Autumn time, abundance, independence and saving seeds.

 

 

As Autumn makes it’s presence felt we await the ripening of Mother Nature’s offerings. A little more sunshine is needed to sweeten and ripen these Blackberries in the hedgerow. The shorter mornings and darker evenings seem to have descended quickly from the long days of the Summer that was barely evident. Maybe an Indian Summer is around the corner!!

In the garden there is an abundance of produce right now. The freezers are filled with fruits and vegetables which will be used to feed us and make preserves through the Winter. Onions and Garlic are drying in the polytunnel. I feel priviliged to have land that we use to produce so much of our food. Last week I read that Ireland imported 324million euros worth of fruit and veg from Britain last year. Sad that a country which proclaims independence is so dependent on imports from other countries to feed it’s people.  True independence, in my opinion, is only plausible when a country can sustain it’s own food supply. With rising fuel prices affecting the price of groceries worldwide it would seem wise for us to grow, grow, grow.

 

Regardless of weather there is so much that grows well in Ireland. We had fantastic crops this year from berried fruits, alliums did great and beans were incredibly productive. These beans above are being left to produce seed for next year. So easy, just leave some large pods at the end of the season, don’t be too quick to tidy up, and in a few weeks they will have dried out and be ready for harvesting. Remove from pods and store in a dry place and you have next years crop ready to be germinated . With 10 companies now controlling up to 70% of the world’s seed supply I think seed saving is a sensible step to take.

“To see things in the seed, that is genius.–Lao Tzu

Tomatoes are another crop from which seeds can be easily saved. Just soak the seeds to wash off the jelly like coating then dry them out on a piece of kitchen paper and viola! you have next years seeds. Do save from plants of organic origin.

“Abundance is not something we acquire, it is something we tune into.–Wayne Dyer

I shall be away from here for awhile as I am having a break from blogging and visiting and commenting on other people’s blogs. Happy Autumn days to you all. I will be back in the not too distant future. Bridget xx.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Change in Consciousness.

As we face into another year on this planet called Earth many people are feeling a bit scared about 2012. Much has been said about Mayan calendars, solar flares and biblical prophecies foretelling the end of the world. My view…for what it’s worth…is that the Mayans were not foretelling the end of the world but an end of an era. I came to this conclusion after reading much about these various prophecies. My belief is that 2012 is the time for a change in consciousness on the planet.  We are all exploiters on this planet…that is the nature of the beast.

 Even Andy and I living here in rural Ireland are exploiters. No you may say…but the truth is yes. We are vegetarian so we do not exploit our animals for food directly. We do however exploit Enid our milking goat every day to obtain her milk. Hens are exploited to produce our eggs and bees for honey. A bit extreme you may think but we cannot blame others for exploiting without examining our own conscience. We have a car so…somewhere… fuel has to be pumped out of the earth to power it. None of us on this Earth can live here without being part of the exploitation that occurs.

But…we can exploit in a positive way…positive for ourselves and life on this beautiful planet. So much food is imported needlessly. Growing your own means you can be more responsible for your own nutrition. Food sovereignity gives one more financial independence as less money is needed. I really hate the supermarket trend of importing vegetables from all corners of the world to gratify our taste for out of season produce. In our polytunnel at the moment we have Carrots, Kale, Parsnips, Spring Onions( I saw some in the supermarket from Kenya), Turnips and salad greens. More than enough for variety. We do of course buy some provisions. We only grow enough Potatoes for half the year but we make sure to only buy Irish Potatoes. We also buy lentils, beans, flour and so many other things too.

 The Celtic Tiger years (late nineties to 2008 financial boom) seem to have made a huge change in the Irish psyche. They were the years of spend, spend, spend and damn the consequences. A third of food purchased in Ireland used to go in the bin…hopefully the last couple of years in recession will have changed that somewhat. On my travels I pass a local fruit and veg importers depot quite regularly. There is always a skip outside brimming with produce to be dumped. Shameful. The timber pile pictured above was given to us by a neighbour who did some hedgecutting last year. There were 6 others of similar size. They just could’nt be bothered using it. That was our gain but I do not understand this mindset. Cutting down trees then going to the local fuel depot to buy imported coal.

My hope for 2012 is that people do become affected by the change in concsiousness. That more and more people begin to appreciation and cherish this planet that has for so long tolerated our gross exploitation. If we all do our little bit to reduce the waste, shop wisely, use wild foods and grow what we can then there is hope. 2012…may it be the year where we take responsibility for our actions.

A change in consciousness…I welcome it with open arms!