Week 8, Spring 2024
Hello dear readers, and welcome back to the farm journal!
At the end of our work day on Friday, Martina and Eric led us in our very first Context Conversation of the season. The theme of this week’s conversation was the sociopolitical history of Indigenous people in our region. Martina and Eric walked us through some important Indigenous policies that shaped the history of this area. We then read through some excerpts of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, ethnobotanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She discusses her relationship with her Potawatomi ancestors, what they went through on their land, and her relationship with the land in their wake. We rounded out our conversation by discussing what steps we can take as stewards and residents of Sheldon, IL to show solidarity, repair relationships, and make progress towards a more just system of land ownership.
The week’s Shabbat was themed around our new baby chicks, and as such we got dressed up in red, yellow, white, and even wore some chicken jewelry (props to Acacia). While bringing in Shabbat we reprised some songs from our Seder including Hallelujah, Your Heart Knows the Way Home, and More Waters Rising. For dinner Martina and I prepared a sweet potato gratin, mushrooms, quinoa, and a salad made with greenhouse thinnings. Astonishingly, the entire meal was Kosher for Passover and contained no Kitniyot (legume) or alliums! For dessert Martina whipped up some INCREDIBLEmatzah toffee. Seriously, it was out of this world.
On Shabbat day we reveled in the lovely weather. After reading through some of Gathering Moss, another beautiful work by Robin Wall Kimmerer, we were inspired to head into the woods with some hand lenses to explore for ourselves. It was a lucky day for us all because we found so many morels, a variety of edible mushroom that fruits this time of year but can be tricky to spot. Foraging a morel has been on my bucket list for quite some time so I was very happy with my haul. We closed out Shabbat by having Havdallah in the hayloft where we were joined by our dear barn cats. At night a group of us went back out into the woods to practice Hitbodedut. Popularized by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, an important leader of the Hasidic movement of Judaism, Hitbodedut is a practice of solitary, spontaneous divination. The cool night air and the wind through the trees made for a perfect environment to connect and reflect.
On Sunday I was lucky enough to have some sweet AND some savory Matzo Brei for breakfast. I had to make sure to fuel up for our trip to the Indiana Dunes on the south shore of Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect for a day of picnicking, spike ball, reading, napping, and of course, swimming. Although we were exhausted by the time we got home, some of us decided to take advantage of the last couple days of National Poetry Month by having some creative reflection time by candlelight.
I started out my Monday by checking the pasture for any new calves; it is truly the best way to start your day. Acacia and Eric did their weekly maintenance walk of the farm. I took some time to harvest some mushrooms both in and outdoors. After work Acacia set up a playpen for the chicks in the living room so that we could all spend some time with them. We had such a great time watching them explore and interact and giving them some snuggles. Later Margalit and Martina started picking some dandelion flowers since they’ve been starting to go to seed. For dinner Sophie cooked up some fried oyster mushrooms coated in matza meal. Incredible. We then ended the evening with some puzzling.
On Tuesday we spent some time applying fertilizer to the new spring crops. With all the rain we’ve been getting we also had to redirect some flooding in goat garden. Afterwards some of us split up to work on setting up our high tunnel. Part of my weekly mushroom maintenance includes cleaning the tents and checking on the buckets. I noticed that one batch had some really funky looking mushrooms so I took a look inside. Lo and behold I found that another fungus had out-competed ours. Sadly I had to take those buckets outside to be composted, but I’m glad to know that all of that material will continue to be part of the life cycle here at ZA. Tuesday night marked the end of Passover so we got to enjoy some delicious pasta for dinner.
On Wednesday I got some more straw soaking for an inoculation. We’ve been lucky to see some asparagus just starting to pop up in Bayit which Sophie cooked up with some of our shiitake for lunch. In the afternoon we were hard at work weeding in miracle garden. After the work day I headed out to the woods to look for a morel that I had left behind. Little did I know that I would be returning with some pheasant back mushrooms that were bigger than my head! Even though these mushrooms were past their prime for consumption I was very proud sauntering into the house with my gigantic findings.
On Thursday we weeded some pesky taproots and poison hemlock in miracle. I was on lunch cook and made good use out of some thinnings and chard from the greenhouse, mushrooms from the grow tent, and ramps we foraged from the woods. In the afternoon we completed our inoculation: 12 buckets of Grey Dove oyster mushrooms. After work we watched as Mark and JR herded the cows from their original pasture to the pasture across the road. It was spectacular to see the cows run through the field of unkempt grass and to watch the little calves explore a whole new environment. For dinner Acacia baked us some fresh buns and homemade veggie burgers which were not only scrumptious but fun to eat too!
On Friday we started our second round of shiitake inoculation on logs. All other hands were on deck helping with the deer fence. For lunch Sophie baked not one, not two, not three, but FOUR loaves of fresh sourdough bread. Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a bakery, truly a dream come true. In the afternoon Sophie led us through our second Context Conversation. We learned all about the ecological history of the region and how settlers manipulated what used to be largely swampland into the farmland we know today. Sophie then facilitated some reflection and conversation about how we incorporate the history of this land into the work ZA does today. Thinking deeply through these questions was a really nice way to transition from work into Shabbat. Tune in next week for more of our adventures!
