Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Book-fed and Sated
In between our daily tasks I take my time to look to the sky; to memorize the September day-moon in dance with the August-steeped sun.
We harvested a patch of gone-to-seed cilantro today and winnowed the coriander seeds. It was a delightful process that felt childlike and wholesome. The feeling of sinking your fingers into tiny oceans of grain. Watching the wind sweep the chaff away while the seeds chime into the bowl below. Having seeds for next year's cilantro and also the coriander to use as a spice. I love how the earthy aroma lingers on my fingers...
I've been reading a lot this summer as I am known to do. The last two books I devoured were Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Both of these books re-affirmed my love for life (and food) and my conviction that individuals can do what they are meant to do and affect the world in small and wonderful ways.
Reading Timequake is like sitting down to dinner with a good friend (or attending a clambake with a few). Having read so many of his books and being so deeply affected by his humanism, Vonnegut has been a good friend to me as I'm sure he was to many. This particular book was written towards the end of his career and life (he's up in heaven now) and is a semi-autobiographical romp through ten years "re-lived". Heavily doused with Trout-isms and Vonnegut's special brand of humour, at the end of this book I felt happy to be alive.
In The Omnivore's Dilemma you are invited to sit down with Pollan for three meals that he details from corn-field through slaughter-house all the way to the table. I've wanted to read this book ever since I read another of his books, In Defense of Food, back in December. Pollan is a great lover of food and his journalistic research is peppered with personal reflection and musings that make his books both intensely informative and hilarious.
Reading these two books back to back and being so immersed in the cultivation and culture of food has led me to answer the question: If you could have dinner with three people living or dead, who would they be?
Definitely Micheal Pollan and Kurt Vonnegut. For the third, obviously I must choose a woman. Frida Kahlo perhaps?
We harvested a patch of gone-to-seed cilantro today and winnowed the coriander seeds. It was a delightful process that felt childlike and wholesome. The feeling of sinking your fingers into tiny oceans of grain. Watching the wind sweep the chaff away while the seeds chime into the bowl below. Having seeds for next year's cilantro and also the coriander to use as a spice. I love how the earthy aroma lingers on my fingers...
I've been reading a lot this summer as I am known to do. The last two books I devoured were Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Both of these books re-affirmed my love for life (and food) and my conviction that individuals can do what they are meant to do and affect the world in small and wonderful ways.
Reading Timequake is like sitting down to dinner with a good friend (or attending a clambake with a few). Having read so many of his books and being so deeply affected by his humanism, Vonnegut has been a good friend to me as I'm sure he was to many. This particular book was written towards the end of his career and life (he's up in heaven now) and is a semi-autobiographical romp through ten years "re-lived". Heavily doused with Trout-isms and Vonnegut's special brand of humour, at the end of this book I felt happy to be alive.
In The Omnivore's Dilemma you are invited to sit down with Pollan for three meals that he details from corn-field through slaughter-house all the way to the table. I've wanted to read this book ever since I read another of his books, In Defense of Food, back in December. Pollan is a great lover of food and his journalistic research is peppered with personal reflection and musings that make his books both intensely informative and hilarious.
Reading these two books back to back and being so immersed in the cultivation and culture of food has led me to answer the question: If you could have dinner with three people living or dead, who would they be?
Definitely Micheal Pollan and Kurt Vonnegut. For the third, obviously I must choose a woman. Frida Kahlo perhaps?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A New Year
It is a gorgeous day here and is supposed to get up to 37 degrees! My birthday was this past Friday, the 13th, and it was so lovely. We had fresh garden pasta for dinner and watched the Perseid meteors fly overhead late at night.
Recently I received an email from my mum asking me what our plans were for when we are done at Sapo Bravo. In responding I realized that we didn't have to do the conventional thing, to move back to the city and get jobs and an apartment again. We can do anything!
We started talking about the possibility of doing more farming somewhere in the world where it isn't winter. New Zealand was discussed but we've decided that Hawaii is the place for us. We can fly directly there from Vancouver and as Canadian citizens we can stay for 6 months without trouble.
Now we are in the throes of planning another trip and it feels like we just got back from the last one! I love my life.
Recently I received an email from my mum asking me what our plans were for when we are done at Sapo Bravo. In responding I realized that we didn't have to do the conventional thing, to move back to the city and get jobs and an apartment again. We can do anything!
We started talking about the possibility of doing more farming somewhere in the world where it isn't winter. New Zealand was discussed but we've decided that Hawaii is the place for us. We can fly directly there from Vancouver and as Canadian citizens we can stay for 6 months without trouble.
Now we are in the throes of planning another trip and it feels like we just got back from the last one! I love my life.
Monday, August 2, 2010
A Poem
listening to the coyotes laugh
as the night falls, soft and dark
the golden whisky in my glass
glows in the cabin's candlelight.
I stay inside, enveloped in the warmth
and shadows
they dance inside and out.
those old worn-down mountains
casting dog voices all around
like rocks falling into the canyon
and the river laps them up
a tongue in the valley
and a voice,
it speaks.
my moon winks and watches
she's most patient in the night
covering it with her light
she can see every ripple
on the silver-snake back
of the talking river.
but what does the river say
to make the coyotes laugh?
as the river flows she speaks,
the gravely voice of ancients.
in her throat rocks rub and crash
chortling and choking,
"you laugh at me, as I run fast
and slow through seasons. you,
dogs!, laugh as the mountain
crowds me with sediment
fills in my depths and
makes me brown with ages.
you laugh because you do not see
I eat the mountain
as the mountain eats me
and where will you laugh
when we have eaten one another?
when only the moon stands to see?
and the coyotes laugh
because the know, as always,
the river or the falling rocks
will set them free.
my moon winks and watches
and shares a drink with me.
as the night falls, soft and dark
the golden whisky in my glass
glows in the cabin's candlelight.
I stay inside, enveloped in the warmth
and shadows
they dance inside and out.
those old worn-down mountains
casting dog voices all around
like rocks falling into the canyon
and the river laps them up
a tongue in the valley
and a voice,
it speaks.
my moon winks and watches
she's most patient in the night
covering it with her light
she can see every ripple
on the silver-snake back
of the talking river.
but what does the river say
to make the coyotes laugh?
as the river flows she speaks,
the gravely voice of ancients.
in her throat rocks rub and crash
chortling and choking,
"you laugh at me, as I run fast
and slow through seasons. you,
dogs!, laugh as the mountain
crowds me with sediment
fills in my depths and
makes me brown with ages.
you laugh because you do not see
I eat the mountain
as the mountain eats me
and where will you laugh
when we have eaten one another?
when only the moon stands to see?
and the coyotes laugh
because the know, as always,
the river or the falling rocks
will set them free.
my moon winks and watches
and shares a drink with me.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wonder
We have the afternoon off after working from 6am-6pm on Wednesday and 6am-8pm yesterday! It is a smokey day, hot and hazy due to the forest fires up the valley. The quality of light is so special right now and I found myself in the garden this afternoon just wandering from flower to flower.
I am reminded by my two-year-old buddy, Quyen, to be in the wonder of the world. I must always remember.
I am reminded by my two-year-old buddy, Quyen, to be in the wonder of the world. I must always remember.
Monday, July 19, 2010
This Little Piggy Went to Market and This Little Piggy Stayed at Home
Our lovely employers, Gabi and Katie, and their son, Quyen, went to the Trout Lake Farmer's Market in Vancouver this past weekend leaving Jay and I in charge of the farm and our new apprentice, Kevin. We've been having a blast and getting a lot done too. Always have to keep up productivity, even in this heat! (31 degrees Celsius as I write this.)
We're into a new cycle at the farm and it's a welcome change for Jay and I. On the weekends we get to try out our new-found irrigation skills and we get to re-learn everything as we teach Kevin about how things are done around here. Kevin is on vacation from studying Agricultural Science in Vienna, Austria. During the week we are keeping up on the weeding and a flurry of harvesting the day before and the morning of deliveries, Thursday and Friday. Sapo Bravo sells a lot of produce to boutique restaurants in Vancouver but is also well known at the Trout Lake Farmer's Market for our 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, basil and peaches. Yum!
Being in charge for half of the week is definitely bolstering our confidence and it's allowing us to see ourselves as sustainable farmers in the future. Every day we talk more and more about how we want to do things and what we would do the same or differently. We chat with the apprentices from the neighbouring farm, Stein Mountain Organics, gleaning from their added year(s) of experience and we ask Kevin lots of science-y questions. And of course, we talk about food constantly.
Becoming closer to the food we eat is imperative for mankind's survival. Whether you take the time to shop for local items, visit your neighbourhood's farmer's market or create a herb garden, plant a fruit tree, pull up that grass and plant broccoli! It's all a step in the direction that we should all be moving. So do it! Do whatever you can now and don't take for granted the privilege we have as North Americans to chose what we eat. Many people don't have that choice and it is because of them that we have to strive together for a more secure and sustainable food system worldwide and in our backyards.
We're into a new cycle at the farm and it's a welcome change for Jay and I. On the weekends we get to try out our new-found irrigation skills and we get to re-learn everything as we teach Kevin about how things are done around here. Kevin is on vacation from studying Agricultural Science in Vienna, Austria. During the week we are keeping up on the weeding and a flurry of harvesting the day before and the morning of deliveries, Thursday and Friday. Sapo Bravo sells a lot of produce to boutique restaurants in Vancouver but is also well known at the Trout Lake Farmer's Market for our 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, basil and peaches. Yum!
Being in charge for half of the week is definitely bolstering our confidence and it's allowing us to see ourselves as sustainable farmers in the future. Every day we talk more and more about how we want to do things and what we would do the same or differently. We chat with the apprentices from the neighbouring farm, Stein Mountain Organics, gleaning from their added year(s) of experience and we ask Kevin lots of science-y questions. And of course, we talk about food constantly.
Becoming closer to the food we eat is imperative for mankind's survival. Whether you take the time to shop for local items, visit your neighbourhood's farmer's market or create a herb garden, plant a fruit tree, pull up that grass and plant broccoli! It's all a step in the direction that we should all be moving. So do it! Do whatever you can now and don't take for granted the privilege we have as North Americans to chose what we eat. Many people don't have that choice and it is because of them that we have to strive together for a more secure and sustainable food system worldwide and in our backyards.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Harvest and Heat
It's a cold, cloudy, rainy day and it happens to be our day off. I am trying to use the time to keep up some correspondence and just relax.
This past week of work has been long and involved. The temperature stayed in the 30s for most of the week and we had our first harvest for market. Thursday started at 6am and went to 8pm and was straight cherry-pickin'. I was fortunate to be on Quyen and lunch duty that day and I don't much mind hanging out with a two-year-old cutie and cooking curried chickpeas.
The long hot days are punctuated with dips in the spring-fed pond, just cool enough to revitalize the mind and body. It's the only thing that makes the heat bearable. Without it we would all wilt like neglected vegetables!
The Fraser Valley is hot and dry. Almost a desert, the arid landscape is red sandy mountains dotted with pines and covered with dry needles. It takes a lot of water to grow here. The farms are gravity fed by 3000m (I may have to fact check that) of PVC pipe from a mountain creek. We took a hike up there the other day, you can see some photos on my flickr at the side of the blog.
We spend all day turning on and off drip lines, cleaning filters and moving around sprinklers. More water means bigger vegetables but most plants have individual needs and it's not as straight-forward as turning it on forgetting about it.
Tomorrow morning we pull the rest of the garlic to start our week and before we know it, the sun will beating down on our backs again.
This past week of work has been long and involved. The temperature stayed in the 30s for most of the week and we had our first harvest for market. Thursday started at 6am and went to 8pm and was straight cherry-pickin'. I was fortunate to be on Quyen and lunch duty that day and I don't much mind hanging out with a two-year-old cutie and cooking curried chickpeas.
The long hot days are punctuated with dips in the spring-fed pond, just cool enough to revitalize the mind and body. It's the only thing that makes the heat bearable. Without it we would all wilt like neglected vegetables!
The Fraser Valley is hot and dry. Almost a desert, the arid landscape is red sandy mountains dotted with pines and covered with dry needles. It takes a lot of water to grow here. The farms are gravity fed by 3000m (I may have to fact check that) of PVC pipe from a mountain creek. We took a hike up there the other day, you can see some photos on my flickr at the side of the blog.
We spend all day turning on and off drip lines, cleaning filters and moving around sprinklers. More water means bigger vegetables but most plants have individual needs and it's not as straight-forward as turning it on forgetting about it.
Tomorrow morning we pull the rest of the garlic to start our week and before we know it, the sun will beating down on our backs again.
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