Mea'n Fo'mhair - Mid-Harvest: Crisp Juicy Apples, Cricket Symphonies, and Recognition

from The Lord of the Rings:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

In the middle of what is forecasted to be a week of rain, I am getting a chance to write about harvest and share some pictures of recent harvests from the past few days before the rain began...  and to actually stop the outward harvest and look within at my personal growth.

Every day is a day of harvest, but this time of year, Mabon, the time of the Autumnal Equinox, is a yearly time of harvest.  A time in which we gather what we have sown as we prepare to go inward for the winter. A time to recognize and give thanks for what we have.

The Winter's Soups and Mash and Curries...

This is not simply garden talk, but life talk.  Our gardens and its seasons are a metaphor for life and while we may not all have a garden, we all have life.

What have you sown; what are you harvesting; how are you preparing for the coming dormancy?

Goldenrod and Asters:  The Bee's Current Harvest

Aw shucks...looks like it's time for some bingewatching of Bushcraft videos or something.  :)

Mathieu transplanting wild Tansy from the 'soon to be house site' to the orchard where it will attract beneficial insects.

How much of harvest is luck and how much of luck is what we did in the past?
We can be like the Mantis ever ready to seize the opportunity that presents itself at that precise moment when it is offered...

"You think that I am impoverishing myself withdrawing from men, but in my solitude I have woven for myself a silken web or chrysalis, and, nymph-like, shall ere long burst forth a more perfect creature, fitted for a higher society" . - Henry D. Thoreau

Milk Thistle in the Medicine Wheel Garden dropping its seed for next year's harvest...

What seeds are you dropping into the fertile ground of your soul?  Take advantage of this rain to water them in.

 Day and Night are equal right now at this balance point of the year as we go from the Yang of Summer into the Yin of winter.  We offer gratitude to the waning sunlight - the same sunlight that nourished the fruit we harvest and that will nourish us through the coming dark of winter...though hidden deep within it will be...

Sensual Magic - from seeds planted in April.

Enjoying the fruits of harvest.

Moussaka time!

What didn't come to fruition?  How will you ensure next year's harvest?  What seeds do you set aside?

First Year Teasel salvaged from the 'soon to be house site'...

...to be made into tincture for future use...

The summer sun captured in Goldenrod.  It smells like honey - or does honey smell like it?  Medicine for the winter.

Finish old projects, begin new ones...  All things come to an end and in the end is a new beginning.

Mourn the passing, celebrate your success.

                        Balance.                           

                                                                            

The last of the season's beans.

Great Ragweed along the Anacostia River from a recent plant walk I did in DC at Figment;
we sat and communed with this oft maligned plant.  It was magic.

"Go out, go out I beg of you
and taste the beauty of the wild.
Behold the miracle of the earth
with all the wonder of a child."
  - Edna Jaques

Wren says "hi!"

  'He who delights in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.' 

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Delving into Sacred Bee Mystery

Watching one of my favorite shows:  'Tales of the Bee'.

Apes ego divinas bestias puto.

Black Eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata

"Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt – marvelous error! –
That I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
And sweet honey
from my past mistakes."
- Antonio Machado

Lorax, who indeed speaks for the trees.

"A poet is someone
Who can pour Light into a spoon,
Then raise it
To nourish
Your beautiful, parched holy mouth."
 - Hafiz

Pollen laden - likely includes Goldenrod which began blooming recently.

"The Pedigree of Honey
Does not concern the Bee
  A Clover, any time, to him, Is Aristocracy."

 - Emily Elizabeth Dickinson c.1884

Monkey in her 6th year - breathtaking presence.

"But because being here means so much;
Because everything here,
Vanishing so quickly, seems to need us,
And strangely keeps calling to us...
To have been
Here once, completely, even if only once,
To have been at one with the earth -
This is beyond undoing."
 - Rainer Maria Rilke

For the Love of...

I do a lot of hive observation from outside the hives, not breaking open the propolis seal but a few times a year.  I like to sit with them, listen, watch, feel, smell, heartfeel...  I gain every time I do.  Marvelous Beings I am blessed to be on intimate terms with.

Maybe you're thinking of starting?  Now is a good time to begin that thought process, acquiring or building your hive over the coming winter, and then getting new bees come Spring.


~~~

"Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worth of rescue" - Martha Postlewaite

Vegetable and Fruit Garden Flowers

We don't often see pictures of flowers of vegetables and fruits in the garden, so I thought I'd share some...The bees are loving them!

Taste a Rainbow

Watermelon

Okra

Butternut Squash

Eggplant

Cucumber

A laughing matter:  only a few days and they get away from you...

The Curcubit's Orgy.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
  - Marcel Proust

What to do with all those Zucchinis!

The Summer Garden equals Zucchinis! (amongst other veggies)...

Zucchinis are making up the whole bottom layer of the wheelbarrow.

 Here is something a little different to help you utilize this abundant vegetable...

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Taking this bread to a friend's house for dinner...

Preheat 350 degrees, in one bowl mix:
5 c. whole wheat flour, whole grain sprouted is ideal
1 tspn. sea salt
4 tspn. baking powder

In another bowl mix:
4 eggs
1 c. walnut oil (or other of your choice)
3 c. raw can sugar
Then add and mix:
10 Tbspn. lemon juice
1 c. yogurt
Then fold in 3 c. of grated zucchini

Now mix first bowl of dry ingredients into this and pour into greased pans.  This recipe will make 2 cakes or 2-3 loaves depending on the size you choose. Baking time also depends on the size you use, begin checking at 40 minutes...may take up to 80.  Done when golden browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool before cutting - if you can!
Makes a great french toast the next day or toast with ghee and cinnamon.  Enjoy!

Chinese Medicinal Wines

I make an assorted selection of these "Longevity Elixers" and often get asked what were traditionally used for, so am putting together this post for easy reference...many of them are Blood tonics.

Eucommia bark, Du Zhong - Kidney Yang Deficiency, weak and/or sore lower back and/or knees

Angelica root, Dang Gui root including tail - build and move Blood, regulate menstruation

Astragalus root, Huang Qi - build Qi and Blood, move Blood, immunity (not for acute infectious stages)

Jujube Date, Da Zao - build Qi and Blood, move Blood, tonify Spleen Qi (digestion)

Ginseng, Ren Shen - tonify Lung and Spleen, Heart Qi, calm Shen, generate fluids, body fatigue, vacuity after illness

Goji berry, Gou Qi Zi and Fo Ti root, He Shou Wu blend:
Go Ji - tonify Kidney, nourish Liver, brighten the eyes, Wind, night blindness, blurred vision, upper back pain
He Shou Wu - tonify Kidney, nourish Liver, boost Jing, darken gray hair, insomnia, blurred vision, calm Shen, thinning hair, early gray

These are made with Sake and can be drank straight or with a little water or juice.

Pressing the infused sake to remove the marc, or spent herbs, and decanting.

Here is great book if you want to know more, or do this yourself. 


As with everything else on this blog, this information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease; but rather is simple educational material. Please consult a qualified health practitioner for your health needs.