Well, not completely. There are four heads of celery that need to be harvested and a few more carrots in the ground. But, neither are a big deal in terms of work. The celery will take longer to clean than it will to chop the stalks and dry the leaves. The carrots will be picked on an “as needed” basis for my husband’s salads. So, after a year full of too much then too little rain, too cool then too hot conditions and so on, the ground and Mother Nature can take a rest. In the meantime, I am super proud that we did not let food go to waste. We have a new freezer and food processor to make it all happen but in the end, if we grew it, we preserved it in some fashion. We have done our job and we, too, can take a rest.
As the garden goes fallow, it just seems appropriate that it is November 1st. This coming week, we will have a little snow on Wednesday and on Sunday, we “fall back” to regular time. Mother Nature, indeed, has this whole calendar thing locked up. For all the times I doubt her – when it snows early or late or when it’s cool on the Fourth of July, she did fabulous this year. She deserves to take a bow – and some well-deserved time off.
As for me, I began preserving food as a way to interact with my favorite season and to emulate the traditions of my mother and grandmother. Today, as I am in the early fall of my own life, it takes on more and more meaning. In the past, the end of warm days would make me sad. Today, it doesn’t as much. I can see more clearly the need for all things to rest and be calm so that they can be renewed again. Just like Mother Nature needs a rest every once in awhile, so do we. As the garden goes fallow, the trees finish dropping their last leaves and the grass stops growing, we have a short break before the snow becomes shovel-able and the constant need to bring in firewood becomes a task.
And today, even on a Monday, feels good. Candidly, I have never cleaned, chopped, diced, sliced, cooked, water-bathed and preserved more food than I did this year. My canning pantry is filled and both of our freezers are close to “withdrawal only” mode. I have used all but two pint jars after reusing all of my existing jars and buying another three cases of canning jars. I am super proud of what we have accomplished and it feels pretty special to think that this food is just there and ready for us whenever we want it.
But I am ready for a fallow season. I am ready to paint again or read a book. To clean my house and have it stay clean. To integrate our third sweet kitty fully into the family. To decorate for the holidays and to celebrate this very special time of the year with family and friends. As my husband starts his new professional adventure today, I am also ready for my career to be the second career in our household and for me to play a more supporting role by keeping home a soft, safe and welcoming place to land.
As I sit here, I am surrounded by the early morning quiet. Dawn is breaking and after morning kitty treats, the furry little beings in this house retreat to their separate corners to nap. My husband is getting ready for his first day at his new job. And me? Thankfully, I’ve managed to get ahead enough on hours that the next two months are about to become much slower in my world.
Like my garden, I plan to rest for a little while. Not for long but for long enough to get rejuvenated. There’s no grand reflection about what this means today. Instead, the rest I plan to enjoy is the message. Being a homesteader – even a yuppie one who uses a food processor and attachment to a standing kitchen mixer to process produce – is work. When you have quiet time, you tend to just enjoy it.
The Yuppie Homesteader 