Berries Abundant

I found this little bird nest in the raspberries while picking some the other day. It's the perfect jam season right now. Red and golden raspberries are abundant. Jan and I made swirled jam by making two batches and alternately filling the jars with each color.

Last week was elderberry week. Andrea picked some to make wine with her dad, and Daren helped me pick a fair amount on the premise that he'd get a jar of the finished product. I never mind a little barter here in the countryside, especially if I get help with the prickly, outdoor part. Unlike raspberries that can be eaten off the bush with fervor, elderberries have a funny taste that comes out best as a jelly or syrup. They are poisonous in large, raw quantities, but perfectly safe when cooked. The right-side photo is of elderberries, but the other is of pokeweed, a non-edible berry of the same color.

Also, since plums are in season, I canned them in light syrup with whole cloves and a touch of maple liqueur. They will be saved for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning. The deep purple globes floating in the jars look gorgeous!

Compost/Recycling

I just learned this weekend how important these topics are to city folk. Of course we have a huge pile of compost out behind our greenhouses, but the times I grumble and hold my breath as I pace past it hold nothing against having a dish of it sitting on my counter for a week. I'm amazed at what we take for granted here in the country when others have to go through a greater process to do the same sort of thing.

So, here it is . . . the compost talk that Johanna wanted so badly. I'm sorry, but I have to post the tale of her fascination with the cluster of plants in the hedge row. She hurried over asking what it was that grew there, because she'd never seen anything grow like that.

"You mean the pile of dead flowers?" I answered, obviously curious why she was so interested.

At that moment I knew. Composting is not a pile of crap. It is a luxury. After dinner, I can throw my corn cobs out into the bushes where something lower on the food chain will scurry over and be glad it found its next side dish.

At Windflower, all those end of the day compost runs with juicing tomatoes, rotting onions, and worst of all, potatoes or cabbage do its part to make fresh soil for next year's crops. If you wonder whether we pot or seed into that soil, the answer is no. We have the privilege of letting someone who specializes in composting make that soil mix for us. As if a great big pile of compost wasn't enough, we need our dirt pile too.

Recycling has its place too. Ask Jake the Elder who is its biggest advocate. Why else would we have a compost salad day?

Adios Oren!

OREN is leaving us for the season, so here's what the crew has to say:


Dude, bye! Drink water, not urine! (you'll need to recall our lunchtime conversation to not be confused and appalled and distasted by this) Learn lots of Wesleyan things and stay cool as a cucumber in the cooler with the coolness turned up.
- Jake

Yo, Oren, so, washing station conversations are going to be slightly more boring without you around. And I'll vaguely miss constantly being challenged on nerdy topics that I can normally fake my way through. So, enjoy acruing college debt but have fun doing it! Hasta luego-
- Daren

Dear Oren,
Good job smelling great this year, and keep up with the magic deodorant, it works wonderfuly. I'll be waiting to see your inflatable flip-flops on the market. Have fun at school. Bye bye.
-mack

Oren,
Gonna miss you here on the farm and sitting somewhat nearby the "cool table" at lunch. Have fun at college and be sure to keep wearing that sweet deodorant. Don't forget the hot peppers and tango!
- Naomi

Oren,been nice to know ya, gonna miss your geeky puns and oversized wit here on the farm. been nice to have you as both an employee and friend.
- Jacob

Oren,
We're sorry to see you go; you've been an excellent worker and supplied us with excellent conversation and insight here on the farm. You're company will be sorely missed. Hopefully you have enjoyable adventures ahead of you! We hope you come back to us some day soon.
- The Blomgrens

Bye Oren! Have fun at college studying all those majors. I'll be safe from thinking that Ted is coming every time you whistle, and I expect some Tango lessons someday.
-Victoria