Taking A Break

Our last 2013 crew member departed today!  To me that marks the end of the season and the beginning of the new year.  I am very grateful to everything that was offered this year.  Everyone's energy and flexibility and basic presence.  What a year it has been.

2 months ago I put a pile of books on the table and suggested as part of our mindfulness classes, that we read one complete book ~ rather than just parts of books, which is what we had been doing to get through a lot of material and points of view.  We ended up reading Eckhart Tolle.  

Here is a nice reminder from Tolle's "A New Earth" of the value of stillness when all you want to do is create, or move, or do anything other than take a pause.

It has been said: "Stillness is the language God speaks, and everything else is a bad translation." Stillness is really another word for space.  Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which beyond thought, beyond ego.  It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gaps in between sounds.  Stillness has no form--that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it.  Thought is form.  Being aware of stillness means to be still.  To be still is to be conscious without thought.  You are never more essentially, more deeply yourself than when you are still.  When you are still, you are who you were before you temporarily assumed this physical and mental form called a person.  You are also who you will be when the form dissolves.  When you are still, you are who you are beyond your temporal existence: consciousness -- unconditioned, formless, eternal.  (255-6)     

Montauk NY

Ode to Juliette de Bairacli Levy

Juliette de Bairacli Levy is known to many for reigniting the interest and trust in herbalism back in the west.  There are certainly many other peoples that have maintained the lineage of herbal medicine amongst their families and communities throughout this time, yet Juliette's wild and elegant ways of expressing her admiration for the plant world and what this worlds tends - air, water, animals, insects, human beings, spirit - has spoken loudly to many of us on our path to remembering.  Remembering to trust ourselves for answers, to educate ourselves on what we do not know, to have confidence in our earths' offerings and mysterious ways, and that no matter what direction we progress, to do so in reverence for all.

I like to give myself a monthly Juliette dose, to be reminded of all of these things and especially the wildness within ~ no matter how together or tame I can get or seem on the outside.

Here is a fantastic video on Juliette:
http://vimeo.com/18952969

Recently reading one of Juliette's books, Common Herbs for Natural Health ~at the back of the text she has a bit on Rosemary taken from Bankes Herball, a seventeenth century text.  Juliette has many practical and accessible suggestions on supporting well-being, so this is not what you will find in her books overall, yet I just so enjoyed merely reading through this bit, that I wanted to share...

Rosemary
Take the sweet flowres and make a powder therof and bynde it to the ryght arme in a lynen clothe and it shall make thee light and merrie.  Also take the flowres and put them in a chest amonge thy clothes or amonge bookes, and mougthes [moths] shall not hurte them.  Also boyle the leves in whyte wine and wasshe thy face therwith...thou shall have a fayre face.  Also put the leves under they bedded heed, and thou shall be delyvered of all evyll dremes.  Also take the leves and put them in a vessel of wyne...if thou sell that wyne, thou shall have good lucke and spede in the sale.  Also make thee a box of wood and smell it and it shall preserve thy youthe.  Also put thereof in thy doores or in they howse and thou shall be withoute dannger of adders and other venomous serpentes.  Also make thee a barell therof for the rayne and drynke thou of the drynke that standeth therin and thou needs to fere no poyson that shall hurte thee.  And if thou plante it in thy garden kepe it honestly for it is muche profytable.  (p. 193-4.)

Food of the Gods ~ Kitchari Recipe

This week, most of the large outdoor projects are winding down and soon it will be time to begin planning for 2014, harvesting winter crops!, ordering seed and reflecting on what went well and what could use some tweaking, or straight up abandoning.

With the changing of the seasons, it certainly feels like it is time to change my own daily routines.  One area is food.  Here is a great dish that can be munched from for days at a time.  It is a traditional Ayurvedic dish, Kitchari.

Now before you look at the recipe and think: "This is not for me!"  Let me tell you a few things.

Firstly,  I don't really do beans.  If I do, it's once in a while. as they just don't sit that well.  Mung beans are a different breed.  They are soaked in this recipe and are the most easily digested bean.  I've never had any issues.  Secondly, this recipe is both filling and cleansing.  Yes! this is possible.  Thirdly, it is delicious!

This is dish is commonly served in Indian hospitals for those with weak systems, needing a boost and for those with compromised digestive systems.  The combination of mung beans and rice attributes to this meal offering the essential amino acids to your diet.  The mung beans, rich in minerals and proteins, are also detoxifiers.

Our cleansing potential starts in the gut.  Our digestive system needs to be working and not stressed out.  By being fully nourished and stabilizing your blood sugar levels through this nourishment, your body does not go into starvation mentality - which many cleanses often encourage  Kitchari calmly allows your body to detox and remain whole.

Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!


1 cup mung beans (soak over night in the refrigerator with 3 cups of water)
10 cups water
6 cups chopped vegetable - (carrots, beets, cauliflower and so on, one type is just fine too!)
5-6 minced garlic
3 inch piece of minced ginger
2 onions chopped
2 teaspoons of each: turmeric, cumin, black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, fenugreek seeds
1 cup rice (white is recommended for a true detox, as there is no hull so it is easier to digest)

optional: 
*square of bouillon cube or at the end add 3 tablespoons miso
*seaweed of your liking
*cooking greens (kale, collards...)

Directions:

Saute onions in butter, ghee or coconut oil.  As those are cooking down, chop ginger and garlic and add those into the mix.  Add spices.  Let all of this cook until the onions are translucent and everything is browned.  While you are waiting, chop up the veggies. I used simply carrots and collards last night and it was delicious, but ofcourse go for everything or whatever you have.

Once the onion blend is ready, pour in 10 cups of water.  Take the mung beans out of the fridge and rinse them a few times.  Add in the vegetables and a cup of rice and the mung beans to the pot of water and onions.  If you are adding seaweed and a bouillon square, do this now.

Put a lid on and bring the dish to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and keep the pot simmering.  Cook for about 45 minutes.

If you have any cooking greens chop these up and add now.  Let simmer for another 15 minutes.
Once the soup is done if you are adding miso, toss it on in, turn off the heat of the pot and keep the lid on so the miso absorbs into your soup.

Viola!

Seasons Turning: Fall on the Farm

I so want to write so much about everything, but haven't had the chance.  So for now, more photos.  Enjoy!

Tenders potted and bundled in greenhouse for wintery fun: rosemary, gotu kola, lemon verbena and cuttings, as well as a many many lettuce heads

Butter Heads

Practice Makes Perfect

Loading up for a wedding

Beautiful Allyson and our first harvest of Ashwagandha

Majestic Poke Root

The Winter Squash Cure