From Seed, To Field, To Harvest, To Plate

I'll be getting back to the farming way of life in reporting here as so many are seeking new ways to live in a sustainable manner.
The Big Fish and I have created 13 new raised beds, made out of local hemlock.  Last year's cold, wet growing season affected the yields negatively, so we decided if we can't control the weather perhaps we can at least try to somewhat control the growing environment.

My back, neck and shoulders cry out in pain from yesterday's shoveling of manure, and don't it feel good!  My no till method does not appeal to my Big Fish, so these raised beds helped us reach a compromise there...less weeding, no need to till and hopefully greater bounties of garden produce will soon offset the price of lumber used to create the beds.

I am planting all my garlic in raised beds as a local homesteader wowed me with his crop and abundance of the biggest, healthiest cloves I have ever laid eyes on.  Incidentally, he has provided me with 30 plus year old strain from Maine garlic bulbs.  I hope I do him and the garlic proud.  He is a younger grower with his partner, I had stumbled upon their place on one of my many meandering drives.  One day I decided to invade his privacy by stopping by and picking his brain- mainly due to the interesting welded sculpture out front of his raised bed gardens.  A farmer who creates art out of cast aways?  I had to acknowledge my own history of rusty tree hanging Pterodactyls I had made out of auction finds, unable to believe there wasn't still some useful life in old farm tools!  The BF and I pulled right in and were instantly welcomed.

Farmers, gardeners are like that; friendly, open and all about helping another learn something or two about their operations that might lend a hand to your own.  I discovered this kindly cooperation a few years back when attending classes through U of I Farm Beginnings classes.  Through an internship I found many experienced  farmers who were more than happy to share their knowledge and experience if one would help out occasionally with onion planting and other muddy jobs that require physical labor.  I learned along time ago from my Dad,

"if you want to gain something, you must give something in return." 

 Pretty simple logic, tried and true- and a way of life for many years in rural communities.  I'm happy to see that many are returning to sustainability, golden rules and just plain common sense;  you may not be able to see much of that in newspapers, financial institutions, Wall Street, television or what Hollywood puts out- but one can find it in Countryside, a magazine/journal written mostly by people living off the land life.  I subscribe to this magazine as it hits close to home- living, working and sharing experience of one's own way.  Also- talk to your food growers at the farmer's market you attend.  You'll be amazed at the knowledge found there and much of it free for the asking- recipes, growing techniques, seed purity and story.  If you can't ask your grower why, when, where and how, then you've missed an opportunity in learning something truly worth pondering.  From seed, to field, to harvest, to plate- the food we eat has it's origins and your food provider can and should supply that knowledge.  That's as about as honest and common sense as it gets, most difficult these days to find such opinions unless one looks to the earth and to those who coax life from it- giving back more than they take.
Take care-

from, towards and to

I plant the seed,
You make it grow.
You send the rain,
I work the hoe.
(Author unknown)


Seems about time, me being a farmer and all...that I write about my practices. Sustainable agriculture, (or as I like to point out)- is basically farming like our great grandparents did- within the healthy boundaries of budget,environment,productivity, common good and common sense. Rarely did my own kin use anything other than manure to fertilize, rain to moisturize, hand labor, and pretty much just down to earth (for the earth) common sense. They realized, I do believe- that their efforts conveyed a simple acceptance of life and the job at hand. The food they raised upon the earth they so dearly loved was healthy and always a blessing. They took nothing for granted. They worked hard. They rarely complained. They prayed...alot! They shared the fruits of their labor with family, neighbors- pretty much anyone who asked for a sharing of a meal, the breaking of the bread...I remember I remember with great joy- butchering days-hogs and hens and many a rooster, these tasks were done with a spirit of gratitude. Always we helped when Dad would get us there, even though we were kids, my brothers and I-we had a job to do. And after the great and wonderful chores were done, we would always go home with fresh pork, bacon, sausage-the best your tummy could count on. I remember Uncle Hank handing over the craw of the chicken, it would be filled with grain and pebbles-nothing was ever wasted on the farm, we'd gleefully toss it over the fence to the other chickens. Life goes on and on and on...this may seem crude, gross by today's standards-but folks, honestly that food you're eating was once a living member of this society, and someone or some thing way down the line from your own local/corporate grocery line-produced it. These days- so many products on your grocer's shelf have seldom been touched by human hands.Call me a hayseed, but where is the connection there, the one we all flow from, towards and to? In my thinking...( maybe-that's why blogging was created, so we inadvertent writers aren't alcoholics or worse...and we get to say what we think, what we feel, how we process...great gig!)I miss the connection, I do not feel anything for a machine, I cannot.(Except for a certain old gangegreen Ford pickup...& computers- connective devices...)
Is this where we've all lost touch with one another? Could this be the industrial strength bond that has broken our society? Do we not need to feel anymore-the connections? Wake up and smell the horse shit-the roses, the herbs, the freshness, renewable ever resourcing connections-man oh man, it could be this simple...it is this simple for this simple mind. Who grew it? I am grateful for your labor of love. Who built it? Again, much thanks. Almost everything I buy is connected through a relationship with the one or those who produced it. (And not because I think I have all the answers...hell, I don't even understand the questions much of the time- but for some reason beyond me, I have been "touched" with an elevated purpose for common good.)Machines, corporations do not appreciate this gratitude, they do not care for connections. Oh, they advertise sure and lead us to believe that our best interests are at their hearts, but truly I wonder- if our best interests were indeed the common goal-wouldn't they just come out and state this is how this was made, this is where this came from, this may or may not be healthy for the environment, for you, for your family...would they not at the very least supply a label of origin? Or back up what they stand for by standing up for us, their customer? And while I'm at it...who the hell will take my phone call, listen to my concerns? (Don't have to tell you that, now do I.) If, again-there's was an interest of common good. Nothing to hide? Then why is it hidden?
Just my thoughts, my opinions, my write-about-what-you-do, and stay-on-task-here...but, me being a truewonder and all- I work amongst the roots. If the roots are no good, the plant cannot be productive, part of the scheme, the connection...
Just my two cents, not much change really-but even a little change, a little bit of thinking outside the box-stores might do all of us a bit of good.
And one more thing, because I feel the need to say this- Just when did making money over and above what is decent- become ethical? There are too many folks these days who would have us believe that making money by any fashion is ethical.???? Again, smell the horse shit?! It sure does stink.
Climbing down upon the ground... thanks for hanging and hoping with me...take care-
(No spell check net today, technology may be breaking up with me I'm afraid...)