I have gallantly returned from spring break on Paradise Island, forgive all the vacation pictures here. Okay, so it wasn't actually named Paradise Island (it was named Little Gasparilla Island), but it was a wonderful and relaxing week in the sun with Jessica and Joe. My mind was still back in Chicago, at least a little bit, fretting over the fate of my newly planted seeds. Mom was put in charge of the watering and general care of the baby seedlings. Overall, kudos to you, Mom. Without your care and attention, they for sure would have died. However, we will share publicly how you confused the labeling system and a couple trays of tomatoes got a slight bit confused when you moved trays without their numbers. I think we're back on track, but we'll just have to see as the weeks go on. The plants are looking healthy. I'm slightly concerned at how tall they are and that perhaps they've gotten a bit leggy, but I think that every year and everything tends to turn out alright. Many of the tomato varieties (10 in all) are starting to form their first set of "true leaves". What this means is that when the seeds initially sprout, their leaves look nothing like what you would think of as a tomato leaf. These initial leaves are meant simply to help them sprout and then gather enough sunlight (or fluorescent light, as the plants in my basement are forced to gather) to properly create their first set of real leaves. So many of my tomato plants are showing signs of the teeny tiny leaves that finally look like what tomato plants are supposed to look like. The broccoli looks great, as do the onions and leaks. The peppers are going strong and I can't wait to see what takes off and really begins to grow strong. In other news, I have had a lot of lovely press recently with the whole Beekman Boys gardener thing. It's been enabling me to connect more with my community and with an even larger surrounding community. The school where I work has been talking a little bit about starting a garden on the grounds to help feed the students. I hope that they do end up going in that direction and that I can be of help in getting better, healthier food to these kids who I truly adore. Two of my students have been given permission to start a community garden, which is way cool and way exciting! I'm doing my best to help guide them to a successful season. It's going to be hard, as they are incredibly ambitious kids who are trying to go at 1000% their first time out, but I trust in their enthusiasm and drive and their love for the community. They'll do well, even if it isn't quite what they expected. My other cool news is that I have been hired to grow seedlings for some people. It'll be the first money I'll ever make in my career as a farmer. I may need to frame the first dollar! Life is getting super busy, the rototiller is ready and waiting to break ground in Harvard at the first sign of decent weather. The church garden is still being worked on. We need to build some portable raised beds that look beautiful so that they compliment the program and get the community interested in what we're doing. For now, this is all. More seed starting in the days ahead, more searching for an affordable pickup truck. Lots of stress, but finally today I got my hands dirty. Like, had to scrub my fingernails dirty! It's been far too long since that happened, and I was giddy with excitement when I noticed it was happening this afternoon. Here's to far more dirty days ahead than not!
0 Comments
Today was the day. I spent 4 hours, 6 bags of seed starting mix, and 14 trays to kick off the 2011 season! This evening I have planted 1400 seeds (give or take a few hundred) and they are sitting downstairs soaking and getting ready to sprout. Way excited, am I. I probably should have waited another week or so, but I am headed out to Florida on Friday afternoon for a fantastic week of spring break.
The picture to the left here is of a super great experience I had last Friday. As you may or may not know, I was selected as a Deputy Beekman Heirloom Gardener. Well, the lovely gentleman in the picture here are the actual Beekman Boys (Josh and Brent), who chose me to be a gardening expert for the summer. They were book signing at the Williams Sonoma downtown and Jessica and I went to meet them. I got a book signed, as well as an antique seed packet. The antique seed packet was an extraordinarily thoughtful gift from Sally and Roy Sove at church in honor of my recent accomplishments. I think it's just so beautiful and special. But most people wouldn't see that. However, I brought it with me to the signing and Brent and Josh were gracious enough to sign the frame for me and ooh and aah over how beautiful they also thought it was. Once I had introduced myself, the boys seemed to know who I was. If that wasn't cool enough, Josh said that he had started reading my website!! How amazing...it left me in tears in the middle of the store (much to the amusement of Jessica). It was an incredible experience and I can't wait to see their farm at the end of May. It's time to start getting excited. The strawberries are popping up, and the ground is ready to be turned for the early spring plantings of spinach and lettuce and peas. Things are really beginning, and I couldn't be more excited. The winter was pretty hard, and the spring has been such a welcomed relief. My brain is already zooming forward to what this summer will be like, especially with the two acres! I have a great plan to do raised rows to try and better manage the weeds and begin to actually run the land as though I am an actual farmer who plans to make a living at this. I already have a few paying customers, and I hope to have such a surplus that I can begin to accept more people. Who knows, maybe this time next year I'll be planning out my very own CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It's super late, I am super tired, and if I continue to type, I'm pretty sure I'll begin to make no sense. So goodnight, get ready, cause here the growing season comes!!! Here I am, sitting in the side garden of the house a few days after the Snowpocalypse of 2011! The beginnings of the planting season are only 3 weeks away. My family and I have been diligently preparing the basement for the arrival of the new seedlings. I have very big, very cool news to share, but it will have to wait another day or two. To see what's going on before I have a chance to explain, please visit:
http://beekman1802.com/general/meet-the-official-beekman-heirloom-gardeners.html This is a very exciting project that I have been given the privilege of participating in, and I promise to write more about the opportunity in the coming days. Also coming soon is an updated growing list of the veggies and fruits I'll be undertaking in the 2011 gardening season. Thanks for checking in, and get yourselves excited...the weather is a- changin'! Wow, two posts in one day. I just haven't said much in quite some time and still have a few things to say. I want to tell two stories, one from the church garden and one from the farm. Both have to do with my spirituality, and so if that's something you're not comfortable reading about, I won't be offended if you navigate away from the page now. For anyone still with me, here's what I've got.
First is the story of Ed and Amin (whose name, no joke, was pronounced amen). My mom and I were attempting to shovel the dirt from the swimming pools into an area behind the shed to store over the winter months. It was just the two of us against three tons of dirt, as everyone else was occupied that day. After three straight hours of what was absolutely back-breaking work, a little boy of no more than four years and his father came by walking the family dog. We stopped our work as they came closer to say hello and pet the dog. As we approached them, the little boy started firing away with questions about what we were doing, why, and could he help. Well, his dad took the leash and I lead the little boy over to the pools of dirt while my mom talked to Ed. First, Amin and I talked about what we as a church had done over the summer and who we had done it for. We talked about how great it was to be able to give substantial things to people who were without. Then we ate a leaf of lettuce together, as that was all that was left from the season. At this point, he asked if he could help me shovel. I nodded my head as a tear or two welled in my eyes. For the next 20 minutes, Amin and I shoveled side-by-side, taking wheelbarrows full of dirt over to the pile together and dumping it on. It was only when his father began bargaining with him that Amin finally put down the shovel that was quite literally twice his size to re-grab the leash and finish walking the dog with his dad. These are the kinds of encounters that I lived for this summer. And just when my mother and I felt like we could not continue on, that we were too tired and had no strength left to finish the project, God sent us a little Amen. My other story is of my final visit to the farm this year. I went up over Columbus Day as the frost had finally hit and I needed to bring the pumpkins and sweet potatoes home. Retrieving the sweet potatoes was a silent comedy all its own as the dirt was the consistency of concrete and it took me nearly twenty minutes to dig up five rather small sweet potatoes. The pumpkins were easy, as were the too tiny melons that I really just wanted to take home and cut open to see what they looked like as they were too immature to eat. As I loaded everything in the car and got ready to go, I gave myself a few minutes sitting in the middle of the patch to reflect on the summer and say a prayer of thanks. I believe this will be the summer that I look back on for the rest of my life and see where I finally found my way. It was so very important that I thank the land, Mother Nature, and God for allowing me to have the experience. As I was getting to the end of my prayer, and the official end of my summer on the farm, tears were streaming down my cheeks as I said the following: "God, there are many things I doubt in my life. But the one thing that I never doubt, the one thing I am always sure of, is that you are always around me. You are always here." As I said this, the flock of birds that were sitting in the Weeping Willow off to my right flew out of the tree by the hundreds and landed in all of the trees that surrounding the field where I was sitting. I was so incredibly awestruck and humbled by the presence of the Lord. I can think of no greater sign to be given that I have finally found my path. It was a perfect ending to what can only be remembered as the perfect summer. It was most certainly the summer where I lost my mind, but maybe it was time my mind went away for a while, only to come back to me stronger and clearer. Most days, when I think back on this summer and all the wonderful people I got to share it with, I think to myself: I am so incredibly blessed! Oh so much has happened since I last logged on here. The frosts have finally hit full force. First it was the farm, then the church, and finally the house (although, truth be told, we're still eating broccoli and kale from the side yard!). This past season has been one of the happiest times in my life. It was challenging, difficult, sweat-inducing, and joyous all at once. March 25, 2010 was when this picture was taken by the lovely Barb Bay. I had her take this the very first time I saw the land that I would be working with over the summer. This picture was intended to be proof to my future self that I was really excited about the journey I was about to embark on. Proof was needed, I felt, because I knew that, come July, I would be hot, sweaty, exhausted, and probably have little to show for the great amount of effort I had put into the farm. And yet, the pictures of me from July are even more joyous that the one you see here. I never really thought that I could take this entire experience and really walk away from it even more energized than when I started. This image to the right was the very last picture taken of me at the farm (wearing, of course, the super awesome tshirt that Donna Boyko brought back from Kentucky for me!). The girl in this picture has finally found her purpose, been shown her way. I could not have envisioned that this summer would change me so very much, but change me it did. How many people get the opportunity that I did, to live out the thing I believed I was passionate about? How many people are afforded the luxury of knowing, with such clarity, that they have truly found the thing they were made to do? Because I have found this, I feel it in my bones.
Enough of the "I found my calling!" stuff. Back to the nitty gritty of cleaning the spaces for the winter. Though I was sad to see it all end, it was certainly time as the plants were getting tired, and frankly so was I. The farm has not been tough to deal with so far. But that is mostly because we haven't yet gotten around to the task of taking down the fence, plowing the field, laying down manure...stuff like that. At this point, those tasks may have to wait until the thaw comes in the spring. At the house, my trusty migrant worker (Mom) and I got all the plants out of the ground and into the brown bags, or back into the corner of the yard to break down during the winter months. The only things left are the broccoli and kale, which continue to grow until after it starts snowing. The church cleanup has been the hardest part. Back in April, I ever so cavalierly stated that it would be no problem to dig the dirt back out of the swimming pools in November when the time came. Boy was I dumb. Three tons of dirt is even heavier and more back-breaking than it sounds. My mom and I spent an entire afternoon shoveling dirt to no avail...we were only able to move about a ton and a half of dirt into a spot behind the shed. There is no describing how badly I cursed myself out as I tossed shovel after shovel into the wheelbarrow. Next year should bring about some more positive developments that will prevent me from having quite this problem in November of 2011. At the end of all of this, I have quite a bit to show for myself. Our Thanksgiving dinner a week from tomorrow will feature a few foods that I will have grown. We're still overloaded with fresh tomatoes and even a few potatoes. The freezers both in the house and the garage are jam packed with foods that we grew or preserved, ensuring a tasty, healthy, fresh, and local winter. All of this success will only breed more success as we begin moving toward next season. Next spring brings an expanded growing space, as my wonderful Cousin Tim is interested in tearing up close to an acre of his front yard. I am way excited about it because there will be a hose nearby! I'll also be able to better use the acre that Barb and Steve Bay have so graciously allowed us to use yet again. The church garden will hopefully include some semi-permanent raised beds that are not children's swimming pools and I know now how to better utilize the space that I am working with. The house garden will not change significantly, other than the onion pools I plan to put in the back corner...only because then I won't step on the baby onions and halt their growth like I've managed to do every other year! I am very much looking forward to what the future has in store for me. Saturday takes me to Angelic Organics Farm in Caledonia, IL. I'll be attending a workshop on what it takes, realistically, to become a small family farmer/market gardener. After that it comes time to ready the basement for the seedlings and begin looking through catalogs to select the produce for next year. I am so very excited. I'll try to continue posting on here as things relating to any of the growing spaces pop up, so thank you for continuing to check back. Raise your glass to one hell of a year! You see this beautiful, large, oh-so-orange pumpkin? Well, tonight I cried over its demise. It was peach preserve night in the Goodman/Kosnik household. The last of the season were bought and brought home on Saturday. Mom sent me to the basement to retrieve the canning jars, and as I was downstairs, I grabbed onto the pumpkin to move it and the stem came off in my hand. I went to pick it up and it had become wet on its bottom. A pumpkin with a wet bottom is no good, people. We cut into it upstairs, to see if anything was salvageable. Alas, there was nothing that remained untouched by the pumpkin rot. In tears, I returned to the basement to bring up my very last hope. The very first pumpkin I accidentally picked was still in the basement, awaiting roasting. I brought it upstairs, and stood with bated breath as Mom cut into it. As I type this, that beautiful fruit is softening in the oven. All that work and I have one pumpkin to show. But I will make the greatest pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and will absolutely give thanks for all the factors that led to its creation. That seems to be the theme of this summer on the farm. I, and those who so graciously have given their time along next to me, have worked and worked, only to find very small returns. The corn garnered 5 total kernels. Not 5 total cobs, but 5 individual kernels. Tears were shed on that night too. But I was able to dry at least 100 kernels of the black popping corn and will hopefully be able to have a small bowl of homegrown popcorn in the dead of winter. The potatoes we harvested were certainly more than we had put in the ground. In all honesty, though, it was not a lot more than we put in the ground. The squash that Steve Bay had planted has finally taken off...just as the frost is setting in. Perhaps we'll have harvested 2 of the butternut squash by this weekend. I think I only got five or six zucchini, certainly not enough to put away for the winter. The pumpkins were a delight to watch grow, but again, there was only one usable fruit by the end of the season. The greenbeans have given us a few meals, and of course I am grateful for that. Melons the size of a baby's head (the newborn kind) finally litter the ground. Only we won't be eating them, as I planted them too late and they will not be anywhere near ready by this weekend when the good Lord will be forcing me to harvest them. Of the 40 onions we started, only 2 remain. The only crop that went according to plan was the soybean crop. Two weeks ago, my dad, myself, and the greatest migrant worker of all time (my mother) stripped clean the two rows, 60 feet long, of soybeans we had planted back in June. Upon their entrance into our house, we boiled, cleaned, and popped the pods of the little green wonder beans. We have in our freezer approximately 3 gallons of edamame. They are little beans, only 3 to a pod...if you're lucky. To have grown and processed 3 gallons worth feels like such an accomplishment. And so what is it that I want to reflect upon as I make deals with God to stop the impending frost? I have learned quite a lot. I know many things that I will do differently next summer. I think I have figured out how to avoid several of the problems we ran into this year. We will continue to evaluate what worked, what didn't, and what we think we could try brand new next year. Besides which, I will have actual tilled soil next spring. My cousin Tim (awesome guy) has found a two-turn plow that will tear up the soil 8 inches deep. And, in another stroke of great fortune and proof that my life has finally found its path, he has asked if I could help him and plant a front acre at his place. I never would have dreamed back when this all started last January that I could be seriously planning two acres of land for next summer. The possibilities make me giddy. And even greater? I've been able to share this with so many people. I've been bringing tomatoes into work for students of mine. Including one kid who has to take the free lunch at school (which is all fried and makes her sick almost daily). Bringing her a tomato or a pepper or whatever else I can manage that is fresh and delicious makes her happy and healthier. And that makes me happy...such a simple thing to grow a tomato. And yet, it's gotten me so far. Lots of love, and thanks for staying with me through all of this.
Today I'd like to simply share a video with everyone. I made a little tour video of the farm while up there last weekend. I hope you enjoy seeing all that's going on in Harvard! My goal is to make similar videos at church and at the house this weekend so that I can post them also and people can actually be in the spaces with me!!! On a side note, I sat at my desk all day today, big smiles, because the big man upstairs decided to finally water for me. And we were in desperate need of a good soaking rain. Which, of course, means all my tomatoes are bursting. But whatever, I still think they're beautiful. And they're still tasty...and they'll still make quite the wonderful harvest. But now it is 10:30 at night and should have been in bed an hour ago. Because I'm an old lady...and kids are tiring!!! Have a grand, wonderful, freaking awesome Friday. Get ready for a fun-filled weekend! Sorry once again for the delay in updating...starting back at work again has been far more draining than I anticipated! Today's post is just about the activities of the Green Thumbs Up For God Summer Sundays program. This was the morning we had been working all year toward. We met at 8 this morning to continue to pick from whatever was ripe, load it into our cars, and deliver it to the Des Plaines Self Help Pantry. These wonderful kids picked over a 1/2 bushel combined of tomatoes, peppers (both sweet and hot), onions, and basil. A half bushel doesn't sound like much, but there were well over 100 tomatoes, 15 peppers, and several bundles of hot peppers and basil. These things will hopefully provide sustenance for those who find themselves without the ability to provide for their family. More importantly, I hope that this is an experience that imprints on the kids who were able to be there and be a part of it. I want this to be a moment that they continue to come back to, that continues to drive their intentions in life. We worked so hard to nurse these plants to life. To think that such tiny seeds, put into a small amount of peat moss in my basement in March turned into a bounty to bring to those who don't have, well it was just such a fulfilling day. I was so looking forward to this last night that I found myself unable to stay asleep. Yet again another sign that these are the things I am meant to do. In the past, I would look forward to my weekend as a way to recuperate from my very busy week. And I still do need to recover from my work week, but I find that my recovery comes through working in the soil. Nothing makes me more joyful. I sometimes can't believe my luck that I get to go outside and play in the dirt. I am hoping tomorrow to get to write about the last two visits to the farm. We went up last Saturday and today. Many exciting things are happening, but I am too tired right now and must get myself to bed. In addition to the update, I will be buying the domain name of this site and begin uploading a few videos of the various gardens I work in. Very exciting things! So please stay tuned, and thanks so much for sticking with me through the information blackout that has become my life. Stay happy.
Every day I get to spend outside in my garden is a big day for me. I was going to just come on here and write "big day, people!". But I realize that many times I proclaim on this site that it's been a "big day". How fortunate am I to find many days a big day? I was able to pick three key tomatoes today that jointly weighed 5 pounds. That is a huge amount of tomato. One more yellow should be available tomorrow, which will give us enough for my mother to make her famous yellow tomato bisque. In fact, the only reason I grew the yellow ones was for her to make us this soup. I am excited. My apologies for yet another delay in the posting (though I think this one wasn't as bad as the last one). School and volleyball (of which I am a freshmen coach) have started and I suddenly find myself stretched for time for even the most basic things. Like sleep and showering. And so on occasion, this blog gets pushed down the way a bit. It's been a pretty steady effort of preserving here at the house. I have put up a few more bags of tomatoes as they begin to ripen and we are unable to use them all fresh. The green beans have not yet been put away because they are tasty and we keep eating them all. They were such a revelation at dinner yesterday! We had green beans from the garden, potatoes from the farm, applesauce we made and canned last October, and corn from Farmer Pam. An absolutely wonderful dinner that was so colorful, so representative of the great bounty that nature can provide. Such a delight to eat! To ensure we have these delightful flavors well into the winter, I made basil pesto today. Many of my basil plants were starting to go to seed. In order to encourage greater production and prevent the plant from running its course, I cut back the tops fairly heavily. All in all, I harvested about four cups, densely packed, of green, pungent basil. I combined it with some olive oil, toasted pine nuts, freshly grated parmesan, and garlic. That combination created the green goo you see here. Which is far better tasting than it is looking. We obviously can't use over a cup of pesto in the next 4 days (nor would we want to!). So I poured the sauce into mini muffin tins that I lightly greased and then put them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, we'll pop them out and store them in a freezer bag. The quantity I have frozen them in is a good one for meals. I wouldn't want to freeze the entire batch in a single jar, as this would force me to then use the entire batch within a span of a few days. This way, I can use just a bit at a time and not have to worry about waste. On a final note, I'll be looking into going back to college for an agricultural business degree in the next few weeks. I'm not sure I can run a farm without at least a little bit of business training. A smart girl, I most certainly am. However, there is certainly a need for some concrete education on how I can actually make a living working from the land. I also really need to learn how to run a farm. A tractor would most certainly be my friend. If only I knew how to use one... These are the kinds of things I really need to learn! Thinking about this kind of thing, about going to a new place or embarking on a new level of education, this would usually make me very nervous and very scared. But not this time. All night long I have been buzzing with excitement and happiness. I think I love this enough that I can and will deal with however scared I may be by the change. What an amazing thing. I just continue to be so very blessed. Stay safe, stay happy, go hang out outside!!!
Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens First, a few quick shout outs. Aunt Chris, my friend Mike made the logo for me. He rocks my socks on a pretty regular basis. I feel very fortunate that he came into Jenn Podgor's life and married her so that I could get to know him. Judi, your comments mean so very much to me. The scripture you include is always beautiful and so inspiring. There are some days where I come on here to post because I know you and my aunt will be checking in for progress reports. So thank you for your interest, it really helps to validate what I have undertaken. Now, on to vegetable related excitingness. We went up to the farm today (me, Mom, and Dad). The standard scene awaited us. The weeds were ridiculous, the corn had gotten slightly better, the grasshoppers were merrily hopping around, and the mosquitoes were unbearable. It was that last part...those damn mosquitoes...that drove us to insanity today. I was so excited about going to the farm that I didn't sleep well last night. And then we were only able to spend about 2 hours working today because the mosquitoes were just so overwhelming. Even with pounds of bug spray on, they just kept coming. An annoying, loud, buzzing onslaught. The entire day was ours to work. We had no real reason to come back on a specific timeline, no important task to rush off for. Our bags were packed for a fun-filled day that we had to peace out of because of the plague of mosquitoes. We accomplished the main tasks, but were unable to make any kind of headway on anything else. Potatoes have been picked, yet again. I think the only varieties left are the fingerlings and the russet. It's not been the greatest harvest, but it's better than I had feared. And potatoes are always fun, despite how many you eventually pull from the earth. Two tomatoes were brought home, and the saddest of all tomato plants was staked up today. There's a picture of it in the farm section. We like to call it the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Tomato Plant. But, for how pathetic it is, there are three lovely tomatoes brewing on its vines and those are three more than if I had thrown it away, which is absolutely what was going to happen to the plant, as it was an extra. Soybeans look great. In fact, they are the only thing about the farm this summer that I would deem a success. Everything has failed by conventional standards. But this was about learning and readjusting what success meant. I have found success with every type of veggie I planted...just not any abounding success. It's again one of the great lessons I have learned this summer. I am a person who thrives on being successful. I measure vast portions of my life on what I perceive to be success and failure. In school, I loved getting exams and papers back. There was such a thrill in seeing those A's appear. But this summer, I have experience colossal failure. The potatoes were small and fairly unproductive. Most of the corn hasn't gotten taller than my waist. Bugs are decimating the parts that have grown large. Only two onions came out of the ground and they were the size of my thumb. We had planted close to 40. Two of the pumpkin vines actually took off, and are only producing a grand total of three pumpkins. We had one zucchini, two acorn squashes, and so far absolutely zip on the melons. But I look at the first picture of me on this post. And the only thing I see is happy. It's genuine happy on my face. So what that the onions didn't work. So what that the potatoes were small. So what that the corn is tiny and bug riddled. There were small victories in each of those experiences. And beyond that, much was learned for next year. The final victory, which really tells me that this is the avenue to pursue with my life, is that I am still as excited, if not more, than I was when this all began back in March. When I started, I had Barb Bay take a picture of me at the farm, with my farmer shirt and my straw hat. I looked so joyful in that picture. I was fairly certain that I would not feel that any longer, once the long, hot months of July and August set in. I knew I would need that picture to look back on and remind myself of how much I wanted to do this, to find some inspiration to soldier on. But I haven't needed that picture. In fact, the pictures I take nowadays are even more joyful than that very first one. People talk about finding your passion and following it. I always thought they were full of crap. Now I get it. I will find a way to make this the work of my life, my contribution to my community. I can't believe how lucky I am.
There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler |