Final Harvest from the Community Garden

Most of the gardeners have torn down the trellises and posts at the community garden. I've picked my plot clean, except for some kale that I'll pick as I need them. I pulled romaine and arugula, parsley, borage and kale, some calendula, nasturtium starts, parsley, spinach, and turnips.

I made three more quarts of salsa and canned it yesterday. The fruit was a little too over-ripe, exceedingly sweet and red, so it didn't have the firmness that I like. I had some left-over brine so I made the beginnings of a batch of V-8 Juice. I'll boil up carrots, celery and cabbage, puree it, add it to the brine and it should work out well.

I rented the film "Kilometre Zero", an Iraqi film which was selected as part of the Global Lens Film Series to promote cross-cultural understanding through cinema. Each year, films from developing countries are selected. This film features a story set in the 80's war with Iran, with graphic images of war and its effect on the people. This is the first time I've seen the application of the bastinado, which was a type of torture used on Baha'u'llah. Although parts of the film were intended to show humor within adversity, there is a lasting impression of overwhelming devastation. So much is destroyed, a spiritual wasteland.

I'll finish this weeks posts with this portrait of Mink which I took last weekend. He attended the Olsen's Devotional, and shared some of his life experiences. He's a jack of all trades, a maker of drums, a kayaker, and a lover of trees. He spent part of his life living in a cave down in Arizona, and doing his craft on the side. He said it was a 17 mile walk into town.

Some of the friends mentioned that the people in Isfahan, Iran have torn down the trees in the Baha'i cemetary there. That lead to a discussion that featured Richard St Barbe Baker, who was a Baha'i. St Barbe Baker founded the "Men of the Trees", a world-wide project of reforestation throughout the world. St Barbe Baker noticed that trees attract moisture in the air and help keep the environment viable. When trees disappear, water disappears, and the land becomes a wasteland.

My next project for my garden is to haul autumn leaves and spread them all over the topsoil. I've shredded all the fiber from my plants and dug that in. Now it requires winter rain and the decay of organic material. I'm hoping I will have added enough so that the soil will be in prime condition in the spring. If I can acquire this same plot next year, I'll be all set.