fall update (nov 12, 2008)

Well. I guess it’s about time to give an update and harvest time check in.

Haven’t written for a few months, I guess, lots has happened.

Socially, on this sweet fair island, I’ve been getting out there some more. Some of my new friends and Kate and I have initiated some local food gatherings: getting people together to talk/do some more food production and the re-valueing of local food. That’s been good. It has turned into a gleaning network at this time of year – working together to figure out who’s got what fruit still hanging out there and who’s got a press etc. That’s been fun. I managed to come away with about 75 liters of apple cider… the hard stuff… much of it will become vinegar. Delicious stuff. Right now it’s still quite sweet. But it will get drier.

I’ve managed to secure some big garden space at a lovely lady’s property. She is an ex-market gardener, tons of experience and a keenness to see the space used and more food grown. There will be other people gardening there too. Kate and I are hoping to plant our trailer home there as well (when it is built).

I’ve been spending some time working in the oyster farming industry. I’ve learned that while it is a miracle of food production with ecosystem enhancement more than destruction, it still falls short of a sustainable step towards feeding the world’s people.

The strings that hang down from the rafts are beautiful. There are large multicolored oysters with feathery anemones, spiky urchins, crawly craps, spongy sponges, and about a hundred other creatures. It is fish habitat and food, and all seems to be growing off the nearly endless microscopic food that floats in the water. And pounds and pounds of food are there. Especially if we got into using all the ‘by-catch’ as food and fertilizer. So growing food, with a positive ecosystem impact, you’d think I’d be all over it.

Trouble is, that while I was standing in the rain and the wind on a wobbly rickety raft, up to my ankles and elbows in sea slime and evicted creatures, cold and hungry, I learned that all the oysters I was harvesting are going to Hong Kong to be gobbled up by wealthy business men. Oyster farming is better than many farming activities, but when it is shipped around the world and eaten in fancy oyster bars by richies, it’s hard to feel like you’re making a dent in world hunger. Not only that, if everyone ate local and we had a reasonable population density everywhere, then we could all just go to the beach once a week and get a ton of food. We wouldn’t need to boat around with 2-strokes, and tie large styrofoam blocks out in the water.

I’ve been working on a goat barn with some folks. We are going to cooperatively manage and buy a bunch of goats for milk. That’s been interesting. Anytime anyone has the opportunity to cooperate intensively with others in the community, I suggest they do it. It is so interesting and rewarding when it works, but extremely challenging.

I’ve also been playing some soccer, practicing archery, hangin’ out with other young farmer/foodies.

My life on this island revolves around food. And so at this point I’d like to review the last few months through the lens of my mouth and guts. Right now as I write, behind me is the gently simmer/hiss of various pots on the wood stove. One large one contains pig fat, bits of meat and water. I have been rendering lard from some pigs that were killed on the farm. The fat, beautiful, healthy, delicious, multi-purpose stuff, is a waste or by-product to most people. I was able to glean three heads which had lots of beautiful marbled meat and fat. I canned much of that.

Another pot on the wood stove has a head stew cooking down. The forelegs and head of a beaver is the central feature of that brew. I didn’t trap this one, but I trapped the last one a few weeks ago. Beaver is good eating, has a beautiful fur, and chops down apple trees by the dozen. We aren’t on a campaign of eradication, just population thinning and feeding ourselves. As well as training them not to go in the orchard.

I have also eaten raccoon, wild brandt goose, canada goose, garter snake, salmon, salmon eggs, tuna, oyster, clam, domesticated duck, chicken, and cow. Most noteworthy would be my exploration of organ meats. I’ve probably mentioned my infatuation with Sally Fallon and her take on good eating and healthy living. And she is very big on organs. So far I have only eaten liver and kidney and heart. Heart is the most delicious. Probably because it is the flavour and texture that we are all used to, being a muscle. But tender after a bit of stewing and a very nice fat/meat ratio, barely needs spicing. Liver took a bit of warming up to. But knowing how healthy it is really gets my appetite going. That and I learned to marinate in some kind of acid for a while before cooking, and then breading and frying is my favorite. The same technique can be used for kidney. Next I’ll get into sweet meats, the glands.

Another pot on the stove has salt water in it, which I am boiling down to make salt. And another pot has pig fat in it too. Wave after wave of steadily more pure fat. This one’s ready to be poured into jars for later use.

Recently, an exciting food adventure was had down in Squirrel Cove where me and Jay (I’ll tell you about him in a second) went to check out the salmon running up a little creek. If you have never seen this yearly ritual, you should. It is beautiful and inspiring. Especially in a small creek. These giant fish, only half submerged struggling their way up to lay their eggs as one final thrust of life as they decay before their death. As we watched this miracle, we noticed some dead salmon laying in the water. Jay and I, being committed gleaners, checked it out for its edibility. With it’s colour gone and eyes gone, we decided it was too far gone. But upon examination of it’s internal shapes and colours, we discovered eggs… lots. And they were beautiful bright red and clearly designed to survive for quite some time in the gravel bars of a raging river. So we decided they were edible. And Sally Fallon says fish eggs are a super food, and very good source of fat. And we giggled as we thought of how vibrant they were, all the fish’s remaining energy going to produce these little seeds of life. Unfotunatly, she didn’t make it to the right spot to bury her jewels, but in nothing truly goes to waste anywhere, and we were glad to play our part. We made salmon egg cakes with onions, flour, egg and salt and pepper, they were fried in butter… The eggs got much firmer than I expected. But they were very good.

I’ve been eating meal after meal that is 99% local without even trying.. just by finding and making the most delicious and healthy food I can. That is cool. Pepper and some spices are the only thing that doesn’t come from the world around me, and those I inherited from other people.

I’ve moved into a beautiful octagonal home on the farm here. Beautiful exposed beams, high ceiling and a little tree house type loft. Large kitchen is a blessing, after having crammed into a 250 sq ft house with about 4sq ft of counter space. I know, I know the trailer is going to be smaller than that, but it is going to be intelligently design to maximize storage space. And when choosing between a functional kitchen and lounging space, I choose the kitchen.

That’s about the critical things.. oh, I guess the gardens are worth mentioning. Everything is wrapped up now. Just kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, chard, parsley, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas remain in the ground. Onions, potatoes are in the barn loft and root cellar respectively. In cans on the shelf are tomatoes, peaches, pears, apple sauce, plums, chicken, pork. In the freezer we have blue berries, black berries, raspberries, strawberries, butter, salmon stock, pesto, and prolly some other stuff. We will not starve this winter.

Oh and Jay… Jay is a semi-permanent wooffer who recently arrived. If I had a tribe, he’d be in it. He came a hardcore raw vegan, but when Kate and I showed him that we were happy, healthy and ethical with a lot of meat in our diet, he quickly jumped on board. And now he loves it and we’ve been having tons of fun snaring beaver, breading beaver, gathering salmon eggs etc. I hope he sticks around for a while.

Okay – that’s enough. Hope you’re well.

l!fe is good.