Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Autumn Moon<\/p>\n
Frost last night, but no freeze. \u00a0Either way, not too damaging for us. \u00a0Our harvest of above ground bearing vegetables and fruits is almost over. \u00a0Left are root crops like leeks and carrots, a few onions, some beets and a late crop of kale and chard. \u00a0All of these are frost hardy, even freeze hardy.<\/p>\n
I have another leek dish to make, a leek gratin. \u00a0Will have several leeks left after that so I may have to return to the chicken pot pies or leek and potato soup. \u00a0Both are good.<\/p>\n
All in all a good gardening year except for the failure of my bee management plan and the theft of our honeycrisp crop by those #$!%XXX squirrels. \u00a0Looks like I pulled out a save with the bees by going with over wintering. \u00a0Just no honey this year. \u00a0Next year. \u00a0Good thing Artemis honey is not a for profit business.<\/p>\n
Ruth Hayden commented on our gardening and bees as not about poverty, but “…about creativity.” \u00a0In the broadest sense, yes. \u00a0In the particular though Kate enjoys the Iowa farm mom aspect of putting food by: \u00a0drying, canning, freezing, storing. \u00a0Both of us enjoy and I find essential the spiritual aspect of gardening, the close connection to the soil, to the source of our food, to the seasons, to the vagaries of weather and the changing of climate.<\/p>\n
You might say our garden is our church, or, better really, our meditation and our sutra, our bible. \u00a0Ora et labora. \u00a0Work and prayer is the Benedictine motto. \u00a0I like it too. \u00a0Work as prayer, especially work with plants.<\/p>\n
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Fall \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Autumn Moon Frost last night, but no freeze. \u00a0Either way, not too damaging for us. \u00a0Our harvest of above ground bearing vegetables and … Continue reading Ora et Labora<\/span>