Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Who Is Gagardensylph?

Ga - Georgia
Garden - vegetables for now
Sylph - imaginary female being inhabiting the four elements (air, earth, fire, water); light, dainty, airy being
When I was between the ages of 13 and 21 my family moved a couple of times, but we always managed to have a few acres and make a stab at farm living. We raised a few vegetables, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, and cows. We even had a pair of peacocks once. When we lived on the southern coast of NC, after my father's retirement from the Army (I was 13), we also fished commercially.

I loved the fishing part, but I didn't participate as fully as I should have in raising the cows, pigs, chickens, and the garden. My parents didn't make it a requirement. They were in their late 40s then, and it was a project they shared with great affection, argument, and exhaustion.
These days my parents, who are by the very grace of God still with me and in amazingly good health, are in their early 80s. I am in my early 50's, and with a second husband and a small farmstead of our own now, I pick Mom's and Dad's brains constantly for the knowledge and how-to's of all they were doing in the 70's. Of course, I should have been paying more attention back then. But at least I'm paying attention now.

I was single until I was 45. My income level and OT workloads didn't afford me the chance to live the "back to the earth" lifestyle I longed for. So I took the academic approach for many years, burying myself in the writings of Helen and Scott Nearing and others who promoted simple living and homesteading until it was part of my own nature and philosophy. I didn't yet have the opportunity to live externally what I was learning, but the seeds of what could be had been planted in my imagination, and I spent many hours dreaming, planning, and hoping.
I married John Alderman in 2005, after the death of my first husband in 2004. Our mutual ambition to live a self-sustaining lifestyle, and other common goals and interests, gave us fertile ground on which to build a life together.

John and I live on 5 acres east of Atlanta, Georgia. The farm used to belong to John's father, and we are blessed to be reaping the benefits of his father's labor. There are half a dozen apple trees, and as many peach trees; one lone pear tree that bears so heavily, the branches sag almost to the ground; and there are nearly 100 feet of heavily overgrown grape vines. We pruned the vines last winter, and had no crop this year, but last fall, as in autumns past, we had a good harvest of grapes.

There's also a greenhouse. John helped his father build it many years ago, and although it is in usable shape, it, like much of the farm, needs a lot of improvement. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, we also have fig trees! I feel almost Italian (or at least, Californian) picking this decadent fruit each July.

Every year we try to expand our garden area. It's just the two of us here. We have no help, and can't afford to hire anyone. Although we have not been able to do as much as we would like to now that we have the opportunity, we are, at least, making steady progress. John works tirelessly, and endlessly, it seems. He calls me his "strong Russian woman" (I'm actually Irish/Cherokee) as I work beside him hauling, lifting, bending, climbing, pulling, picking, and sweating. Dear God, it wears on these old bones! But the rewards are abundantly worth it!

Last year a late frost killed any chance of harvesting apples, peaches or pears, but we had a modest grape harvest, and I finally fulfilled my desire to learn canning. I put up a half-dozen little jars of grape jam, and several quarts of pickled green tomatoes from our garden.This year I put up dozens of jars of apples and pears in various forms, and 9 quarts of pickled squash. We feasted on a variety of tomatoes all summer long, as well as a few oddly shaped cucumbers, some yellow squash, acorn squash, and a few tiny watermelons.

This Fall, we gave away bushels of apples - to a small church, and to a local charity that provides assistance for needy families. Our families shared in the bounty too, but we still had many left, and so we gave some away in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart.

Now that the cooler weather is here, John and I are focused on some clean-up around the farm, and preparing for the cold season. We have planted a Fall garden, and while we are still harvesting a few tomatoes, we are anticipating rich green heads of Boston Bibb lettuce, and peppery red radishes in the coming weeks. Throughout the winter we will harvest fresh collards, sweetened by the frost, and many heads of cabbage that I will make into slaw and soups, and for the first time, sauerkraut.

I am not Helen Nearing, but like her I am living the life I desire, a life that truly is "The Good Life."


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