The balance between growth and decay is the sole principle of stability in nature and in agriculture. And this balance is never static, never finally achieved, for it is dependent upon a cycle, which in nature, and within the limits of nature, is self-sustaining, but which in agriculture must be made continuous by purpose and by correct methods. "This cycle is constituted of the successive and repeated processes of birth, growth, maturity, death, and decay."
~Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table (p.165); last sentence a quote from Sir Albert Howard, gardening pioneer
A flower's fragrance declares to all the world that it is fertile, available, and desirable, its sex organs oozing with nectar. Its smell reminds us in vestigial ways of fertility, vigor, life-force, all the optimism, expectancy, and passionate bloom of youth. We inhale its ardent aroma and, no matter what our ages, we feel young and nubile in a world aflame with desire.
~Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses (p. 13)
If 50 is the new 40, then why do I feel like I'm about to turn 50?
~Me
First, an apology...
Unlike my garden, I have neglected this blog for quite sometime, and I feel derelict in the "gentleman" aspect of my duties as a Gentleman Farmer. I could blame it on all the demanding work even a small agrarian life takes during the spring, but I'll just blame Mark Zuckerberg. We at RMH have taken to posting regularly on Facebook which I have allowed to diminish the urgency I have felt for this blog. However, lest we allow the convenience and brevity of communicating through social media sap our ability to think in full paragraphs and thoughts, I shall persevere.
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| Mack Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook |
Close call in the garden...
Our good friend Jessica visited for the July 4th holiday, and we just escaped with a close call, for you see, Jessica has an obsession with the squash blossoms in the garden. She seems to think they exist in large part to be stuffed with goat cheese, coated and fried to a delicate golden color. Now, granted, she is a wonderful cook who does like to try interesting and challenging dishes, but my squash blossoms? Really?
I put squash blossoms in the same category as artichokes--flowers that are only eaten after being radically transformed by cooking and some version of stuffing, battering, frying or dipping. (Is an artichoke leaf in the mouth anything more than an excuse to eat aioli, mayo or butter?? And don't get me started on the "delicacy" of escargot swimming in butter.)
So, I simply kept my mouth shut; because, if you were to walk into the garden today, you would be struck by how vibrant the Connecticut Field Pumpkin vines are with their profusion of bold yellow blossoms popping up throughout the plant.
Gender Blossoms
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| Top two are males while the bottom one is a female. |
Now, if Jessica had discovered the abundance of blossoms and whipped out her recipe for some chèvre filling or a tasty batter for dipping, I would have insisted that she take only the male blossoms and leave the female blossoms to produce fruit. Ah, yes, you may know that pumpkin blossoms are indeed "unisexual," meaning that botanically speaking, there are both male and female flowers as opposed to one type of flower that has both characteristics. In fact, this feature is a characteristic of the plant family Cucurbitaceae (various squashes, melons, and gourds, including crops such as cucumber, pumpkins, and watermelons).
As we all recall from our biology classes (ahem), the male reproductive structures of a flower are the stamens while the female structures are the pistils, with an ovary at the base. Pollen deposited on the stigma (at the top tip of the pistil) fertilizes the flower, and the ovary swells, and...oh, you know the rest.
Natural selection determines each individual plant's structure. In the case of our pumpkin, the male flowers shoot high through the canopy of leaves to attract pollinators with their color and nectar, most often bees for squash (this year our RMH Bees!). The female flowers are much closer to the vines, protected under the canopy of leaves and better positioned for the weight of the fruit (a pumpkin) that will develop when they are fertilized. To their advantage, the female blossoms have a sweeter nectar than the male blossoms which, of course, makes them more desirable to bees, etc.
(Insert your own flower gender jokes here...)
Of course, I am (as you would expect) fascinated by all of it. The more I know nature, the more it confounds me. Part of it is simply the act of asking "why" and allowing the time to explore, research and understand. Part of it, as I have said before, is knowing the plants. I find familiarity breeds comfort and connection.
I don't want to repeat myself, but the garden is indeed a metaphor for life, actually, so much more than a metaphor for it is life itself. Nature happens around us as we are also part of it--part of the process, and the cycle, and the inevitable forces that shape the natural world around us.
Whatever creation story you choose to abide by, humans were late arrivals in the process. The earth and all it's processes, the flora and fauna, nature if you will, were already here. We were a late addition to the planet, and humility demands that we understand our place in it. We are here as participants in the processes of the natural world, and our humanity demands that we bring our awareness to understand that.
Obviously, I believe that gardening and developing a connection to the natural world facilitate this awareness. And, I propose that there are more ways than you likely imagine to make this connection. Do you grow things? In a yard or pots on a balcony or terrace? When's the last time that you visited a museum of natural history or botanical garden? There is a reason that all civilizations value and nurture such things.
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| We're coming for you! |
Farming at Fifty...
AARP is soon to find me. I have heard that it is inevitable. In fact, I imagine there is a secretive agency supporting the work of AARP that tracks all "aliens" 50 and older. (My vivid imagination runs to a "Men in Black" type of operation with Tommy Lee Jones in charge.)
So, I take a moment to acknowledge that small-scale though our gardening is relative to farming, I will be "farming over 50" in late August. On the one hand, the idea of starting a business in my late 40's that would require I spend large blocks of time digging, cultivating, and turning compost, often in hot weather, might seem like odd timing. On the other hand, "it's never too late" (or so we like to believe, especially when we are turning 50), but, more important, I have come to find that re-orienting my connection to the world has been an important and fascinating journey.
And, so I end with the same author as the quote at the top, a poet, farmer, author, and dedicated agrarian introduced to my by my dear husband:
The question before me, now that I
am old, is not how to be dead,
which I know from enough practice,
but how to be alive, as these worn
hills still tell, and some paintings
of Paul Cézanne, and this mere
singing wren, who thinks he's alive
forever, this instant, and may be.
~Wendell Berry from his book Given
Happy Summer!
~Timothy
