Week 12, Fall 2024
Bittersweet day. I’m sitting at the kitchen table writing about our last week together as the fall cohort. Such a sweet period of time on this land and with these fabulous humans and felines! All my love, AKH
Sunday, November 17
One last cozy farmhouse morning with the crew. We turned the kitchen into a cafe, with steaming cappuccinos and tulsi tea and triple-citrus cake! Acacia and I gathered fresh eggs from our avian compatriots, and we hung out on the trampoline on this unseasonably warm afternoon. Everyone signed the shed to commemorate a season well spent.
Margalit left for Atlanta, though not before stocking the fridge and freezer with enough eggplant mush to last the winter. Feeling all sorts of emotions about the end of the season and the start of a new and different one. To quote our overlord, Adrienne Lenker, you are changing me, and you are changing. <3
Saturday, November 16
A very sleepy shabbos morning, as per usual. Folks trickled into the kitchen for leftover radish cake and a shockingly competitive round of zodenames (ZA-themed codenames). Do not even THINK about bending the rules in Daniella’s presence !!
We gathered our coats and scarves for a chilly walk though the woods and to the stream, where Luisa set us up with watercolor painting supplies. Phoebe the Cat joined us, which was all well and good until she had to be carried back across the stream after stranding herself on the opposite shore. We reunited with Nooch and the kittens at the farmhouse, then Leo followed me to the hay bales to watch a perfect midwestern sunset. Dinner was awesome — sweet crepes, savory pancakes, and pumpkin butter! The night ended with havdalah blessings and a birthday song for Gavi.
Friday, November 15
Our most medieval day yet. We started by digging a moat shallow trench to bury the plastic at the north end of the high tunnel and felt very feudal while doing it. Margalit and I used duct tape, power tools, and scrap wood to seal the cracks at the south end of the high tunnel so that the tomatoes remain warm in the coming months.
In the afternoon, I joined Ella and Luisa in the soy field for a veritable Soil Sampling Party. We had a small Prius-related mishap but solved the issue in no time, thanks to the combined power of seven people pushing and one eco-friendly engine in neutral gear. Shabbat felt especially lovely after so much action! I tried Eric and Margalit’s famous radish cake for the first time and found it quite radishing.
Thursday, November 14
My last harvest of the year. We clipped all the eggplants, even the little ones, and fought through tomato vines to collect the last fruits of the season. Daniella led a pruning session, accompanied by sea shanties and shipwreck songs, while Margalit held it down as head radish-washer in the greenhouse. We tasted way too many radishes while working! Afterwards, Eric and I walked to the bridge to look for Leo and Jam’s missing sibling. We saw no signs of the wayward kitten but enjoyed a nighttime adventure with the sweetest cat companions. I am thinking of putting Jam in my pocket and taking him home with me and raising him as if he were my own son. Herm.
Wednesday, November 13
One last trip to the Sheldon Food Pantry to distribute fresh onions, eggplants, green peppers, radishes, and tomatoes. I have enjoyed this routine and will miss it in the next chapter of my life. Back on the farm, we deconstructed the two sukkahs and stored them safely for next year. The structures are meant to be impermanent but it still felt bittersweet to see the landscape without their familiar shapes. Gavi left in the afternoon — the first real departure of the week, and so sad to say goodbye. We gathered in the farmhouse for a quiet evening of reading, writing, and making music, specifically The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. We do NOT mess with the Gales of November in this house !!
Tuesday, November 12
Luisa and I drove 200 lbs of radishes to the delivery point for Down at the Farms, then swung up to Ashkum to for a tour of Janie’s Mill. It was awesome to learn about how wheat and rye berries turn into delicious flour for baking! The mill supports regenerative and transitional growers, so we connected over our shared interests in building a sustainable food system.
After the tour, we ran some errands (read: I slept like a baby in the backseat) and jumped back into farm tasks. I joined Ella for sampling in the soy field, where we use a GPS to locate exact points and take composite soil cores to understand how basalt impacts soil chemistry. With the sun setting, I joined Gavi and Acacia for one last run between the fields. Very chilly and sweet and good times.
Monday, November 11
I started the week by absolutely freaking out over the cuteness of Leo and Jam, the new cats who have decided that ZA is their home. We’re still looking for adopters, so keep letting your friends and family know, but for now, they have settled in to the bike shed and intend to stay. On a more productive note, I helped harvest and wash and pack all sorts of alliums from the Goat Garden. The onions smelled so much !! We also harvested tomatoes, eggplants, and radishes (the usual suspects) and packed huge boxes of produce for Down at the Farms to distribute across Chicago. Enjoying the last days of our fall routine, even as the land and people tend towards winter. Relishing the dusk and night-time and clear stars I’ve gotten to know in this special place.