Carrying their flints and torches, Native Americans were living in balance with nature
But they had their thumbs on the scale. Shaped for their comfort and convenience, the American landscape had come to fit their lives like comfortable clothing. It was a stable system that regularly involved shrouding the surrounding countryside in smoke and ash.”
-Excerpt from 1491 by Charles C Mann
I have been reading this book over the past few weeks and have found it to be an incredible story book of the lives of people from the past 13,000 or more years, all from this “New World”. I am not an archeologist, and don’t have any strong opinions, as it seems most archeologists do have, about how and when folks got here and what caused the demise of many of the great civilizations in the pre-Columbian era. What has fascinated me, and rings true to me, is that the Indians, or first Americans, were people like the rest of us, who sometimes were very wise about carrying capacity, working with each other and nature, and sometimes abusive of others as they gained power and prominence. This book is full of food for thought, and well referenced information that pulls from many sources.
It jumps around in time and place, pre-Columbian and post. The detail is remarkable, based on written language in some cases from the ancient cultures, the uncoverings by archeological digs, and eye witness accounts by Europeans in the post-Columbian period. As I get older, I am more attracted to history for what it can tell us about our past, but also ourselves as we reflect how we engage with our present reality.
Big 40th Anniversary Party at MHOF
July 3, 2022
We drove out here on July 3, 1962 with our 4 kids, then 0, 2, 3, and 4, and started our lives in this place on a “raw” piece of land. Come and help us celebrate the past 40 years. Everyone is invited, and we are especially interested in locating old apprentices and those who had a hand in working this land. The festivities start at 2 pm. It is a pot luck, and we will have games, a little presentation, hopefully lots to eat and drink, farm tours, and a bonfire around 7:30 pm.
Still accepting donations to support Worcester Community Fridges
Thanks to your generous donations, we now have received $698 to toward this project. With the 7 shares already coming to us through the folks at the Fridges, we will be able to add 2 more, so that we can send them back to Worcester on Friday with 9 small shares. Thanks, this week to John and Chris Wilson and Laurie Lentz-Marino.
Whatever you can give will be welcome and put toward shares. Please make any check payable to MHSC (it can be tax deductible for you this way) and note it is for “Community Fridges”. Or donate directly through PayPal here.
Agricultural Education from MHOF
Here are a bunch of videos that show a bit of what we were up to this past week.
Constantly moving tarps
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Next step in potato management
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Clare making chive paste
(ignore the reference to garlic – a mis-statement)
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Finishing the mulching of the rhubarb and elderberries
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Mulching the peas
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Finishing the weeding of the red raspberries
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Planting broccoli
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Hybrid vs open pollinated
Making hay
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In order to get the best free range eggs, we need to move the houses each day.
Clare is supervising Skippy to help her and Jonathan accomplish the move.
Shiitakes
Recipe this Week
Cream of Shiitake Mushroom Soup
I think that next time I make this, I will cook the onions and mushrooms down a bit in the chicken stock, and then add the butter-milk-flour roux at the end of the process.
Opportunities from MHOF
CSA This Week
For those 130 shareholders that have joined us, welcome to this first week. The bags are tagged, the pick-up info has been sent to your email inbox, the barn has been cleaned, and I am quite enthusiastic about the quantity and quality of the produce you will receive this first week. The first week can be rather iffy, but the gods are smiling on us this year. We will have green onions, lettuce, Swiss chard (some of it from the field – a first), kale, oregano, sage, and Chinese cabbage for larges only.
If you are a member and did not receive an email from us this week end, be in touch with me immediately as you may have fallen through an administrative crack. Christy and I have been checking and double checking, but sometimes these things happen!
Join the CSA here.
Bags all awaiting food
That is the walk-in door for those of you who pick up in Barre.
And that is the barn in which resides the walk-in.
Oregano
Lettuce
Chard
Chinese cabbage with beautiful crimson red clover in the background (last year’s cover crop)
A sea of green onions
Sage
Working Shareholders Always Welcome
Now more than ever. We are in the midst of our Solstice Speed Up and are running to catch our tails. All volunteers welcome – M, W, F 8-12 with lunch. Take home a large share or medium share with eggs in exchange.
Free Stuff This Week
We have this and that for free seedlings. Contact me to find out exactly what we have available.
Farm Doin’s
Peter, what are you doing under that lawn mower?
This is the kind of blueberry fruit blossoming and fill that we are looking for!
What a cute mother and daughter scene.
We must find time to make chocolate covered peanut butter balls.
Sam is running a daily dog de-ticking and essential oiling spa.
(Thanks, Kerri, for the oils.)
Working on bag tags.
We are trying to save our flea beetle eaten Brussels sprouts with extra fish in their foliar and weeding and mulching at week’s end on Friday.
Julie
