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Kate Spring

~ growing a deep-rooted life

Kate Spring

Tag Archives: harvest

Little Gems in November, or, Lettuce is Beautiful

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by Kate Spring in Farming, Local Food

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

eating, gardening, harvest, lettuce, local food, November

November Lettuce

Spretnak, Rhazes, Mirlo.  Lettuce in November!

We started these late in the season, and yesterday was likely our last lettuce head harvest.  These little gems and mini-butterheads have been holding under row cover for a few weeks, and though there are still more in the garden, I doubt they will size up even to their mini-maturity.

If this is the last harvest, I marvel at them even more–lettuce is so beautiful.  I love the ruffled texture of the butterheads, the deep green cones of Spretnak, a little-gem romaine, and the rich velvety red of Rhazes, another little-gem (“little gem” really is the actual term for these mini romaines.  It suits them well).

If I didn’t want to eat a salad, or cut them in half to grill with balsamic oil, I’d sit and stare at the lettuce like a painting.  Is that crazy?  Shouldn’t food be beautiful, shouldn’t we take the time to notice when it is?  Maybe it’s only my perception, but I believe food tastes better when we take the time to notice its textures, colors, and dimensions.  There is so much to take in before we ever take a bite.

{I highly recommend these varieties; if you want to grow them in your garden, you can find them at High Mowing Organic Seeds: Spretnak, Rhazes, Mirlo}

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This Moment

07 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by Kate Spring in Farming

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

harvest, life, November, photography, rutabaga, small farm

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. {a tradition from SouleMama}rutabaga heart

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50 Pounds of Blueberries

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Kate Spring in Local Food, Seasons

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Tags

blueberries, family, harvest, life, local food, summer

Ripe blueberries Picking berriesa cluster of ripe fruit pick and eatWe cupped our hands hands and raked our fingers through the bush, producing a heaping pile of blueberries in seconds.  The 20-year old bushes were full and ripe, so heavy with fruit that we circled the same bush three times, harvesting from it as if we were coming to it anew each time around.  From bush to bucket, we worked quickly under a sky threatening rain.  We picked so fast that it didn’t matter how many berries Waylon took out of the bucket to eat–his appetite couldn’t keep up with our hands and those bushes.

Just under two hours later we finished, our buckets 50 pounds heavier, and our berry-filled bellies heavier, too.  And so we’re ready for the winter: strawberries and blueberries piled in the freezer, and canned peaches stored away.  Of course the lamb and chicken will help us through the cold months, and the vegetables, too, but summer’s sweetness is what truly brings sunshine into the yurt on cold winter nights–when the night falls early and the wind and snow blow outside, what better way to warm a home than a peach blueberry cobbler?  Berries ripen in the summer, but we pick for winter, ensuring our desserts will bring us through to another June.

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Late Summer Harvest

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by Kate Spring in Local Food, Seasons, Writing

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Tags

food, harvest, life, summer, thoughts, time

I’ve washed the salt out of my hair

and rubbed the soil back into my skin.

Late summer harvests fill my kitchen—

tomato sauce simmers on the stove,

carrots wait to be made into soup,

zucchinis pile up,

and melons balance on the table while

peppers, onions, eggplant, beets, basil, parsley and more all

teeter and spread over tables and floor.

The only thing lacking is time

or is it?

Time is relative, Einstein said.

He also said, “the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen all at once.”

Late summer doesn’t listen to that logic.  The only option then is to stretch time out, blow it up like a balloon, and let it grow at the speed of the garden.

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Welcome!

Kate Spring

Kate Spring

Welcome to The Good Heart Life: an organic gardening and lifestyle blog where we grow beauty, joy, and nourishment for the body, soul, and earth. I'm Kate Spring: organic farmer, mother, and chief inspiration officer at Good Heart Farmstead and The Good Heart Life. Grow along with us, and together we'll cultivate a more lively, joyful world one {organic} seed at a time.

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