The Harvest

In the microseason of this month we gather, return and release. 

We keep what is ripe and nourishing. We release what is falling and ending. 

The fruits are the moments. The learning. The growth. 

KIDS: Make a basket. 

Maybe it’s finding an old basket and adorning it with string, paint or gems. 
Maybe it’s weaving with locally collecting plants. 
Maybe its made cardboard strips pulled together. 
Maybe it’s a pillow fort with hanging cloth. 

It’s about creating a space to collect. Taking care of what you treasure. Notice attractions and groupings. Notice what the earth is gathering too. 

I noticed with the air starting just to turn with a slightly cooler breeze, my kids really started wanting to find small spaces, be wrapped up or make cubbies. My favourite was watching them play with a cardboard box. It went from just hiding into, to cutting a head hole, then arms and legs. It became a turtle shell.

…………………………………

FAMILY: Tend to the garden. 

Whether it be yours or communal.

Store the seeds, harvest the last fruits, dig for roots, weed to give space, plant the winter crop. Go fruit picking. Turn the stinky stinky compost.

Back in spring when we first landed and the garden was bursting with calendula marigold flowers we decided to harvest some.  We chose to slow soak them in glycerin for a herbal remedy. And kept them away for all those months. Now as it comes time to strain them. It’s also now time to collect the seeds of the flowers that weren’t picked, saving them or scattering them for new calendula plants to grow. So grateful for this mirror of autumn and spring, and the cycle of beginning and ending.

Even though we didn’t know how long we would be in this garden for - I still planted. I planted two pumpkin seedlings who seem to have different personalities. One grew slowly and inched towards the east. The other had random sprints and ran toward the west and then the north another day. Side by side. And I thought about how my dear children while both raised by me (and their father and the village). They won’t get the same me. They won’t have the same experience because they are innately different. 

But gardening question which I am choosing to ask you instead of the quick search - why are my pumpkins rotting before getting bigger than my fist? To be honest - I also don’t really care if we don’t get the pumpkins. Maybe the next land carers will get to receive their fruit. Because we got to harvest the potatoes from the previous land carers andddddd they were like digging for gold. And the kids actually ate them. 

What have your ancestors / predecessors gifted you? 

The biggest consistent harvest was zuchinni which we got about 10 over two plants. My partner and I loveeddddd them. But my kids refused to eat them. 

What will you still grow that others don’t like?

…………………………….

SELF: Sit with a tree. 

Notice its reflections of your life. 

Where are your roots? 

How is your trunk and branches? 

Are your leaves ready to let go? 

……………………………..

Here is a poem I wrote from this month with a link below to a reel.

HARVESTING THE FRUITS

one’s harvest
might mostly be 
the plentiful abundance of
laundry

offering a bodily stretch
with organised rhythm
and a meaningful task

offering space for the children
to wander freely in the garden
or help fold corner to corner

offering a moment
to breathe outside
and remember the lucky view

one may gather
the unpredictable glimmers of
sunshine 
warmth allowing softness to reside

one can collect
growth
for unfurling paths honour difference
for seasons pass blossoms and seeds 
for planting beyond oneself
leaves gifts in our roots 
for savoring gives
the feeling that
growth is always here 
even if it’s not me 
or not now  

i am lucky
to fall 
is to harvest
a life with you

………………………

Set the intention to HARVEST this month and see what arises. 

Follow us to see our journey this month. 

Share with me your stories too.