do not be discouraged, do not be deterred, find your people

Late-Summer Gifts for a Gardener. A Dash of Winnie the Pooh, a Splash of Summer Sauce.

Tip from the Kitchen’s Garden Kitchen 👆🏽.

• Add a little apple to your tomato sauce for thickness and sweetness.

Here is my recipe for summer sauce for all you Southern Hemispherites!

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Discourse to go with the Summer Sauce

Like many of you I am having trouble getting my head back on course. Back to work. Back to the work of designing a robust, earth friendly sustainable lifestyle that leaves minimal damage to this precious planet of ours. We must maintain a stable course! But I feel like my feet are mired in the sand with the tide pulling it out from under me.

Like many of you, I am having trouble focusing on my personal sustainable lifestyle work, while parrying the slings and arrows of a new and hostile government in the country I chose to settle in. We little farmers have literally no recourse. We feel weakened and stupid.

‘Do not be discouraged, do not be deterred, welcome your community, ask for help’.

Like many of you I am frantically casting about looking for answers, new pathways.

I have left The States for a little while.

As an immigrant I have family all over the world, homes to rest this weary heart. As an immigrant with a green card I was not able to vote. But the rhetoric has worn me down. As an immigrant we have decided, as a family (both my US and NZ families) to take the offer of shelter and family work in Australia. It is deemed prudent to move Mama out of America for a time. And believe me when I say the level of anxiety associated with the actions of one’s government in a country I chose to adopt is not how a democracy should be.

So I am grateful for the respite and devastated for what my US family will be facing.

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Community in Action has been de-mobbed. Time to step in to help.

For years I have worked with a community of small farmers and invited people from the community onto the farm. Anyone who wanted to grow food on our farm was invited too. We had quite a lively living.

All of this was enabled by selling produce along the way.

But community funding which brought us to these markets to sell to is now under threat.

Our farmer co-op partnered with Think Regeneration, an outreach group bringing fresh food to assisted living centers, veterans, young families, marginalized peoples, food pantries, and community kitchens, people in food deserts and low-income jobs.

Think Generation received federal funding to connect us farmers with a new market of community groups.

A grant is not a handout.

Think Regeneration received funding to buy from small farmers like us. They sponsor two EATS programs. ”Down at the Farms LLC and Run-A-Way Buckers”supporting 55+ farmers and 250+ individuals and their families.

This small initiative was working and growing. Flourishing. My farmer cohorts of both parties (politics free we thought) have been planting and planning with these markets in place. Growing food was our safe place from politics.

The ripple effect.

The grants our cohort received was feeding an entire ecosystem. It is a hand-up. Not a hand-out. That grant ripples out in all directions. Farmers grow food. Workers pack it then transport it. Groups distribute it. People eat it. Each of these steps has its own supply chain.

Grants don’t just help one group. They strengthen the economy of a community. Money moves. Farmers invest. Suppliers thrive. Communities grow.

A helping hand makes the difference. These programs don’t just give. They build. For instance: The federal funds (recently cut) to get good food into our local veterans center, as an example, nourished a carefully gathered chain of suppliers. By selling our vegetables or eggs or beef or pork we buy:

• Seed suppliers, planting pots, seed raising media. Chick suppliers, egg cartons, chicken feed. Vegetable packaging, fertilizer, tractors, gas for the tractors and harvesters. Grass seed. Fencing. Hay making equipment. Hot bodies to load the hay - and harvest the wheat: farm workers. Local feed suppliers. Local grocery stores. Local mechanics because all our equipment is old and a bit broken down. Hoses. Connections. Irrigation equipment. Local electricity and internet. Clothing suppliers. Packaging suppliers. Packers. Truck drivers. And on and on.

Now these grants have been suspended. The very people we were feeding are being targeted. And without those federal funds - this ALL stops. The damage pummels all the way back up that supply chain.

I feel weak and stupid. We have all been sliced and diced without discussion. There is no recourse. By the time these programs have been recovered, the damage will have been done.

Whether I am in the country or not. There are only apologies to each other. Sorry but we cannot help.

So - in my humble opinion - it is time to hunker down. Build up your own local resources. Use your money to support local businesses. Build a robust local community. Get to know your local farmer and buy directly from them. And buy some plants along the way for your own wee garden, with a couple of vaxxed chickens and a worm farm.

There is no way in the world the retreat of federal funds from our communities will have a positive effect on the wider economy. On small rural towns that are already struggling to compete with the monoliths that include Walmart and Amazon there will be die out. The US president clearly said it might be tough for the general populace for a while. And he was not lying.

You and I have known for years that growing your own food and supporting the small farmer to grow the rest will bring food security and strength.

Going forward

I cannot say enough ( and I will say it again) how important it is the find and financially support your local farm because the odds are that like my farm in rural Illinois they have lost markets and money too.

If you are in need of help with groceries - if you are affected let us know. Many, many farmers will be happy for you to come out and help grow the food and take some home too. I do it all the time. My farm continues with this even when I am not there. ASK FOR HELP. Your community is still here we have just had a major crack in the communications network. We are being divided. Reach out. Find each other. We will give you a hand up directly. I was in trouble as a single mum once. People helped me. Without that help my children would not be who they are now.

Plus, create systems in our own homes that develop self sufficiency, diversity in our foods and social networks and design a sustainable lifestyle. I can help with that. There are many farmers and writers here on SubStack that can help with that.

If you have plenty look around the school yard or up the street and make friends with those who struggle. Share. We need to step up now.

And, now, we must get back to the work of designing an elegant and wholesome robust sustainable lifestyle with shields that will keep us sheltered from a negligent government.

“Let the sky rain potatoes.”

The Merry Wives of Windsor

One of my favourite Shakespearian quotes

Birthday presents for a gardener.

It is still summer in New Zealand, though some days you would not know it. And by all accounts it has been a cooler summer than usual. Nevertheless my son has a birthday tomorrow and he is a gardener. A wild gardener for sure but a gardener.

As a birthday present I will weed and re-generate one section of garden. The one around the deck. I love to mix veges with flowers and know the birthday boy well enough to know the kind of plants he will enjoy.

Because the space is beside the outdoor cooking area, I want to give him a garden that combines scent, colour, herbs and food.

It is late summer and this garden is zone 9B (with a few frosts) so I will plant:

Greens. Lots of leafy greens. So he can pick and chop a salad without having to even go inside.

Broccoli. I don’t have a choice as to when I plant the birthday garden. It has to be now. It may be too warm to start a new planting of broccoli but you just never know in Wellington. As long as the plants get water they will grow.

TIP: Harvest the first central floret then continue to water and later harvest those side shoots. (this works for cabbage too - cut out the central cabbage then leave the plant to grow and it will send out little mini cabbages).

Cauliflower. It gets very windy here and caulis grow low to the ground so they are a good bet. Plus they look great in a flower garden.

TIP Cauliflower prefer even cool temperatures and the wild fluctuations of weather temps in the last few years have made them hard to grow.

Silverbeet - one of my favorite leafy greens. It grows madly in many New Zealand gardens but after cutting will come back again and again. Silverbeet is very old fashioned and you know how we are about old fashioned plants. Once planted a person is never out of greens.

TIP Silverbeet is high in iron and vitamin c. To absorb one the diet needs the other. I slice the green of the leaves super thin and pan fry it in butter or oil.

Rhubarb - it is absolutely the wrong season to begin rhubarb but if I find a few plants I will pop them in. The leaves and stems are gorgeous even if a person decides not to eat them. Though a person should.

TIP: boil down the rhubarb in orange juice.

Rosemary loves to grow. The garden I am working on is right by the barbecue deck so reaching across for the herbs is perfect.

TIP: pick actual branches if rosemary and throw onto the coals under the steak. The smoke will scent your steaks marvelously.

Chives - who can resist.

TIP: pick the flowers and pack into a jar. Fill with whole vinegar. After a few weeks decant into a bottle and add to your favourite dressing.

Daphne bush. The children and I will also look for a Daphne bush or two as the scent of Daphne around the deck will be divine.

Hellebores. These love to grow in Wellington conditions in a shady spot (under the feijoas) and can be propagated through division. So with just a few plants I will encourage a bank of hellebores. The plants are hard to find so it will be just luck!

One of my fav pics of New Zealand back yards. Gumboots of all sizes lined up at the door.

What else can I give a gardener with my won hands. I bet you have tons of ideas!

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Bedtime Stories

And Now For Winnie The Pooh. written by AA Milne for his son Christopher Robin. Today we have Chapters Four and Five.

And from the archives:

Winnie the Poo Ch 1

Chapters Two and Three -

Winnie the Poo Ch 2

I offer these stories to you as a little time out from the days news. Grown ups have lots to deal with during the day and I think we all need short relaxing bedtime stories just as much as the next kid!

PLUS you can listen to these with a child if you have one handy. Though they work just as well without.

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Now, remember, although the news is overshadowing our work we do need to continue to do the best we can for our environment. And even more work for those amongst us who are at risk. Every single little move you make in the direction of kindness to your people and your planet is a good move. You are doing ok. I know you are doing the best you can. Grow a little food. Mitigate wasteful habits. Either get a few chickens, grow a worm farm or have a compost plan to keep old food out of the landfill. Replace single use plastic. Mend and repair. Adopt a struggling family. All these things do make a difference. They must.

Have a lovely afternoon, evening, morning, wherever you are.

I am in New Zealand for another ten days. And it is gorgeous.

Celi