Small Inconveniences
from the barn, the kitchen, and the dormant garden
Welcome to Cultivating the Beautiful Life. Please enjoy today’s free newsletter, and thank you to our paid subscribers for keeping the fire lit.
Dear friend,
Much like life in general, farming is both the best and worst; there are incredibly high peaks and also times of very deep sadness. Part of our hope in having the homestead was to use it as a teaching tool for our children; to prepare them for the hardships that will inevitably arise in this world. In this, they are more equipped when things don’t go to plan, when life is lost, when perseverance is required, when experience and wisdom needs to be called on, when (frankly) they’ve got to get over their emotions and deal with the work at hand.
Our 12 year old ewe, Eleanor, blessed us with twins yesterday. Despite growing up on the farm, and its challenges, my children still choose to name every single lamb. They know their destiny, yet for the months ahead, they will care for these creatures we are lucky enough to raise. “Teddy” and “Hilda” are the latest additions to this year’s lamb crop, with three ewes still to go. Eleanor is old and this pregnancy was hard for her.
Next year, when the herd goes to its summer pasture, Eleanor will stay behind and serve as our lawn mower until her end arrives naturally. She’s earned it. Unfortunately, for the time being, her and Hilda haven’t quite bonded in the way they should have — in her 11 pregnancies, this is the first time she’s not been the picture of a perfect ewe. What this means for us is plenty of trips up to the barn to make sure Hilda is latching and sometimes holding Eleanor in place so she can do that well (rodeo, anyone?). By the end of the day, we may have a bottle lamb.
Juliette, ever the soft soul, is quite frustrated at Eleanor’s lack of love for Hilda. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to guide her: feel your feels, dab your tears, roll up your sleeves, and then help.
Sort feels like a good life motto for the season.
On Repeat All Winter…
Living seasonally is much like learning to ride a wave. At moments, you’re on top of the world, wind through your hair, sun kissing your skin, filled with joy in the present moment! Other times, you’re swallowing salt water, bashing into rocks, and stuck in currents.
(For honesty’s sake, I’ve never actually surfed. But I think this still holds up.)
What I have attempted to do is submit to the seasons, even those that are not my favorite. Lest I waste all of my energy fighting the tides, it’s far more joyful for everyone involved if I just stop complaining that the entire world is grey and instead just bake some dang bread.
So I devoted this week’s new video to the fact that even though foods are often on repeat in the winter in my kitchen, they are none-the-less delicious. And while I’ll be first in line to harvest ripe tomatoes from the vines in July, for now, I’ve got food in my freezer, preserves in my pantry, and hope in my heart.
We’ve got to make it through until spring. There are lilacs and asparagus ahead of us.
Share this with your Mother…
I’ve been humbled by the response from our audience — so many of you have reached out to share how much you would love to join us on one of our Italian Culinary Retreats one day. When kids are bigger. When schedules are more open.
Our September Che Vita Italian Retreat is beginning to fill, and we’re continuing to have thoughtful booking conversations. If Italy has been lingering in your thoughts, the details are waiting for you here.
And if this isn’t the season for you, that’s truly okay. But if someone comes to mind — a parent, a friend, or a loved one — we’d be grateful if you passed the details along.
And if you’re still unsure when the time is right for such an adventure, don’t be; eat the pastry, sip the wine, laugh with strangers, explore ancient villages, buy yourself a new dress, and do something delightful just for the sake of being alive.
“The trouble is, you think you have time.”
Jack Kornfield
@sarahsparksmusic
Small Inconveniences
Anthony Bourdain once said
if you’re too lazy to peel garlic,
you don’t deserve to eat it,
which I take to mean:
In a pre-minced world,
where everyone searches
for meaning in mediocrity,
where we’re too quick to dismiss
the quiet scrape of a knife,
the hiss of cloves in hot butter,
a sliver of time,
golden at the edges,
please bother with an existence
that is slow-simmered, sticky-fingered,
full of the big flavors
and small inconveniences
that make up a life.
Elise M. Powers
The Smell of Soil
In a moment of weakness a few days agp, I somehow found myself in the Lowe’s parking lot. I was on a mission to gather a few bags of seed-starting medium for my tomatoes, eggplants, okra, and pepper plants. Though I direct seed many of my vegetables, a few need a longer season than our 7b climate can allow, so I must start them earlier indoors.
Wandering through the aisles, I saw they had built a display just for people like me: sad, lonely gardeners who miss being in the soil. Bulbs and seeds lined the entire aisle, bags of soil and birdseed stacked in volume on the bottom shelf. Gardening gloves were hung with care and fresh, sharp pruners hung at eye-level. They knew what they were doing.
I told you: a moment of weakness.
I walked away with far more than a bag of soil, but I regret nothing. The smell of the bagged soil reminded me of a very important truth: I AM A GARDENER. It is my therapy, my movement, my grounding, my pleasure. To not garden for a season is to tear myself away from a life-giving activity that lifts my spirit and shapes my person. I miss it terribly. So, even though it’s yet another shade of grey today, I’ve got fresh pruners in hand; I am ready for a weekend of pruning. What shall I prune? Who’s to say. But this weekend, I’m going to be amongst the dormant, quiet, dull garden just the same.
I want it to know I’m still here.
May the sun rise up to greet us soon!
Love,
Such a well written newsletter, thank you for sharing. The conversation with Juliette touched my heart and is one of the most important things we do as mothers.
Please give us an update on Eleanor. From one twin mother to another, I am rooting for her!