There is Magic on the Farm....

There is Magic on the Farm…

…magic isn’t quite the right word.  It is something stronger that that.  It is everywhere but this week I discovered it in the smallest of things.  Seeds.  Tiny, tiny seeds.  Do you know how small a poppy seed is, think smaller than that.  And of course, think larger than that. 

While Jerry is out in the field doing the heavy harvest I’m sitting in the Garden house harvesting seeds.  Tiny, tiny seeds.  Judy has been saving seeds for some time now.  There is even a kale seed that is named Judy’s seed.  You can buy it through Johnny’s Seeds.  Trying to separate the shaft from the seed is a trick in and of itself.  I know there is a scripture quote here but it is not coming to me at the moment but believe me I’ve spent hours trying to do this successfully.  Good eyesight comes in handy.  A little blowing helps now and then.  You can use the wind if the wind is just at the proper speed.  Pouring the seed and shaft from one bowl to another when the wind is just right causes the shaft to blow away while the heavier seed falls in to the lower bowl.  Swishing the seed and shaft in a large bowl in a circular motion causes the seed to fall somewhat to the bottom and the shaft remains on top – well sort of.  All being said and done it isn’t a quick and easy job.

Of course neither is harvesting sweet potatoes.  Jerry has spent hours in digging in the dirt finding the sweet potatoes treasures.  (He certainly is dirtier that I am at the end of the day).  Today being a harvest day they also picked beans, green peppers, red peppers, Asian pears, greens of all sorts.  I’m sure I’m not remembering everything.  I spent the morning cleaning cone head cabbage.  Just pealing back the leaves of 103 heads of cone head cabbage until they looked good enough to eat.  It was unwrapping a present or like trying to peel back the layers of a person you just don’t see eye to eye with until you finally find the good hidden inside.  Today’s pickup is for 84 people.  Lots and lots of good food.

The weather has changed. The nights are almost cold now.  The trees are beginning to show their colors.  We’re due to stay at the farm until next Monday then we’ll head up north, hoping the colors are still in their prime. 

(We are grateful to have a house sitter through all of this.  And woo hoo to Christy for today was street cleaning day and she moved our corolla (a stick shift), without any problems.)

So perhaps M on the farm is for Magic and Mystery and Miracle.  There sure is a lot of that going on!