling sea. The sounds, the sights, the mood, all was good and felt good. Bliss.

Breaking the blog Fast with Bread

Its been awhile since I last posted. Winter is our down time. There are always things to tend to on a farm but for the most part it is quieter and easier to convince yourself to take a load off and read a book, visit a friend, take a walk, linger over morning coffee. We spend much of our time conversing on the past season and the season coming up. There are the usual seed catalogues to look through and plans to make for the coming year. Already the requests for farm stays and apprentices are being interviewed and booked. This winter has been somewhat different in that we have had a new "toy" to play with and figure out. This past summer we built a french Canadian style bread oven. It was curing until November and in the meantime I was practicing with bread recipes and culturing a good sour dough starter. Our first bake was in late November and we have been baking weekly since then. We have had a few failures but surprisingly few. Even the burnt bread was great inside ! We have made pizzas and cakes and use the residual fire to bake one of our organic chickens slowly in a cast iron pot that roasts and browns the chicken to perfection ! It is a real learning curve figuring out how long the fire has to burn to get the interior hot enough long enough. Then the fire comes out and the oven has to "soak". The timing is everything. Bryne is working the fire and I am working the doughs so that all is ready at the same time. Coordination and being organized is key . There is not much that can top the taste of bread baked on the hearth. The essence and energy of all the elements that come together to form this most ordinary of foods becomes extraordinary !

Folk Lore and Tales of Christmas Past

CELEBRATION OF ST. MARTINSTAG IN ERMLAND, PRUSSIA

My mother, Margarete was born in East Prussia in 1923. Her homeland is located in the north eastern portion of what is now Poland. Historically in recent centuries this is a predominantly catholic part of the world. The traditions and observances are a rich mix of blending Christian systems with ancient pagan customs and ritual. During my mother’s childhood she knew of no one who wasn’t catholic and grew up being told and believing that anyone not of the catholic faith would look like a monster. She was very surprised and happy when she ventured forth in the world that this was not true.

My mother grew up in a very different time, ripe with old, observed customs and traditions that shaped their lives. I am fascinated by the stories she tells me of life back then. It is really quite remarkable how recently this way of life was lived and yet it seems like a life from a century and time much older than my mother.

A few weeks ago I asked her to tell me about some significant memory she might still have about Christmas. Well, well, well, little did I know what a fascinating tale she was about to enter me into.

St. Martinstag, November 11. As a child she remembers living in a kind of excited anticipation and fear of this day. A man on a white horse carrying a switch brought children apples, nuts and sweets. So why the fear? I will tell you all later as the history of this day unfolds.

My Tante Trudi, mother’s sister in Germany has privileged me with quite detailed memories which she and my uncle have written down for me and sent me by email. They gave me an incredible insight to some of the customs and traditions that were observed during the Christmas time. With the help of friends and internet to assist with some of the more difficult translations I have been able to piece together some insights and understanding to the unbelievably rich and colourful practices that were part of life back in the days. Life may not have been easy but it was deep with traditions and rituals that guided how the year was lived.

St. Martin was a saint who existed from c.317 – 397. A roman soldier who legend has it became significant for his kindness to a beggar. Story told that he took his red cloak and cut it in half to share with the beggar who was freezing in a snowstorm. Feeling unworthy of becoming a bishop Martin hid in a stable full of geese that made such a cackle that the people of Tours found him and consecrated him as a bishop. This is why the eating of goose became tradition in Germany and other European countries at Christmas time. My aunt wrote that the slaughtering of the geese on St.Martinstag was a significant event in each village and household on this day. Every part of the goose was made into something delectable. A favourite was “Blutflinsen” (pickled web feet) of the goose. Some of the geese were hung in the frost to cure in time for Christmas dinners. Geese were also used to pay taxes and wages and leases and more. What?? Please explain.

St. Martinstag marked the end and beginning of the “natural” year. It indicated the end of harvest, the completion of the farming cycle. It clearly became the “natural” day on which to pay taxes, sign and renew leases, begin and end employment contracts. Not many people actually had money so much was paid in what was called “Naturalien”, goods that were naturally produced. It was also the one day a year you could leave your employment and you would be given a goose as a bonus. New maids, helpers, farm workers were hired on this day as well. Young women were always accompanied by their fathers or head of household to the new employ and were given coffee and bread and the father even a Schnapps! Once business was taken care of the slaughtering of the geese began and was the “high point” of this festive day! Delving into some of the mysteries behind these customs reveals connections to pagan rituals of animal sacrifices from long, long ago. There were also sacrifices to the wine.  This was the day on which the Martinsminne was drunk. The first wine drunk from the vintage year. It was believed that this wine taken at Martinmas would bring beauty and strength to all who took it. Needless to say the young men and women imbibed! The traditional toast was “ Raise the glass at Martinmas, Drink wine all through the year. “It was a time to drink, eat and celebrate before the strict observance of the 40 days of Lent and fasting before Christmas.

November 11, Martinmas made it officially winter and lamps and candles could now be lit so the spinning and weaving and knitting could begin. The women and girls would work feverishly until Christmas to complete pullovers, socks, gloves and scarves in time for gift giving. All gifts had to be practical and needed. The men set about making spoons and bowls and other useful items. Spinning and weaving traditionally carried on until February 2 and then stopped.  Candlemas, the end of winter and a new season of cultivation and harvest would begin.

So now we are getting to the story of my mother being frightened on St. Martinstag. When it snows on St.Martinstag (which it usually did), the saint would ride in on a white horse. The Schimmel reiter would appear. The ghost horse rider. In my mother’s region he was more ominous than other parts of Europe. He was called the Peltzmartin, the Skin Martin. He would have a blackened face and wore a cow bell on him and he would run around wildly along with the symbolic bear and stork and they would nip at the heels of the children and snap the beak at the children’s faces and rap their feet with the birch tree sticks. The symbolic chimney sweep would have his hands in the kachel ofen and with his smeared hands blacken the faces of the hausfrauen, wives and women. Use your imagination, how frightening this would be. They would finish by leaving the children apples, nuts and Pfefferkuchen, a traditional sweet.

This annual visit and custom is more reminiscent of ancient pagan rituals than a visit from a Christian bishop. The folk ritual of using boughs and branches from sacred trees to hit the children with were not forms of punishment but a way of driving away evil influences.  The birch endowed the qualities of purity, light and new beginnings. Farmers traditionally flogged, slapped and beat everything with young birch branches in the spring that was to flourish. So in a cultural sense children were being blessed with these qualities. These “loving” floggings were a symbolic form of making a physical connection with the life-giving virtues of the tree. In this way the treats the children were given in the form of apples and nuts were a way “ingesting” and “internalizing” the nature spirit and virtues of the sacred tree.

So today, in modern times St. Martinstag is observed as a children’s affair throughout Germany, Austria and a few other countries. The children wear costumes and make lanterns to light the way. This evening procession is often led by the red cloaked rider on a white horse. These processions usually culminate with a Martinsfeuer, a huge bonfire at the end of the parade. Everyone is merry with food, singing and dancing. Christmas is coming soon and not far off.

Little thought is given to what we do and how we do it. It seems like it has always just been done that way but everything had a “first time.” Those first times are steeped in culture and ancient knowledge of why a thing must be done. For myself the unearthing and discoveries of these exquisite morsels of experiences connect me to myself, my family and my ancestors. I am those people, those traditions, those experiences. They are passed on to each and every one of us in vitro and flow through us and our spirit each and every day. What is so astonishing is when we find the stories that reveal us to our past.

“Thank you Mom for sharing your fears.”

Earth and Soil

There is a lot talked about and written about the secrets to good soil. Are there really secrets ? Soil isn't trying to hide anything from us. Its all there, all the time just doing what it does. It doesn't really care what you know or don't know. What is important is that you want to use it so you can grow good, strong ,healthy plants in it without trying to harm it and kill it. Intentions are important because consequences, good or bad are a given. It is important that I am aware that I am borrowing a place in  time upon which to make a momentary impression. I should do everything I can to keep this "borrowed" space as balanced and healthy as possible for future use. I am able to come, go, leave if I wish, soil and it's living, breathing community do not have this option. What I do to this place will affect what comes after me. I am only one, the community of soil contains countless living, breathing, functioning organisms. Soil is the "skin" of the earth and a sensitive, delicate one at that. It is a living mantle that inspires and exhales just as y
At the market when we are selling our vegetables we often get told that the customer is impressed with how long it keeps once they have it at home and how intensely good the vegetables taste. How do we do it ? Is there a secret ? I have said this before and will say it again. Food crops are the high maintenance plants of the plant kingdom. Seeds have been bred and hybridized to the point of being unrecognizable from their original source. Once seeded and planted these crops are over indulged with fertilizers, sprayed with herbicides and fungicides so that the plants really don't have to do anything on their own to survive. Here at the farm the vegetables and fruits have to cope in an environment that forces them to adapt and play a role in their own survival. They compete with weeds, insects, weather and neglect on our part. Its impossible, no matter how hard we try to get to everything all the time, on time. The beauty and perhaps the secret is that the plants grow in spite of it and are hardier and more robust because of it.

The next step is that when we are able to save seeds from these plants we are actually creating future plants that develop chemical signals to better cope in the natural environment. They will store this information in the seeds we collect. Soil and seed will collaborate and create the proper environment for growth.

I like to use the analogy of a walk in the forest. I haven't met anyone taking a walk through a natural forest who wants to start cleaning it up and organizing it into straight, organized rows and such.  Most of us come away in awe and admiration for these beautiful spaces. Forests don't need us to keep them healthy and vibrant. These environments are living examples of how nature looks after itself. Everything in nature has a role and a purpose. The trees, plants, animals, insects, the water, the rocks, the fungi, everything helps to ensure that the cycle of life continues.  We need to take a little more of this example back into our own man made environments. Create an environment in our yards and gardens that allows nature to do more of the work for us. The soil will re balance itself if you let it. Plants will grow and be healthier and more robust.

You don't need to be a scientist to understand soils and agriculture. You need to get back to basics and common sense.  You need to just look and observe our natural environments and keep being reminded that we should and could adopt a much more "HANDS OFF" approach to our yards and gardens.

Soils take a long, long time to create. It only takes moments to destroy and kill. A teaspoon of natural, healthy soil is teeming with more life and incredible interactions than you can even begin to imagine ! It is a most magnificent example of co-operation and adaptability. It is able to morph and create within itself limitless possibilities. Soil is endlessly fascinating and magic and that is how I want to see it being looked at.

In many ways our ancient ancestors were at an advantage. Everything not understood was "magic" and therefore honoured and celebrated. They didn't understand the why and how of things but they instinctively understood that they were at the mercy of it and depended on it to feed, clothe, house and protect them. They knew to stay away and keep away from the parts of nature that were simply "greater" than anything they could be.

 I know that I cannot make the world what is was forever ago or even yesterday but I can keep exposing myself to nature and let her remind me to be conscious of my footprint and how I move through this world on a daily basis. I make sure I don't close my eyes to the horrid examples of what is being done to the planet. The pain I feel seers through me and I cry and rage and that is a good thing because it keeps me raw and passionate and fighting for kinder, gentler ways to live on the land and share the planet. There is also the incredible beauty of all life and nature that overflows my senses with awe and love.

I have seen firsthand how working the land and physically immersing yourself with the soil and plants influences the mind and spirit. Not only for myself but the hundreds of people who have come and worked on the farm over the past 15 + years. It manifests itself into a more compassionate, thoughtful, mindful  human being. I say this with the utmost confidence. The experience becomes a part of you and the 5 volumes of testimonials written by our farm stays are proof of it.

Soil is epic ! Lets take care of it !

A Two Day Montage of Activity at the Farm

Not going to write too much to go with this video montage. I think the photos will speak for themselves. I will say that fall has always been my favorite time of year. As much as it is a time for slowing down the pace it is the best time of the year for me to be inspired and creative. Maybe its the cooler weather but my head always feels clearer and brighter as fall approaches. As much as I love the warmth that summer days bring I really love the shorter day lengths as it means we don't have to be out working so early and so late. Farming is really ruled by the rhythm of the days and nights and the weather. As long as there is daylight there is always something you could and probably should be tending to. I appreciate the changing seasons and the different day and night lengths.  From the photos I think you will see that there is lots to see and do and observe at this special time of year. Enjoy and be kind to each other.