September Update and Reflection on the Farm

Well we are well into September already and we have had a great season of harvesting and learning the ins and outs of copious amounts of produce. Our fridge is filled with carrots and beets and I began working on preserving some harvest for the winter months!

It first started with a very big experiment of beet kvass. Which is basically beets uncooked, in salt water (approx 10% salt) and it's supposed to sit and break down using natural bacteria and turn into fizzy pickle like beets.

I threw it out.

It was gross to look at (once it fermented.. it was pretty when I started!) ... I couldn't even try it. Ben couldn't even try it, there was mold on top and the smell was putrid and we just couldn't stomach it. LOL.

We might try it again one day, but for now, we will leave that as a fail and move on!

We figured we can try fermenting another way, hopefully a more appealing way, so we bought a cabbage and will look at attempting homemade sauerkraut for our next fermenting experiment. That might be in another blog if it turns out okay..or if it doesn't, I mean who doesn't like hearing about failures haha. We do know we both love sauerkraut, so we might be more motivated to at least try it, even if it looks gross. All is not lost on fermenting, after all, I do still make kombucha every three weeks and I have mastered that. A little fuzzy beet (In the wrong way) will not deter us!

The next preserving option was trying pickling for the very first time! Now I had made fridge pickles once last year that turned out okay, but this year I was determined to go through the process of sealing the jars and following a recipe (somewhat, I am terrible at sticking to a recipe.. there goes the idea of a 50's house wife for sure).

I pulled out Nana's Norwood United Church cookbook with my dear friend, past babysitter and old neighbour, Marjorie George's pickled beet recipe. Of course my diversions from her original recipe included using chioggia and golden beets sliced and cooked, and I'm afraid I might not have used as much sugar as recommended.. which I later realized made it more vinegarey (?) than I would have liked, as a sweeter pickled beet seems to be a preference, at least with myself. So next batch.. I guess I'll follow the recipe more..

These turned out great really, for my first attempt. I think Marjorie George would have been proud, and a little smitten to know I made them with golden and chioggia beets, as she was a great farmer herself. I actually wish I had picked her brain a bit more now knowing where I am in life.. but when I was cleaning her windows and painting her steps in the summer when I was 19, I bet you I wouldn't have guessed I would have grown 200 lbs of beets over the summer when I was 28. I'm not sure that's what many 19 year olds would have guessed their future had in store for them.

Life is pretty funny like that. You never know what you'll end up doing and what you'll end up embracing in life as you get older. You chase dreams for different reasons, at different times in your life. At one point I was chasing money, motivated by the illusion of success and steep student loans. I was convinced my family and society believed that if I had a job with a good pay cheque, that I was making it in the world. I worked in organizations that had dreams I did not share, worked hard at tasks I had no passion for, and I realized I lost myself in the days I called my life, in hopes of finding the elusive "success" I signed up for.

The more money I made, the more I spent. I spent money in hopes of finding satisfaction during the evening, to fill the lack of satisfaction at work. The illusion of success started to slip behind the feeling of emptiness and working towards nothing but a pay cheque and it never quenched my thirst for life. I was tired, but not the right kind of tired. I was tired in a way that sleep couldn't cure.

I'm telling you, its not worth it. If you don't love it, think about what you love and do that. Life is short. Working towards someone else's idea of success is living empty, and not being true to yourself.

Make money, but remember, doing what you love and being good at it will make you money too (and it's surprising how content you are and how money seems to stretch more if you're happy). Happiness rant done!

This season has been great at building up our confidence and abilities in growing things. We are stoked on the content we were able to accumulate through our social media and the support we received this summer from friends buying produce, to just asking us how we were making out and showing genuine enthusiasm for our efforts in making headway with our dreams of running a farm. It has been so rewarding and the hard work has really paid off. If it wasn't for the support, we wouldn't be making the headway that we have this year.

For the remainder of our September, we are hoping our gorgeous mammoth sunflowers produce some seeds for us to harvest. I might give some to the birds, but I am hoping I can be selfish and I can roast them and eat them myself over the fall! According to Ben, who has been at the farm hunting on the weekends the last three weeks, they are filling out wonderfully. Hold out there frost! Let us have a normal season for once!

Below is a picture of our very first haskap bushes that were planted the last weekend of August! We were stoked to have them in a new plot across from our main developed plot. It was all we could do not to buy more haskap plants at the time, but we are hoping these beauties enjoy their new home and come back with a vengeance next spring. And if they do, we'll bring them more friends!

I will be updating with our garlic planting adventures in the near future, and a wrap up on our planning for the season before the winter finally sets it's claws in. I appreciate you reading into my reflections on life and playing in the dirt. I'm telling you, its much easier to reflect on life with your hands deep in the mud with nothing but the birds telling you what you ought to do.

I encourage you to give it a go.

Until next time my friends, family and farmers! I look forward to our next reflection and updates on Uprooted Farms!

Cheers - and crack open that Pumpkin ale! It's definitely time to embrace our tiny little Albertan Autumn!

K