Farm Language and Seed Porn

by Maria

A few years ago, I sat picking poo out of wool at Holy Myrrhbearer's Monastery, and talking about church issues when the abbess there said she was going to use farm language. The monastery is sustained by its farming, including 80 plus goats, sheep, a pair of oxen and countless birds.  I was there with a group of girls who'd only visited a monastery once or twice before and Mother Raphaela's willingness to be blunt was refreshing to us all. It eradicated all intimidation.

I want to write more bluntly about food. I'm tired for the people in cities who don't get good produce, who don't know where their food comes from, who don't know that canned mandarin oranges are peeled by being soaked lyme. I want to be blunt from time to time. Like this personal opinion of mine- we don't have to eat non-food food. We don't' have to eat  veggies either. We can freeze, dry, pickle, preserve and naturally process food that we grew with few chemicals, little cost and reasonable time investment. We can make this a generous bounty, from which we host a revolution in native health. We don't need to be fed the literal equivalent of Soylent Green from the food scientists. I declare this my age of Victory Gardens, no battles needed.

I've been dreaming of this since trying to till up the rocky trash-embedded fill of my rental in NEPA. I'm digging my toes into some real dirt, tearing out the useless grass and dreaming of worms, chickens, poop and preserving. My dehydrator awaits. I have my freezer. I have a canner and the tools. Let's roll, folks.

Seed Porn: Jan-Feb
Pardon my use of the term porn. I heard at church it's okay to use it, since it's about fecundity anyway.

In Animal Vegetable Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver says some women gaze longingly at the jewelry catalogues, like she does at seed catalogs. When I read that to my husband he laughed. I've been doing this for years. I own no diamonds, but gardening tools? Ah, the stuff of life.  Kingsolver describes tabbing pages with varieties to consider for the year. I have tabbed my All New Square Foot Garden, with a list of dream plants. I have drooled over Bakers Heirloom Catalog, and in a gesture to the paper-free future, I have just listed below what I will start planting this year. My CSA (Community-support agriculture) is likely to go to seminary, since it's one single guy farming on a small plot, who feels the call to serve the Church. So now, I'm a bit behind in budgeting what fresh stuff we'll stuff ourselves with this year, but this is good enough for now. I can't let my eyes get bigger than my clock and calendar.

Starting today, I'm ready to order, and my husband is bringing home the five-gallon bucket to begin the brigade that disassemble my front lawn, one small load at a time.  ETA on zero grass? Tax day. I rolled over last night and said to my husband, "The neighbors are gonna love this. They already recycle everything, all over their back deck." Just wait. I have an even better two-year goal. Defy the hear-said town codes about hens. I need chicken shit and eggs for composting and food.  I can't keep schlepping out to friend's farms for horse crap. I'm a vegetarian who doesn't enjoy pets so rabbits, with their enviable pellets, are not a good choice. I've been admiring worm farms, but I'm a bit vain about my tiny kitchen. Where will I fit the feeders?
We shall see. For now, from Grass to Gardens:
By planting time, I will

1. remove the grass-- one 5-Gallon bucket at a time (Grass to Gardens) from the postage stamp front lawn and side lawns.
2. Go to Seedsavers and buy the basic seeds for and study good crop rotation of the following over-indulged veggies of our house: lettuce, tomatoes, brussell sprouts, soybeans, squash, cukes, melons and herbs/flowers.
3. Consider two varieties of persimmon, since I've recently discovered how wonderful they are.

This year's herbs  from Seedsavers
Basil, Genovese, 271
Basil, Thai, 829
Cilantro, 275
Fennel, 355
Chives, 1243
Sage, 1252
Flat Leaf Parsley, 279
Thyme, 820
Oregano, 1249

Lettuce,
SSE Mixture 1024
Winter Density 1523

Cukes
Japanese Climbing 1191
Double Yield 617

Melons
Citron, Red Seeded 1240
Sakata's Sweet, 1210
Early Hanover, 927
Green Nutmeg, 210

Soybeans
1188

Tomatoes
Lemon 1233T
Amish Paste 107T
Velvet Red, 1126T

Squash
Pattison Panache 1222
Walthan Butternut 245
Cheyenne Bush Pumpkin, 1048

Brussell Sprouts
Long Island 913

Nasturturium- Tip Top Mix 1334

Other-
Saved Watermelon

Cuban Oregano-- Silver Shield Cuban Oregano
Persimmon Trees-- from Willis Orchards Tanenashi, American
Peppermint


Ah, the joy and seed-lusty! I just can't wait.