Farm and forage report
A list (in progress) of edible things growing on our property:
- Black walnut
- Mulberry
- Brambleberry (aka wild blackberry)
- American persimmon
- Pawpaw (planted, but native)
- Elderberry
- Passionflower
NB - this list doesn’t include things that are said to be edible in the ‘probably ok’ category, like hackberry and the wild grapes that are all over the place, nor does it include small, herb-y things such as dandelion greens, purslane, wild garlic, woodsorrel, and the like. I don’t do wild mushrooms, though I harbor a fantasy of discovering morels. None yet, alas.
I’ve harvested exactly one (1) walnut, and it was a tremendous amount of work for a barely edible bit of nutmeat. The passionflower vines produce edible fruit (“maypops”), which are pretty tasty, but not really in quantity. The most bang for our foraging effort has been with the brambleberries, which tend to yield well and are just now starting to ripen.
The mulberry trees can apparently switch sexes, so some may bear fruit and others not, and the situation tends to be fluid over time. The large ones in our wooded area are showing fruit, but it’s all way too high to reach. The persimmons also looked like they were blooming, but any fruit will likewise be out of reach, which is a bummer.
I’ve made elderflower syrup before, and am hoping that the 5 bushes I planted from cuttings will give us enough fruit this go-round to try for a cordial.
For everything else, both pear trees are fruiting well but have some sort of blacktip thing going on, which I’m hoping only affects the leaves. The apples are usually hit-or-miss; this year looks like a miss. The muscadine is going completely crazy, so I’m looking forward to doing something with grapes later this summer. Fig is still sending up new growth, and I’m hoping it fruits as well as it did last year. Our climate here is such that figs will die right to the ground over winter but then re-emerge like gangbusters over the summer. The container tomatoes continue apace, and the habanero is moving like mad - lots of new growth and blooms showing up.
Tal vez sea el evitar la tentación de juntar palabras para hacer una obra. Dijo Claudel que no fueron las palabras las que hicierion la Odisea, sino al revés.
— Ernesto Sabato, “El principal problema del escritor”
Currently reading: El Escritor Y Sus Fantasmas by Ernesto Sabato 📚
More LatAm lit on the way: Ernesto Sabato, Adolfo Bioy Cesares, and Julio Cortázar (along with the complete short stories of Graham Greene).
Finished 2666, which I liked a lot. Started Como agua para chocolate and am enjoying it. Not entirely sure where to go next. I may go look at more stuff by Yoko Ogawa or John Crowley’s Aegypt books. Blake Couch’s Wayward Pines series is also coming highly recommended to me.
Mexico was nice, though the weather was a bit weird. The wind kept it cooler than expected. The hotel was lovely and the food was excellent. Looking forward to England and Scotland in a few weeks and it will be the longest vacation we’ve taken since…uh…maybe ever.
Wrapped up S2 of Severance and am thoroughly invested. Very interested to see where they go next and how they address a couple of large-ish unanswered questions related to Irving. I love, love, love the visual design of the show, especially the weird dissonance of the props: older cars and retro-tech on the desktops, but also iPhones and whatnot.
Otherwise, we’re slowly transitioning to summer-mode here. Hasn’t really gotten too warm yet, but all in good time.
The next few days are going to be crazy: travel for work, followed by one final weekend downtown for tribunal case sponsorship training and the lector installation mass for the cohort behind us, followed by quasi-business-but-mostly-fun travel to Mexico. A few weeks after that we have our real vacation set: England and Scotland by train.
Still feels weird to know that I’m done with school. It’s generally dominated my brain for the last 4-5 years and all at once, that’s it. Only a couple of us were able to make it to the graduation ceremony this past weekend, but the ones who went said they called out our names, so I guess it’s more or less official.
I’m in (I think) the final part of 2666. It’s been wonderful, bleak, and weird, all at the same time. I don’t know if there are any answers coming, but won’t be surprised either way. The chapter “The Part About The Crimes” was difficult, relentless reading. One bright spot was catching various references the author makes to other Mexican writers - Paz and Rulfo - who I’ve recently read.
Regarding the conclave and election of Pope Leo XIV: hooray! It was great fun to watch the announcement. Very excited to see what’s next.
The weather here has been characteristically spring-ish: warm, then cool, then warm again, then thunderstormy. Most of the pollen has thankfully cleared out and everything is lush and green. It’s not been hot yet, but I think we’re getting into the high 80s this week, which will be wonderful.
Currently reading: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño 📚
Currently reading: Treatise on the Love of God by Francis De Sales 📚
I just took the last exam of the last class of the last year of our formation and have completed all work required of our MA program. There’s one more session next month to cover best practices when working with the tribunal; otherwise, we’re done.
Deo gratias, alleluia, alleluia.
Coming up for a bit of air after some business travel directly on the heels of a A Very Busy Triduum. I was saddened, but not surprised, when the announcements about Pope Francis hit on Monday. When I saw the pictures of him after he left the hospital, it seemed very much like he intended to die at home rather than in a hospital bed. And other than being found face-down in a breviary (which is how I want to check out), is there a better way to go than on Easter Monday? The next few weeks will be interesting. I pray for the repose of the soul of our Holy Father, and for the cardinals preparing for the conclave. I pray also for our own bishop and the pastor of our parish.
I took a couple days off so that I could jump with both feet into the Easter liturgies and was able to serve on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Vigil. It was exhausting, and I wasn’t even on the hook to come back for Masses throughout Easter Sunday. This will certainly not be the case next year, so I’ll probably plan on taking Monday off as well. It was exhausting, but profoundly moving, to be in the middle of every single bit of it. Probably never too soon to start practicing the Exultet, with apologies in advance to the rest of my family.
This weekend is the last class of our last academic year. If the instructor follows her usual pattern, the exam will post on Monday and I’ll probably do it on Tuesday, at which point I will have completed all necessary requirements. Once this is in the rear-view mirror, we have some travel planned - Mexico, for some work-related stuff which will also be fun, and the UK later this summer which is purely fun.
Reading: Azuela has stalled out a little bit. I took St. Gregory’s Book of Pastoral Rule with me for the trip, but spent the return flight watching Severance instead. Finally getting around to this and so far, so good. For upcoming travel, I have Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 (in English) on deck. After that, I have Como agua para chocolate in queue.
