Out here on the farmstead, it is as if when spring is sprung, a mandatory wind of change happens! The sun is warm, the sky gets bluer, we begin throwing off our jackets, sweaters and boots, while longing for shorts and flip-flops. The warming earth is beckoning us back to soil level; calling us to put on gloves and pick up our gardening and farming tools! Yay!
Not a picture of my farmstead. AI generated. But, it’s cute.
Spring; my favorite time of year.
But, you say drably, it’s not spring, Della, so why are you yakking about spring? It’s almost winter; a long time before spring.
Well, out here on the farmstead, we start thinking about our soil and planning our gardens well before spring. You see, growing up on a small farm, I learned the laws of reciprocity were our bread and butter. Reciprocity? Della, isn’t that when you exchange one thing for another? Yes! I put a seed in the earth, and the earth, in exchange, gives me a producing plant. A plant that helps sustain my very existence, life, if you will.
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Ah, the good old earth. Our big blue marble in our solar system.
You see, the earth is a living being, a vital force, an entity and is always begging for seeds. The earth was made for seeds. The earth loves seeds and embraces them with enthusiasm. The mighty wind blows seeds everywhere and the earth laughs happily as they fall to it. It picks the best seeds and decides, “I’ll grow this one.” And it does.
Almost everything grows from seeds. Even us, if you will.
That being said, I want to talk about food. Our food here on earth. We all know our food today is marginalized, to say the least. I will not go into the “whys” and “what fors,” because of too many, many…did I say many? Yes, many rabbit holes. But I want to say there are two categories of food I want to discuss.
ONE: Physical Food TWO: Spiritual Food
For this article, let’s talk about physical food. I will say that our governmental food pyramids are not something you can take to the bank. It is best to look back into our past and begin to resemble food before the 1980’s. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, in America, 40% of the population were small farmers growing 100% of the food we Americans ate. And 98% of the children in American knew a farmer and where their food came from.
On the same note, and this is a sad note: Today, less than 1% of Americans are farmers. The age of this less than 1% are approximately in their late 50’s and into their 60’s.
When they retire I hope we have younger people to take their place or we Americans will certainly have a food crisis on our hands. My statistical source for these numbers and info is, just google it.
On a happier note, lots of people have taken authority over the foods that they consume for their health and their family’s health. I did that same thing years ago. The point I’m trying to stress here is that the best foods for us to eat is whole foods that go all the way back beyond the 70’s and 80’s to the way God created them. Trying to improve over God’s perfection is where our foods and the earth-fields began to go wrong. Even the meats we eat have been broken down by the same tarnished food in the fields that we humans eat. So let us face it, humans and animals eat from the same fields.
Today’s seeds that man has tampered with, and think they have improved upon, is not healthy for us or the animals in the long run.
Nourish them as plants.
So, it takes time, energy and thought to find the healthiest foods today. One thing I point to, and start my daily grind of sourcing food from, is, I try stay away from anything that is grown with seeds that are not called seeds. And they are not called seeds for a reason. Seeds cannot be be patented. So, name them something else so they can have a patent. Seeds may seem dormant, but even then they are alive inside. And to put any pesticides or herbicides into the DNA of seeds is morally wrong, from my point of view. Even the name “organic” is not pure today. So we do the best we can when sourcing food for our families.
The best option for healthy food today, ones that recognize your body and attribute to your health, is to grow as much of your own as you can for your family. Second choice, make friends with, and help garden out with people who grow food. Plus, buy as locally as you can, and as pure towards God’s original plan for food and people as you can. Don’t be shy about asking how the food is grown or if it has pesticides or herbicides. Your gut health will thank you. Trust me on this. I’ve been there.
Remember this, Then to Adam God said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.”
“By the sweat of your brow…” God has not taken this commandment back. Our food, in most respects, comes from the ‘cursed’ ground. We must take care of our food from the ground up! We will sweat if we have and tend a healthy garden. Poisoning the weeds and the bugs back is not healthy.
So yes, we who love the soil, the sun, the rain and the reciprocity of dirt and seeds, even while our eyes are on the spring, we are diligently working the other seasons to bring forth our food by “the sweat of our brow.”
There really is no other way to have healthy, fresh and vital food that, when we eat it, it lovingly nourishes our bodies. That is why each family must take back their “food on the table” from the plates on our table, to the seeds, to the fields and to the dirt its self. And grow our gardens back to our health.
What are you growing in your garden? Leave us a comment and share your thoughts below.
For us, so far, we have collards, turnips and are about to plant some short day onions; three varieties! Cross your fingers, say a prayer that all our gardens will turn out great food and remember: Each season is about three months for most garden plants, so timing the planting of each plant is crucial to a successful harvest.
KNOW WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM. MAKE A FRIEND OF A FARMER. MAKE A FRIEND OF A GARDENER. MAKE A FRIEND OF A LOCAL VEGETABLE GROWER, OR RANCHER, OR LOCAL EGG PRODUCERS. SHARE WITH EACH OTHER YOUR BOUNTY, GREAT OR SMALL. CREATE A COMMUNITY WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE AROUND YOU.
GET TO KNOW YOUR FOOD AND WHAT IS IN IT. WHERE WAS IT GROWN? HOW WAS IT GROWN? AND IF YOU CAN, LEARN TO GROW SOME FOR YOURSELF.
As I heard a wise man say years ago, “You will pay more for good, healthy and healthily grown food, or, you will pay more to the doctors and medicine producers.”
I have unfortunately seen, and bare witness to the fact that this prediction has come true.
Here are some places to purchase good seeds. But pay attention to the type of seed you are buying. Heirloom seeds that are open pollinated can be saved to plant and bare again the next year. A good reciprocity seed! Most seeds that have been hibernated will produce the first year. But, it may not bring forth a good reciprocity for you after that. The genetically processed organisms are not the way I would recommend to go. I know a lot of people will argue for them. That’s okay. It will not be me! Check below for some of my favorites seed producers.
http://www.growhoss.com Hoss seeds, gardening tools and more.
http://www.rareseeds.com Bakers Creeks Heirloom seeds.
http://www.seedsaversexchange.com
I have planted, with good results, from these three seed companies. I am in no way affiliated with any of them. I make no money if you go to their site from here and purchase something. But I encourage you to do so. If you have a favorite seed company not listed here, please put it in the comments below for me, and others, to check out!
This article is my own opinions, mostly, and is for information and reference.
If you have a story about your own food struggles, please share it below, or send me an email at dellastricklandauthor@gmail.com.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y’ALL!
EAT MORE TURKEY! AND READ MORE HAPPY ENDING ROMANCES!
While you are celebrating this great American tradition, and relaxing into your holiday and possibly eating left over turkey, go to my Shop for Love page and purchase some Snowflakes, from my Snowflakes Series. You will read, enjoy southern friendships and sound just like a southerner while you’re reading Carolina Snowflakes. You want to sound, and enjoy the cowboy vernacular? Grab Snowflakes in Nevada:Shop-For-Love
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And as an extra bonus, you may find out that God loves you so much he only made one of you, just like he did my characters in my Snowflakes Series.
God made us all unique, like a snowflake. Watercolors is #6 in the series. Get this one and all the rest here Shop-For-Love and then set back with your favorite beverage and enjoy each story that is heartwarming, inspirational and has a very happy ending. I love happy endings, and I hope you do too!
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Have a great Thanksgiving everyone,
With love from Romance & the Homestead,
Della
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