What Winter Has Brought On

We have been very busy preparing for winter or... the end of times!  Because the amount of food we have killed, processed and frozen is sustainable!!  And the best part is -  this is our first year and we didn't really know what we were doing!  Just think what next year will bring with all we have learned from our mistakes and successes.

From Ten of our Hogs

To 900 lbs of Pork

From 200 Roosters & Hens

To Beautifully Packed Goodness

It has been nice not to have to wake up early and work so hard to feed and water so many animals.  We still have a few rabbits, ducks, turkeys and guinea hens roaming about.

And From the Garden!

We are in our winter garden now with spinach, mustard greens, broccoli, Garlic, Beets and maybe carrots if they grow bigger.  I learned that even freezing weather with ice on their leaves does not hurt these vegetables.  The leaves become frozen, then they unfreeze and I pick them and eat them.

Alyce and I joined a fishing club from the senior center and they love our pond.  One of the great benefits is that we now know there are fish and we are catching them!  One of the men caught a 4.4lb bass that was 22inches long!  They have updated our 30 year old fishing poles, and are taking on the project of fixing our pier so we can actually use it!  They found several 'deep holes' in the shallow end where the big bass hang out!  Fishing is much more fun when you are catching fish!

Our last Farmers Market is next week.  It has been hard to wake up and head out in low 20's weather - but we did it! and are better for it.  My yearly physical was greatly improved!

So... we welcome the quiet of winter where new plans will be formulated.  Lots of reading to do and maybe time for relationships!

A Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year from Hearwood Farm!!

A Christmas Meditation From The Farm

A Sacred Spoon

I have a wooden spoon that was given to me by a friend on her birthday.  It was a gift she gave everyone who came to her party.  She brought the spoons from India where she was working on an academic project.  This has been a perfect spoon for cooking.  

One day as I stood stirring over a pot of soup, it struck me that every time I use this spoon I find myself transported to the times I spent with my friend -and I would smile. 

And so this spoon had taken on a life beyond it’s common use.  This spoon had become a conduit, that created a quiet space in the midst of a my busy life.  

Sacred, Holy, Love, God…. Each one of us has our own meaning for these words.  For me, these words represent a place of awe and wonder.  A place where I am caused to stop, stand, and recognize that there is something greater beyond myself.  And it dawned on me this morning; this spoon has become for me an experience of sacred, holy, love, and God in the midst of my life.  For it makes me stop and remember that this common, humble spoon was a gift of relationship from a friend – a friend I haven’t talked to in awhile.  And my thoughts move on from there to other relationships where I have fallen down in my relating.  And from there – a humble reminder of my weaknesses and a pondering of my soul.

God is love, and he/she who abides in love abides in God and God in them.

So…I thank my friend Diane for her gift that has led me to this Christmas mediation. A gift that keeps giving and has made my life better because of her act of friendship – where God lives in the midst of!