The Beautiful Dark Time
December 23, 2024
The Beautiful Dark Time
And here it is already on the upswing. But the last two weeks before the Solstice have moved from a time of depression and sadness for me (now many decades in the past) to a time of rest, reflection, schmaltzy Christmas movies watched with Jack, wonderful staff annual reviews – 1 hour each on zoom, our fantastic Circle of Song concert, Letterpress games with Paul and Ellen, gifts, well wishes, more rest – getting up at 5:30!, and just a little more time off before we jump into planning for the new year. Skippy, Harriet and Dingo are spending a lot of time on the living room rug, and Harriet has only eaten two ornaments. My best wishes to all of you as we now start to move back into the light and initiate the wonderful 6-month journey to growth and new miracles ahead.
Expressing Gratitude this Week
Friday was a day like many others around here these days. There was a constant stream of folks all day long. First, we had our usual farm day, but it quickly morphed into bacon and ham customers as the staff left and the folks who help pay the bills arrived to pick up their pork. Arthur showed up late in the day and after I was done helping him get his order, he and Jack launched into a half hour of conversation about life and farming and trips around the world, meeting each other for the first time and enjoying each other’s company none-the-less. I slipped into the office to add up the farm money and listened delightedly to their conversation. I realized that we are living exactly the life that I could only dream of so many decades ago. This was topped off with more visitors the next day – Kim who has been connected to the farm for 20 years and finally a celebratory lunch.
Mario was a Stetson kid 8 years ago who we subsequently hired for a handful of years. Originally from Cape Verde, he and his brother have been trying to get their mother over here for the past 5 years. Finally, with much paperwork and forms, they were able to accomplish this monumental task for two relatively quite young men. Amelia arrived in September and is now living with Mario. He, as is often the case with immigrants, is working two jobs and hopes to one day have his own landscaping company. We topped off this fantastic chicken dinner celebration of his mom’s arrival with a birthday call to Clare while we ate. Clare and Mario and we were close farm collaborators for a few years, so this opportunity to honor her together was frosting on the cake. I am grateful for people like Mario who overcome huge odds and childhood misfortune to thrive in this wonderful melting pot of a country that we all inhabit – and am so happy that we were part of his transition into a successful life centered around diligence, grit, family and entrepreneurship.
Save Money on the 2025 CSA Share – Only 8 days until the end of the year!
Yes, you can get in on some end of the year savings if you sign up by December 31. Production costs for us go up across the board in 2025, and we also plan to give our salaried staff a $1/hour pay increase next year. We appreciate early commitment to this venture, which comes to 50% of our budget, and are encouraging you to commit early by offering this discount.
- Small shares – $475 before January 1; $500 in the new year
- Medium shares – $640 before January 1; $675 in the new year
- Large shares – $835 before January 1; $875 in the new year
- SNAP shares – $Small – $425; Medium: $525; Large: $725
Here is a link to the order form.
Volunteering at MHOF
Mondays and Fridays 8-12 with lunch. Like the cold? This is the volunteer experience for you. Enquire.
You Tube is at it again – This podcast of Ari Whitten’s with holistic cardiologist Jack Wolfson was taken down due to – “violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines”
This is my cue to be sure to listen. I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to scroll down and pick it up on ITunes.
You DON’T have to die of heart disease! – Holistic cardiologist Dr. Jack Wolfson
This Week’s Recipe from Jennifer: Golden Cheddar Potatoes with Garlic & Broccoli
This dish pacifies Pitta and Vata, offering grounding, cooling, and nourishing qualities from potatoes and ghee. Turmeric, spices, and garlic support digestion and counter heaviness for Kapha making it more balanced. The side of ghee addresses the dryness of potatoes, while broccoli adds a light, bitter element. Pitta should reduce cheese and avoid pepper to avoid excess heat.
Get the Recipe on Jen Zen Living
Do Your Christmas Shopping at MHOF
Do Your Christmas Shopping at MHOF – time is running out to buy memorable gifts for your loved ones.
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Ellen’s 21 Winter Healing Cleanse begins Jan 13th. Registration is now open!
As you deepen into the winter season of rest, reflection and renewal, if you find yourself in that space of wanting to put a little more energy towards finding ways to feel better, shift off some excess weight, address ongoing imbalances in your digestion, reclaim more nourishing rest and sleep, regain energy and vitality, and all the other wonderful things that can occur when we bring our focus towards eating real clean food for 21 days in a supportive container, please join Ellen for her 21 Day Gentle Winter Healing Cleanse!
Early Bird Discounts, Bring-a-Friend Discounts and Scholarships all available with this Cleanse.
21 Day Gentle Winter Healing Cleanse
John Kempf’s Blog
This week is about cell division in fruiting plants, and here is an excerpt that has always fascinated me. Whether you are raising corn, peas, tomatoes, peppers, apples or peaches, paying attention to this particular mineral profile at the point that the embryos are dividing, can make a real difference – particularly focusing on calcium and limiting potassium.
Cell Division
Cell division is the period after blossoming and pollination, when cells divide in the embryo. All of the cells that will be in the finished fruit or grain are created during this stage, which lasts 10-14 days in many crops, though it can last up to 6 weeks in apples and other crops. After cell division, the number of cells in the embryo stays constant, and those cells just expand in size to grow the fruit. So the goal in this phase is to achieve as much cell division as possible, which in turn will allow for the largest possible fruit.
What can we influence at this point?
Rapid Cell Division
Having as many high quality cells as possible allows for:
- bigger, heavier, firmer fruit
- resistance to bruising
- higher test weight
- in short: most of the quality markers which increase profitability
Critical Minerals
Calcium
- Calcium is required for new cells to form membranes
- As cells multiply in the embryo, a calcium shortage will limit cell reproduction
Limited Potassium
- Excess potassium limits calcium moving into a cell
- That in turn limits the number of cells that an embryo can form
- What we perceive as calcium deficiency disorders in fruit are often potassium excess
- In most cases, you shouldn’t apply any potassium during the cell division phase
Manganese
- Manganese limits the transfer of excessive potassium into an embryo
Boron
- Boron is synergistic with Calcium”
Farm Doin’s
Monday, Danny and Stu fixed another bird house and readied it for next spring. Jim and the Stetson kids took down the rest of our dead fruit trees, and took out a few hazelnuts that were growing well, but haven’t produced for us. Meanwhile Luke, Marcia, Amanda and I collected the rest of the kelp that was in the field, some of it frozen in, and either spread it or stored it in the garage for use next year! Hurray. Probably the most memorable moment was the end of the day when Danny, Luke, Amanda and I limped a quite broken bird house from the back of the field up to the barn for deconstruction! And we pulled out 12 more quarts of lard and finished mulching the strawberries for winter.
Friday, Matt and Danny were quite enthusiastic to spend the entire day on Friday cleaning up the shed and the tool area in the basement. This is one of those jobs that often just doesn’t get taken care of.
Luke, Leslie, Paula and Marissa and I were able to gather 5 big totes of leaves off of the orchard hill and the road. We are way behind on leaf collection – only clocking in at 9 totes this year in comparison to last year’s 40 totes. Perhaps it will warm up again for us to run out and gather some more. Sheldon Road is packed with big beautiful oaks. I always hope that they don’t mind sharing some of their leaves with us.
And we finished the lard! We ended up with about 80 quarts and most of that is for sale. At $25/quart, you will get a wonderful natural fat for cooking or pie crusts. Here is an article by Andrew Weil praising lard: Is Lard Healthy?
Sally Fallon and the Weston A Price Foundation are what got us into making lard 40 years ago (and our neighbor Beba Roberts from Slovinia who taught me how to render it) because of its incredible health benefits. Visit the WAPF website and search for “lard.”
Our lard is beautiful, and you can pick it up here or order it for shipping. Order it on either the “Available on the Farm” page or the our “Pork” page on our website. Enjoy!
– Julie
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