Remember, remember, the fifth of November...

Anyone have a big exciting Guy Fawkes bonfire? We did, but only incidentally. It was a gray and rainy Saturday, and farmer Kelly took the opportunity to set the burn pile alight. I was working market, however, and so I missed the festivities. It's November, which means it's NanoWriMo time again. I think the story I've started is probably more of a novella than a full-fledged novel, but that's just fine. I've been writing everyday, but my output has been severely reduced over the summer, and now I'm finding it really challenging to find the time to write seventeen hundred words a day, but I'm managing(even after starting over after two days and having to make up the page count, because I'm a stickler).

On the farm we've been continuing the same program we've been on. We're taking in the last of summer crops; we took in the flax and field corn this past week. The corn didn't do great, but we've gotten enough to make cornmeal for the farm, and I think that was really our intention. The sunflowers didn't make it. They went moldy before they finished maturing, and were consigned to the compost on the same day I harvested the corn. Tant pis.

Flax, wheat, and corn:



I've been as busy as ever. Contra dancing, knitting and crocheting, reading, both fiction and some seminal farming books, cooking, baking, and pickling, and yoga. Yesterday, Maggie and I went hiking in the Elwha, which is really beautiful. The mountains are just beginning to show signs of snow at the peaks, and the deciduous trees and ferns make an incredible contrast with teh vibrantly green moss and Doug Firs. There has been a great deal of reading aloud, including, but not limited to, a read aloud children's book group, which was a great deal of fun. I read several Just So Stories, and some poems from Where The Sidewalk Ends. That was the sort of book club I can get behind.

What else am I reading, you say? Why these:

The beginning of my first knitting project:

I'll post more pics of my handiwork when I've finished.

On a recent Monday off(Hooray November) I spent some time walking through the outdoor sculpture garden in PA. I took some pics, which I present without commentary:


That one's my favorite(What? Oh yeah, no commentary. I did say that. Fine. I retract my previous statement.).

Some pics of some recent bakes; I've been doing even more bread than usual the last few weeks. Ciabatta al Funghi:

Roasted Beet Bread:

Perhaps the simplest, but most delicious loaf I've made since I came to the PacNorWe. A pain au levain:

These are bay laurel cuttings that Kelly took from a job, and is rooting next to the greenhouse. The day he put these in the ground, the wind carried the scent of them over to the wash station where Kay and I were cleaning produce, and all day long we'd get a whiff, and wind up smiling like schoolkids. It was fantastic. If you've never had the chance to smell real fresh bay, not California bay, but the Mediterranean variety, seek it out. It's a whole other thing.

Bodie and Willow, Newfoundland and Pony, from next door:


Some shots from around town and the farm, which make me smile; just looking at them is enough to make me smell woodsmoke:





It's easy enough for me to remember to be thankful for where I am. In considering what I'm to do once the farm season is over for well and for good, I've been thinking about the logistics of returning to Georgia long enough to grab my bike, and drive across the southern edge of the country, but haven;t quite worked out the details of what that trip would entail(aside from wool and waterproofs). It's all still theoretical, but the more I consider it, the more I like the idea. It would give me the chance to visit with everyone, and catch up, and it would be an experience unlike anything else, I'm sure. I hope you guys are all doing as well as I am. I really miss you, and wish we had the chance to talk more often(i.e. at all), but I know we're all busy. I love you, and hope you're all looking forward to the holidays; I can't wait to see some of you in California for Christmas. I just want to know, who's bringing the tree?

The fate of Mrs. Dennises, and other farm lessons.

My drove of pigs met their ultimate fate this week, on Wednesday. The process was much as I expected it to be, but the things that I found most fascinating about the process were how quickly it went, and how it was neither gory, nor grisly, but seemed perfectly natural. I could, and this seems odd, see myself doing it(one pig, though, not eight) myself, if I had the proper tools, and a few friends or relatives to help. I'll not describe the process in detail, given that there are children who read this, but suffice it to say that it was efficient, relatively humane, and it didn't turn me into a vegetarian. If any of you want a more in depth description of the process, or just a discussion of my thoughts on animal husbandry, I'll be happy to yammer at you.

Christie asked me if it was sad, that the pigs were gone, and I told her that it was, a little, and it is, but only a little. I cared for them as best as I was able, and I believe that they led happy lives, and were treated with the dignity and respect that they deserved, and I was there with them right up until the end. I witnessed the transformation from pig into pork, and I emerged fvrom the process a little wiser, impressed with the abilities of the pair of men responsible for slaughtering, and cleaning the animals, and amazed that they did the job with a twenty two, a hacksaw, and a pair of five inch Forschner lamb skinning knives. Of course the ones they were using were so well worn the blades we only half that size, from being sharpened so many times.

Aside from slaughter day we've been doing the same farm chores, harvesting for market, and preparing the ground for the winter. I worked market on Saturday by myself again, and had a pretty successful day. It's quite satisfying to be able to see the farm work to it's inevitable conclusion, and to receive the acknowledgments we worked so hard to earn. It's always satisfying to be thanked for what you do, and when a perfect stranger, pleased with her baby beets says "Thanks for what you do. It's important." It's good to hear, because what we're doing on the farm IS important. Support your local farmers boys and girls. They're the future, and they need your help, and it may be more expensive or require more of an effort on your part, but trust me when I say it's worth it. Without them developing the alternatives to the petroleum based farming of the last hundred years, we'll find ourselves in serious trouble in future. Enough hippie-flavored soap-boxing. Sorry. Not what you come here for.

Here are the before and after shots of the market:


These are all photos I've been taking with my phone, so the quality isn't what it is with my camera, but they'll have to suffice for now.

I'm going to have the opportunity to kill a small flock of ducks in the not-too-distant future, hopefully. They're not making eggs the way the homesteaders who own them would like, and you can't afford to keep feeding unproductive livestock, so they're destined for...wait for it...confit party. I know Papa Miguel got that one right. I'm really meeting some incredibly cool and inspirational people out here, and sometimes still can't believe how lucky I am to be a part of this place, and the overlapping communities here. Last night, at a party for one of Maggie's friends and co-workers it was said, in reference to me, "he's not a science nerd", which is fantastic, because I've never had the opportunity to be part of a group, where I'm not the science nerd. The OPI staff are particularly ecologically nerdy, which is great for me, because they're constantly teaching even when they don't realize it. It's just in their natures.

I love it here.

Have I mentioned that lately?

Still working out a path for the future, and still enjoying every minute of the present, even the ones that are uncomfortable, or physically difficult, or forcing myself to do unpleasant introspection about my own short-comings.

Hope y'all are well. NanoWriMo starts tomorrow, and I'm flitting back and forth between the idea of starting a new story, and maybe re-writing my first novel, which story I like, but which prose if just atrocious. We'll see come Monday, I suppose.

November is here, and with it comes reduced farm hours. Starting this weekend, I'll have a five day work week, until the end of the season. How great is that? I'll let you know.

Much love to all of you. I have errands to run, books to read, yarn to knit and purl, and baking to do. Have a happy Hallowe'en.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I know you've all come to expect blog entries on Sundays, but, oddly enough, as the farm work has slowed, I've found myself busier and busier in my spare time. Which is all well and good, but does mean that I have less time to document my activities. Much is going on, people are leaving, and the farm is in a state of constant flux. We had a killing frost this past Monday, which means no more zucchini, cukes are dead, all the winter squash vines are no more, the beans were obliterated, and the tomatoes which were planted outside are gone too. All of this is to be expected, and although the rain has begun, the sun lasted much longer than we had any business expecting. Not to mention the fact that with the end of the cucumbers came the opportunity for Aaron to make several massive batches of pickles, which I hadn't the chance to do yet this summer. it was several days of mind dissolving labor, but I'm sure teh end results will make it all worth it.

There is a new puppy on the farm, a black lab this time, who goes by Patch. Pics whenever I manage to get some.

So what have I been up to? Well, on the farm we've been preparing ground for cover crops, and readying the beds where the zucchini and cucumbers were for planting next year's garlic crop. Worked market in Sequim on Saturday. All by myself, like a big boy. It was actually really awesome. If the market hadn't been closed early due to inclement weather(wind like you would not have believed) I think I could have had an even more successful day than I managed to. Maybe next time.

In my spare time I've been having all sorts of adventures. I went out gleaning for apples with Maggie and her friends and co-workers, to obtain fruit for AppleFest, a yearly celebration, which mainly entails drinking and pressing apples for cider. It rained, in proper PacNorWe spirit, and much fun was had by all. I think I might have actually had more fun going gleaning than at the party, but I'm weird that way, I suppose. It was fun, we all climbed into the van, and drove around looking for trees that still had fruit on them, and once we spotted a potential harvest, we, and by we, I mean Randall, knocked, and asked if we could help ourselves. I was amazed at how many people were perfectly happy to let us take their fruits off their hands.

I went and saw an evening of storytelling, and went over to Port Townsend to see Here's To the Ladies . I've been going to Yoga at the Y every week, and boy I've really got to say, there is no better way to round out a day of farm work, than to do some yoga, and then have a fantastic meal with people you care about. I went to the Sol Duc hot springs, on Monday last week, since I was gifted with a two day weekend. I was dubious of a day spent in hot sulfurous water, followed by diving into a pool of substantially colder water, but it turned out to be a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. Afterward I got to spend some time at the Lake Crescent Lodge, sitting in an adirondack chair watching the sun set over the mountains, reading a library book, and in a fit of weirdness, sketching in my notebook.

A few, miscellaneous pics from the farm, a shot of some baby golden beets:
The wheat, you would not have believed what the sky was like, on the day I took this picture, it was dark grey, and sunny, and totally otherworldly, and there was a double rainbow:

Some kale and chard chips from the pumpkin party we had at Maggie's house, the other night:

There was a pumpkin potluck, and pumpkin bocce, and pumpkin carving, of course. It was a whole lot of fun.

As I've said so many times before, I'll endeavor to take more pictures, and keep the blog coming on a more regular basis, but I make no promises, things are busy, and they show no sign of slowing. The job search continues, in earnest, and I have a few promising leads, about which more, when one or more of them have become a reality. The writing progresses as well; I recently wrote a short story I rather enjoyed. Theoretically there are some pictures of AppleFest floating around, and if I manage to get a a hold of some I'll do a quick post to share them with you.

I love you guys; miss you.

Also I'm learning to knit.

What?

Don't judge me. It's fun.

Did you miss me?

I missed you. I was busy on Sunday. It was the most relaxing day I've had in recent memory, and I'll not apologize for the lateness of this update. I have been incredibly busy since last we talked, both on the farm and off.

I attended a young farmer's mixer on Vashon island. It was a lot of fun, but it was a long drive, and early start on the farm the next day, but it was my first chance to take a Washington state ferry. There was great local beer, and a pair of spit roasted suckling pigs, and plenty of delicious fresh produce. It was a good chance to get to meet other farm folk, and to hear how the season has gone in different parts of the state. There might have also been some square dancing.

There was another contra dance, and I was slightly less awkward this time. I brought cookies, because that's what I do. It's fun, and I didn't hurt myself quite so badly this time. It's funny how sometimes you have an opportunity to learn something you'd never know. For example, when Contra dancing you might find yourself realizing that some men, are much better, i.e. more fun to dance with, than others(I am not one of them, alas).

I've been going to see some films at Peninsula College in PA, they're running a series of foreign pictures on Friday evenings, and it's been fun so far. The movies are from the GlobalLens series, and are a good excuse to get off the farm.

This past Sunday Maggie and I went to see the two dams on the Elwha river, since they are going to be demolished in the near future. We also checked out Westwind, one of the other local farms, and went for a hike, which was especially nice since it had been several weeks since I'd had a chance to go hiking. I also got a short story idea out of it, but I just started writing it today, so it won't be ready for a while yet.

I'm writing this post from the Blackbird, my coffee shop, where my barista of choice is about to embark on a mission to Nepal. Adventures for everybody, no?

Some pictures to round out my ramblings.

Produce, from around the farm, and from the market this past Saturday, which was my first market alone(although Christie helped me get set up, and broken down):


Pumpkins and other winter squash:


Black Kabuli Chickpeas, waiting to be turned into hummus, and sprouted mung beans, waiting to be stir-fried:


'Maters:


Cereal Rye, cover crop on the ground where we grew potatoes, and it might not look like much now, but we're all really excited about it. We're getting the ground ready for the winter, and that is a good thing:


And another exciting development, one we've been a little worried about, but the weather cooperated for long enough to get the harvest done without major incidents. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Wheat!:

There was something about this harvest that was satisfying in a way that picking zucchini just isn't. Some sort of connection going back to antiquity, a knowledge that though the tools might change(I'm fairly certain they didn't use hedge trimmers) civilization itself is based on the idea of a group of people banding together to harvest and process the grain. Very cool.

Bread, Roasted Chanterelle Ciabatta al Funghi and Mini Cinnamon Raisin Bites and Oregano Olive:


Pics from the woods:


Ain't that something else? Love ya.