From as early as I can remember, I have been alongside my grandmother and mother, always the eager helper, ready to absorb all I can learn about food, cooking and preparing meals for a family while living in poverty.  And when I say family, I don't mean parents and a kid or kids.  For most of my life, family meant extended family all in one apartment.  Parents, grandparents, kids, grandkids, cousins, uncles and aunts; the composition of our home was multigenerational and extended beyond immediate family.  This was not unusual to me and in fact I often miss it still; feeling the absence of the many elders and peers in the home.  Don't get me wrong, it had its many challenges as is common with any group, family especially, that I don't miss! But overall I consider the multigenerational makeup of my homelife growing up as a deep value added to my life.
Most of my family immigrated to the United States from an island in the West Indies called Barbados.  My mother and father and the generations before them and so on an so forth were homesteaders.  They didn't call it that.  They called it life.  They didn't take a permaculture design certification course or a homesteading workshop.  They didn't spend years reading homesteading D.I.Y. books and have online support groups for homesteading.  There was no online! They grew their food, fished, raised goats, pigs and chickens, had compostable toilets before they were called compostable toilets and both made and consumed fermented foods regularly without even calling it fermentation.  
My family came to this country for a "better life".  A better life then, like now, is synonymous with what dominance culture defines a better life to be and it was not a simple life connected to the land like they were living.  For many black folks who are ancestors of slaves, living a life close to the land became tainted with shame. Why? Because their way of life was co-opted by the colonizer under the framework of slavery for the acquisition of wealth and creation of a dominance culture that still exists to this day.  The institution of slavery created a deep schism, fracture, in the bedrock of black lineage and culture.  A relationship that once was the foundation of our way of life became something many black folks post slavery want to distance themselves from as it felt too close to the work of slaves forgetting the power this way of life connected us to.  So when my family left Barbados in search of a "better life" it meant seeking all the things that would get us on the other side, away from simple living and towards college degrees as many as you can get, a high paying job with a high ranking title and expensive clothes, jewelry, car and possessions.  It meant living in a city and "advancing" the way capitalistic dominance culture defines advancing.  If that wasn't going to happen for them, my parents and grandparents, the elders in our family, then they would do everything within their power to assure it would happen for us the next generations to come.  
Here's how dominance culture creeps into us under the guise of something "good" (advancement, success, accomplishments), all the while fragmenting us from our source of true power, sense of self and purpose that reside in the wisdom of these practices that connect us to earth, to our ancestors and to the rhythms of nature.  
Dominance culture doesn't want us to have access to that wisdom, that power.  Dominance culture wants to tap that source dry and keep those cut off from source in a cycle of distractions only meant to keep us fragmented, controlled and oppressed.
Instead the time and space these forgotten ancestral practices once took up in our lives have now been replaced with swipes on our screens as we scroll through endless social media apps, the number of unread emails in your inbox and the seemingly never ending to-do lists we all appear to have running in the back of our minds at all times.  This is the energy, the pace of dominance culture.  Its go-go-go, ungrounded, "can't stop, won't stop", always plugged in, always inundating us with information to zap our energy, fry our energy, split our energy; leaving very little to look at being with food as anything more than a burden.  We've forgotten to cook, forgotten what real food is and instead eat "food-like products" and often pride ourselves on that truth seemingly unaware of what we've lost.  There's that veil of illusion!
This pace is unsustainable and out of balance with nature; resulting in an increased impact on the health and wholeness of not only us humans but all creatures', straining our relationships with each other and our earth.  Interrupting the pace of dominance culture isn't something that can be accomplished in a weekend long immersion program, a yoga retreat, a year of travel or finishing a best selling book on the topic.  Unlearning the pace and practices of dominance culture requires work.  Some good old-fashioned effort.  You need to show up and make the choice to actively begin questioning those "beliefs" you think are yours but are in fact seeds of the oppressor and shift your lifestyle practices to seek alignment with nature.  This can be explored many ways and begin anytime.  
What does that pace look like for you?  
What would have to change for that pace to take hold?  
What would you have to let go of to enable that pace to become lived?  
What would you have to make space for so that this pace can take root? 
This is not about researching what's trendy and then copying it.  This is not about putting on a show.  This is about your relationship with Earth and you doing your part to slowly shift the currents away from the toxic pace of dominance culture through interrupting its hold on your life. Start somewhere and give yourself time to allow this new practice, and the pace that comes with it, to become habit before integrating another. Like the wisdom that comes from journeying with the Elk; PACE yourself!  
In this post we will explore an ancestral food practice and sacred food ritual that invites a shift of pace into your life.  This practice is one of the responsibilities I was given by my gram when helping her in the kitchen; preparing the grains.  It wasn't simply taking a scoop of rice from a bag, popping it into a rice cooker and "setting it and forgetting it".  My gram would set me up with this little chair that served as both my little kid chair and the house step ladder.  She would bring a large bowl of rice to the sink that had already been soaking in water either overnight or throughout the day.  The water was often cloudy and no matter how many times she had told me before she would remind me, through demonstration, how to wash the grain by hand.  This process was not quick and involved being repeated over and over and over again; draining the bowl of water in between each washing by mindfully tilting the edge of the bowl into my palm slowly.  The palm often transformed into many tools to be used in the preparation of food.  There was not a lot of fancy equipment in our kitchen growing up and that was ok because as long as you have a good knife, wooden spoon or stick and your hands you had what you needed to feed your family.  So as we stood by the sink massaging the grain, imprinting it with our love and then drained the cloudy water drained through the palm of my hand, the palm would catch any straggler grain from falling into the sink.  
I can remember really disliking this responsibility, mostly because I found it difficult to do efficiently with little hands serving as sifts for the water to drain while keeping the grain in the bowl.  Early on it never worked; I always ended up with grain in the sink! But over time, after many practices with my gram, along with the growing of my hands, increase in my strength and dexterity, I was able to efficiently and effectively drain the water by hand without much, if any, loss of grain into the sink. Yay!
My grandmother didnt tell me that this process of soaking and washing repeatedly helped to break down the phytic acids and complex sugars in the grain and cleanse the grain from impurities to make them more digestible for the body.  What my grandmother did tell me is that this is the way to prepare rice.  Period.  We didn't need the colonizers love of using science to validate the ancestral wisdom we already knew.  She and I both knew why we prepared the grains this way.  That knowing came from what our bodies told us about the food and what our ancestors living and breathing through us shared with our hearts as we prepared food.  That knowing came from within us not from an external "credentialed" scientific source that bestowed knowledge upon us.  This internal knowing was and still is connection to our real power.  As we got older and lived in this country longer and began eating more of the American diet, the instruction remained the same, but the explanation began to shift to this practice being the old way to prepare rice. She could feel, as could I, these practices slipping away in the pursuit of the illusion of "a better life".
I've said it before and will say it again and again and again; food is much more than what we chew, swallow, digest and excrete.  Food is a portal to one's wholeness, healing, lineage, wisdom and transformation.  Food is love and we are an embodiment of divine love that is fueled, nourished, supported and guided by the magic that resides in real food prepared using the old ways.  Journey with your food; recognize its life, prana, chi, ashe, energy.  Whether it be plant or animal based all real food connects us to its life.  That life is take into us to sustain our life.  This is the full circle and what it means to be in rhtymn with, not over, nature. 
A N C E S T R A L * P R E P A R A T I O N * O F * G R A I N S  
Ingredients:
- Grains (e.g. cornmeal, polenta, rice, quinoa etc.   
- Water (to first soak grain overnight and wash by hand repeatedly until the water runs clear
- Kombu or Splash of starter from ferments 
Step One:
Soak grains overnight or first thing in the morning until dinner. Add a splash of ferment juice or kombu.  This breaks down the hard to digest parts into easier to digest parts.
Step Two:
After soaking wash the grains, draining in between washes until the water runs clear.
Step Three:
Prepare grains as usual. 
That's it in a nutshell.  
S A C R E D * F O O D * R I T U A L
Before preparing the meal begin by grounding the body bringing your awareness to the place where your body meets the earth.  Take a few breathes into the earth and when ready begin getting organized to prepare your meal.  Feel free to be barefoot, play music, light incense, whatever invites not only grounding but joy.  Let your space where food is prepared be a joyful one; even if that joy is not externally expressed but held within.  
From the moment your body makes contact with the food you are preparing consider the life-force energy that resides in all real food AND within you! Feel that connection feed each other through every touch of your hands to the grains.  
As you massage the grain, gently, and wash it until the water runs clear envision those who will be partaking in this meal and ask that this meal nourish them.  Let the messages of love and gratitude be spoken within the mind and heart and out of the mouth if so inspired.  I, like my grandma, often "speak to myself" when its really us speaking to our ancestors while preparing food. 
When the water runs clear and its time to cook the grain as usual continue to practice with every addition of seasoning or legumes to the grain and every stir of the spoon.  When the grain is prepared and ready to serve do the same thing as you eat. With every bit savor, journey with, listen to... with every bite be grateful and embody gratitude.  Knowing that each blessing energetically imprinted into your food which then became apart of your body.  Nothing lost. Apart of.   Whole and healing through the lens of food. 
You have this one life; don't rush through it, midwife it.  The word midwife simply translates to mean "be with".  Its one of my favorite words.  Be with your life by inviting these practices into your life that make it so much more delicious.  
Thank you for listening/reading and let me know what your experience with this practice is like, I would love to hear from you!

Here is a glance at some of the ways I personally practice ancestral reverence within the portals/ gateways of my ancestors, my embodied altar, the Land and the Cosmos. 

The Cosmic Portal: Lunar rituals on the new moon, full moon, super moons, eclipses or celestial events like the Solstice and Equinoxes. Daily practices that center the planetary energies and relationships to specific days; for example, Mondays are Moon Day and a great day to do shadow work, Thursdays are Jupiter Day and a great day to do wealth and abundance cultivation work, Fridays are Venus Day and a great day to center love and beauty, Saturdays are Saturn Day and a great day to do protection work. I like to integrate practices like divination with tarot, meditation/prayer, vision boarding, journaling, intuitive movement and nature walks. I also like planting seeds, harvesting and working in my garden in conjunction with what’s occurring in the cosmos. 

The Land Portal: Land stewardship is a central part of how I live my life and in as such I accept the inherent responsibility to tend to the land as an extension of my whole self. This looks many ways; living at a slower pace and in alignment with the rhythms of nature. This pace gifts me the spaciousness needed to receive the medicine, guidance and stories of my ancestors through the plants, trees, birds, rains and more. There are many ways the land speaks to us if we are open to witnessing. I 
work with animal oracle cards, look up the sacred meanings of the landcestors that present themselves to me, I meditate with plants and animal guides, journal, dance, drum, dream and take notice of any resounding themes. I get my hands in the earth and listen; honoring the generations of stories held in the soil alone. All of these practices deeply cultivates my intuition and enables me to more quickly discern the communications I receive from the Land. 

Ancestor Portal/Altar: I curate an altar table or piece of art that grounds me and serves as a physical totem or touchstone for connecting to my ancestors. It is important for me to be clear that I do not only work with the ancestors I knew and had a relationship with. I don’t only work with my benevolent ancestors. I choose to work with all my ancestors; those who were colonizers and oppressors, those who were healers and liberators, those who were enslaved, those who are not here for me and those who are here for me, those whose names and faces I know and those whose names and faces are unknown to me. I choose to connect with all of my ancestors because I am personally committed to doing my part in this life to heal the wounds and woundings of those who came before me. This requires a personal commitment to go deep within and welcome the discomfort as well and the ease that comes with daring to be whole and free with my story. 
Some things the physical altar or artwork can contain are: 

• 1)  Pictures of ancestors/plantcestors/landcestors you are feeling called to connect with more intentionally.
• 2)  Objects that connect you to an ancestor/plantcestor/ landcestors or group of ancestors you are feeling called to connect with more deeply
• 3)  Elemental representation to serve as totems for landcestors (ie. Earth - wood, shells, leaves, candles / Fire - candles, incense, smudge sticks / Water - glass of water that is changed daily, shells, sand, star fish / Air - feather, wing)
• 4)  Protection pieces like smoke, smudge, crystals, white cloth, white candles
• 5)  Offerings like liquor, chocolate, flowers, cornmeal, plants, aromatherapy, money, food, tobacco and things you know that your ancestor(s) loved.
• 6)  Tend to your altar lovingly. Cherish and respect your time at the altar. Change the water and perishable offerings daily. Smudge with smoke or spray. Light candles and pray, meditate, journal, practice divination with tarot or oracle decks, drum, dance, sing and be in ritual/ceremony at this space regularly. Clean and redesign your altar.

These are just some ways to cultivate an altar or piece of artwork. This is not exhaustive, just a sampling or ways. 

Embodied Portal/Altar: I center tending to myself on all the layers; physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually. Sleep. Nourishment. Water. Adornment that connects me to the land, my ancestors and my heritage(s). Self study/inquiry/examining my patterns of behaviors and thought via practices like yoga asana, meditation, pranayama, journaling, talk and somatic therapy. Shifting toxic patterns of self talk and lifestyle to new patterns of self love, gentle pace, boundaries, learners mind, wholeness and living with not over the land and its rhythms, stages, phases and cycles. 
I come to my ancestors in each of these portals with deep humility, a desire to learn, a full awareness of both my power and my limitations, and a commitment to do my part for my personal and ancestral healing and wholeness. 

Im still discovering my own way of being in relationship with my ancestors. This practice has gifted me with a well of wisdom to draw from for guidance and support, an expanded perspective on life, inner clarity and discernment that promotes a sustainable state of embodied grounded-ness and compassion even during tumultuous times. Feel free to integrate what resonates in this piece and discard what doesn’t resonate. Until I am the ancestor myself, I want to name how profoundly grateful I am for the plethora of ways ancestral reverence as a lived practice has expanded my way of being 
present and participatory in this cherished life. 

• What is soil compaction? Soil that is heavily pressed together with low to no porosity
• Why is soil compaction problematic? It reduces porosity which inhibits plant root systems from breathing, growing and receiving nutrients; this can result in nutrient build up and soil imbalance.  Compacted soil has poor drainage and gets waterlogged which impacts the health of the soil and can lead to soil erosion.

​

• ​How to improve compacted soil?
  • Tilling - while tilling can reduce the OM in soil it can also aerate the compacted soil to aid in building porosity.  Try to till the soil once a year at the beginning of the planting season. 
  • Adding amendments like gypsum and vermiculite
  • Adding organic materials like peat moss and compost
  • Adding earthworms

Soil pH - a neutral soil pH is 7.  Acidic soils are below pH7 and alkaline soils are above pH 7. pH impacts the availability of nutrients in the soil. Most crops prefer a pH of 6-6.8​

When doing research on plant pH it is commonly centered around the need to maintain and monitor the soil's N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium) levels so let's begin there.

Nitrogen promotes healthy foliage (too much can result is rapid growth but poor flowering, too little stunts the growth) Signs: short plants, small leaves and yellowing

Phosphorus promotes strong roots, flowering and larger seeds (excess leads to poor growth and bleaching because it impacts symbiotic bacteria and fungus that aid root systems in taking in water and nutrients / too little causes leaf death) Signs: excess weed growth, stunted plant growth and bleaching leaves, older leaves turning “fall” colors early and falling off.

Potassium supports overall plant health (excess can block Nitrogen and Phosphorus uptake / too little can lead to disease and poor health) Signs: brown scorching and curling of leaf tips, yellowing between leaf veins, stunted growth and purple spots on the bottom of leaves

When you procure fertilizers there are always 3 numbers on the product.  Those 3 numbers correspond to the products levels of N (nitrogen), P (phosphorus) and K (potassium).  For example a fertilizer with a 10-10-10 is equal percentage (10% to be exact) of N P K. 

How do you determine the correct fertilizer?  You can learn the fertilizer needs of individual plants as well as test the soil to determine its pH and what it will need to return to homeostasis.  You can procure a testing kit online or at most gardening stores.  For folks that are local to me in VT I also recommend sending a sample of your soil off to the University of Vermont (UVM) for testing at the beginning and end of each grow season.   https://pss.uvm.edu/ag_testing/?Page=soils.html 

Maintaining soil N P K can be challenging and requires frequent soil testing (monthly and at the different stages of plant growth), observation of the behavior and physical attributes of the plants and soil and using that information to continue to feed the plant(s) throughout the grow season.   

Soil fertility is the ability of soil to provide a holistic environment for growing healthy plants. To do this is needs a balance of nutrients. It's important to note that soil fertility extends beyond understanding soil pH and monitering N P K alone.  

Biodiversity both above and below the soil is important to soil health, fertility and mitigating plant disease  and minimizes pest infestation.  So as much as you tend to the health of the soil directly it’s equally important to tend to the soil indirectly by planting a variety of plants (heirloom, organic), feeding the wild birds, growing a pollinator garden and allowing the growth of wild plants that serve as both habitat and food for beneficial organisms.

This blog post continues where How We Plan Our Homestead Gardens ends; digging deeper into some of the topics highlighted in that article and sharing some new information as well as helpful resources.  Let's dig in and begin!

Filling your Garden Beds: 
As I shared in How We Plan Our Homestead Gardens, on our homestead we practice a methodology called square foot gardening.   This methodology uses containers and therefore requires one to figure how to best fill those containers before planting seeds or seedlings. This can feel intimidating sometimes depending on how you feel about math.  Regardless of the size and depth of your garden beds these resources should be helpful in ascertaining the correct amount of container soil to add.  

• Container and Pot Sizes: How Much Soil Do I Need? https://harvesttotable.com/container-and-pot-sizes-how-much-soil-do-i-need/ 
• Soil Calculator: How Much Soil Do I Need?  https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/soil-calculator/7558.html 

Now that you have a sense of how much soil you will need using the resources linked above lets talk about what to use to build the soil in your garden beds. As you research soil blends you will find varied recipes for a “perfect soil”.  If you are aware of a soil blend recipe/formula that you or someone you know has used feel free to explore what works for you.   Below is the soil blend recipe we have used in our urban homestead raised beds for almost a decade.  In the glossary at the end of the post I elaborate on what each of these ingredients are for your reference.

• Recipe (per garden bed):
  • ⅓ Peat Moss
  • ​⅓ Coarse Vermiculite
  • ⅓ Compost
• ​Once a Year add the following (per garden bed):
  • 1 cup Lime
  • 1 cup Sea Kelp Meal
  • 1 cup Organic Fertilizer
  • 1 cup Azomite

Gardening Tools:
Along the journey of gardening one can definitely accumulate some tools over time.  Whether you are obtaining gardening tools new, using ones you already own and/or borrowing them from someone else please take some time to clean each tool thoroughly.  It's important to get into the habit of cleaning tools before and after using them in the garden; especially if they have been handling diseased plants.  Make sure to carefully inspect your tools as well, to notice any need for repair or maintenance, especially if there is rust.    
 

• Some basic tools you may want to procure to utilize while gardening:
  • Gloves
  • ​Knee pad(s)
  • Shovel
  • Pitch ​Fork
  • ​Potting Trowel
  • Soil Fork
  • Rake
  • ​Garden Hose or Watering Pitchers
  • Wheel Barrel
  • ​Garden Shears (small for plants and flowers / large for brambles, trees, shrubs and bushes)
  • Soil testing kit
  • ​Basket for gathering harvested crops, flowers and herbs

Zones:
As I wrote about in How We Plan Our Homestead Gardens it's important to establish a planting timeline whether you are planting from seed or obtaining seedlings.  Part of that process involves establishing what geographical grow zone you are in; this is typically based on your regional climate.  Below I have linked a website where you can enter your zip code and find out your grow zone.  

• What's your grow zone? https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

Why is important to know what zone you're growing in?  Knowing your grow zone will help in knowing what plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs etc are able to be grown in your climate.  This information can typically be garnered from your seed packets or online research.  Below I have linked a website that has a pretty comprehensive list of vegetables, flowers, fruits and plants and what what zones they grow best in.  Feel free to check it out for some guidance.  

• Growing Guidelines broken down by plants (zone) -- https://www.almanac.com/gardening/growing-guides​

​If you are planting from seed some basic supplies you may need specifically for growing your seedlings are:

• Seedling cups or trays
• Seeds
• Seedling Starter Soil - a soil blend specifically formulated to support the germination of seeds and early growth of seedlings/plant starts.  

Some seeds can be directly sowed into your garden bed and some are best started as seedlings in an indoor grow space before transplanting into the garden bed.  You can go all-out and obtain indoor grow tents, shelving systems, lights, fans, warming mats etc.  And you can keep it simple and affordable and set up a table or two in a windowsill or well-lit space to grow seedlings.

When you are planting from seed it's important to read the seed packets completely and do some research on the specific species of plant you are growing to learn the best way to germinate that seed(s).  Again, some seeds are best grown by directly sowing them into the garden bed (ie. cucumbers, legumes, watermelon, radishes, leafy greens etc.).  Some seeds need to be soaked and/or scarified to germinate/sprout before planting (ie. passionflower/Maypop, okra etc.).  

After all seeds have been planted its important to know that you can save the remaining seeds in storage until the next grow cycle, which, depending on the plant, can be within the same grow season or in the next year.  Some examples of places you can store seeds are: in the seed packets themselves, in glass baby food jars or mini ziplock bags.  Make sure the bags/jars holding your seeds are sealed properly and stored in a cool, dark place.  

The germination timeframe varies from plant to plant; some can take as little as a week or two before peaking above the soil and some can take longer.  Be patient and remember that one of the biggest gifts growing food offers us is practice in being present, moving slowly and honoring the ebbs and flows, the rhythms of nature.  This is a deeply valuable practice and is essential to decolonizing our relationship to the land and to life itself.  So instead of trying to rush the process and make the experience of growing food fit into your expectations or into the capitalistic pace of our culture, let the experience of growing food change you, teach you, transform you and encourage you to question and redefine the pace at which you move through life.

Every seed equals one plant, so essentially one seed is needed to grow one plant.  Using a finger or tool specifically for sowing seeds, make a hole about an inch deep into the soil.  Place the seed into that hole the gently cover the seed with the soil.  If you are planting a seedling the hole made into the soil would likely be scooped/dug with the palm or a small shovel.  The seedling  and its soil would be removed from the seedling tray and gently placed into the hole then covered gently with the soil.  Taking the hands and tenderly yet firmly pressing the soil around the base of the seedling stem to ground it into the garden bed.  

It's a good practice to plant a few seeds, typically 3-4 per hole, to ensure there is more potential for the seed to make its way to a mature plant.  Seeds and seedlings are particularly vulnerable because they are small, their roots are still growing and not fully established meaning they are more easily uprooted or disturbed.  Additionally, in their young stages they are more delicate as well.  Below, this sacred seed prayer beautifully articulates why planting a few seeds is a good practice. 
 
"Plant four seeds
One for the worm
One for the crow
One to rot and
One to grow"

There are many things that can happen to a seed along its path to maturity. A seed may not germinate, a seedling may not be able to withstand disease, wild animals and bugs nibbling on them, the weather patterns or watering cycle can sometimes be too harsh on a seed.  "For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone, the shell cracks, its insides come out, and everything changes.  For someone who doesn't understand growth it can look like destruction."  

Some seeds are best grown by sowing them into small seedling containers and then easing them into the garden via a process call hardening.  Hardening is essentially weaning an indoor seedling by slowly exposing the seedling to the outdoors for a few hours a day over the course of 3-5-7 days.  This practice gets the seedling accustomed to being exposed to the living outdoors in the sun, rain, breeze and amongst wild life.  Once that period of time has passed the seedlings are more prepared to withstand the transplant and transition from growing indoors to outdoors.    

Below are some examples of varying sizes of seed:
1) Basil Seeds (top left)
2) Cucumber Seeds (top right)
​3) Marigold Seeds (middle left)
4) Nasturtium Seeds (middle right)
​5) Pepper Seeds (bottom left)
6) Legumes Seeds (bottom right)

Seedlings:

Magically, the seeds have emerged from the earth to reveal themselves as seedlings; symbols of new life, life and hope.  Outlined below are some ways to tend to seedlings/starts as they are continuing to grow into mature plants.  

• Thinning:
  • ​​As I mentioned earlier, when planting seeds, one seed equals one plant, but its important to practice planting a few seeds per hole in the soil.  If all goes well and every seed or a few seeds germinate into seedlings it will be necessary to thin the seedlings.  Why?  If we do not thin the seedlings they will crowd themselves out and inhibit growth.  The goal is to have one seed for every one seedling per hole in the soil.  When thinning, typically the healthiest looking seedling is left in the soil to become established and grow to full maturity.  Because of the fragility of seedlings and roots its important to be as gentle and as precise as possible.  Many things can be done with thinned seedlings; they can be transplanted, composted or added to a salad.  

I hope this blog post is supportive along your growing journey!
Blessings,
Candace  

My partner Tony is a person of many talents; one being an amazing mixologist.  This is a little recipe he concocted the other day that I had to share!  We came up with two names for this drink and couldn't decide on which one to officially call it:

• VT Meets BIM New Fashioned
• Canna Maple BIM Cooler

What name would you choose? Any recommendations?  (comment below)

Tony and I currently live in Vermont and have for 13 years now.  My family is from Barbados and Bajans affectionately call our home island BIM.  One of my favorite drinks is an Old Fashioned.  So Tony made this variation of an old fashioned with an exquisite rum made in Barbados at a distillery we had a chance to visit called St. Nicholas Abbey, local Vermont maple syrup and my very own Whole Heart CBD Rose Bitters.  

{Fun fact: Did you know that Barbados invented rum?} 

I N G R E D I E N T S
2.5 ounces of St. Nicholas Abbey Rum
Dash of CBD Bitters
Splash of Club Soda
Squeeze of Fresh Lemon 
Splash of VT Maple Syrup
Pinch of Raw Sugar
Ice
Optional Orange Rind and/or Maraschino Cherry

In your mixing container add your raw sugar, maple and squeeze of lemon juice to the bottom and quickly mix by mashing with a pestle. Add the St. Nicholas Abbey Rum, splash of club soda, dash of CBD bitters and ice; then cover and shake until well blended.  Pour into a glass with ice and feel free to garnish with an orange rind or maraschino cherry.

Enjoy!   

Split Pea Soup Ingredients:
5-6 cups of water for both soaking
5-6 cups of water or broth for cooking
2.5 cups split peas (green or yellow)
1 ham bone 
2 large onions (chopped)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of dried hot pepper or peppa' sauce or a fresh small pepper
1 cup of fresh or canned pumpkin, carrots or sweet potatoes
2 tsp of thyme
black pepper to taste
fresh parsley

Split Pea Soup Directions:
When working with whole legumes its important to practice two simple ancestral techniques:
1) Wash split peas - Place split peas in a bowl and cover with water. Gently massage the peas with your hands and infuse them with your gratitude and loving intentions.  The water may cloud up with dirt from the peas. Strain the peas and repeat this process until the water runs clear during massage. Once this is completed you will prepare the split peas for soaking.  
2) Soak split peas - once the split peas are cleaned place them in a bowl with 5-6 cups of water overnight (optional add a piece of kombu to the water of soaked peas).

When the split peas are done with soaking, strain them and place them in a pot with the onions, water/broth, ham bone, hot pepper, thyme, salt and black pepper.  Bring it to a boil, lower to medium heat and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Then add the pumpkin/carrots/sweet potatoes and let it cook for another 15 mins; your soup will begin to thicken with the addition of these root vegetables.   

If you're adding dumplings (recipe below) to your soup gently drop the dough into the soup by the teaspoonful.  They take about 10 minutes to cook through and plump up.    


Stew/Soup Dumplings Ingredients:  
1.5 cups of flour or (1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup cornmeal)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water or milk
2 tblsp sugar
1.5 tsp butter or ghee
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp curry powder
pinch of nutmeg

Dumpling Directions:
Mix the dried ingredients into a bowl.  Cut in your butter or ghee and blend with fingers or fork.  Make a little well in the middle and add your water or milk into the well.  Slowly fold in the flour with your hands or a spatula until you have a dough.  Set aside until ready to cook in your soup/stew; typically add to soup at the end of the cook.  At that time, gently drop the dough into the soup by the teaspoonful and cook until they plump up, about 10 minutes.

​Enjoy!

Primary Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tablespoons of fat (for example - butter, leaf lard, coconut oil, ghee etc.)
2 tablespoons of dried or fresh herbs/spices (for example - rosemary, thyme, umeboshi, dill, chipotle etc.)

Additional Ingredients:
oil (for brushing the top of the crackers before baking)
salt (for sprinkling on top)

Planning

We begin where we left off, reviewing what we grew in each bed during the grow season and what we planted for cover crop. Using that information some of the things we begin to think about that inform our plans are:

• Our favorite foods to grow and eat during the grow season
• Our favorite foods to preserve at the end of the grow season
• What we feel called to grow and explore
• Medicines we want to make
• What the land needs
• What are we ready to release and no longer feel called to cultivate

Being guided by these questions and others we begin to make lists of all the vegetables, herbs and flowers that come to mind. Then we take that big list and divide it into the following categories of:

• Leaf/Green/Herb (e.g. romaine. iceberg, kale, chard, basil, cilantro, parsley)
• Fruit (e.g. strawberry, tomato, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, okra)
• Root (e.g. beets, onions, carrots, radish, turnip)
• Flower (e.g. calendula, sunflower, rose, hibiscus, peony, nasturium, marigold)
• Legume (e.g. bush beans, dry beans, peas)
• Brassica (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke, cabbage, celery)

This categorization aids us in then planning what will be grown in what bed based on the crop rotation practices mentioned earlier in this piece. In crop rotation roots are planted the season after legumes, fruits are grown after roots, leaf green after fruit and legumes after leaf/green.

Once this information is ascertained we then begin to map out a calendar or timeline for starting our seedlings. Any seeds we do not have in our existing seed storage we purchase via local sustainable organic and heirloom seed cultivators. Once all seeds are in our possession we organize the plants into order based on each seeds outlined days to maturity.Take note that some plants will have the ability to be grown multiple times within a grow season and some will grow one time during the grow season. For some plants, one seed will yield one fruit or one vegetable. For other plants one seed will yield either multiple fruits/vegetables or a plant that will be able to be cultivated and grow back fruit/vegetables. Days to maturity can be found on every seed packet along with other general information about the plant; its important to review these write-ups in entirety while planning, prior to growing. 

In order to create a timeline for growing seeds you will need to know the zone you are growing in and the last frost date in your zone for the coming grow season. This information will enable you to know when you can begin to actually plant your seedlings into the Earth without risk of lingering winter weather causing harm. Seedlings and the time after transplanting seedlings is vulnerable and in need of caution, diligent tending and observation. 

Ultimately, when the Earth thaws and the land awakens from its deep Winter rest we will follow its lead and adjust our plans as needed. We will also test the soil in each bed at the start of the grow season to learn the breakdown of the soil’s nutrients. This will aid us in knowing what nutrients are also needed in the bed’s soil.

Lastly, we will need to refill the beds to the top with the square foot gardening combo of compost, soil, vermiculite and fertilizer. Knowing the correct amount can be determined with the support of some home math and online calculators. We’ve also found that many garden stores have helpful staff that can aid in figuring out container/bed quantities for soil.  Because of the quantity of gardens we have we order bulk soil, compost and mulch orders from our local gardening store. This typically saves us in costs and time as bulk purchases such as these are delivered to our homestead for us.

Each year we grow we are presented with varying conditions that we document in the same binder mentioned earlier in this blog post.  Some challenges we face in our gardens fall into the common categories of pests, diseases and unusual weather.  Other challenges we face are life related; like the loss of job(s) or having unexpected major home renovations that are a priority over our gardens in our financial budget.  We have also experienced the loss of family members, work related travel and physical injury that impact our capacity to grow.  Life happens and because of that we have to allow our plans/vision for the gardens to breath and be able to ebb and flow with life's fluctuations.  Some of our favorite mottos to live by are:

• Do the best you can with what you got.  You do not need all the fanciest, newest equipment, materials and supplies.  You can start right now with what you have and use a budget to guide the choices you can explore this season.  Maybe its not a 12 bed garden, maybe its a window garden; one isn't better than the other.  Start where you are and begin the journey.  
• Don't all or nothing yourself. Don't stop yourself from trying out a new method of growing or a new plant because you feel you have to do it "perfectly" or "know it all first".  Allow yourself to learn as you go by being in relationship with the land. 
• Live with the land not over the land.  Remember that despite all we have been taught, humans are not above the Earth; all life does not revolve around us, human dominance is a myth, we are not at the center.  Our needs do not supersede the needs of Earth and other creatures.  We share and steward this land and to be in right relationship with the land all actions must come from this knowing that it is the Earth that is at the center. This decolonized lens invites us all to be in a balanced relationship with our environment.  

Its my hope that this blog post  supports your gardening journey. Never hesitate to reach out with comments below or questions.  Feel free to also email me at hello@candacejennifer.me 

  

As an ancestral cook I have a deep reverence for the place fermented foods holds across many of our lineages.  The fermented foods that are apart of my Afro-Caribbean ancestry have ingredients that are often hard to find in the places I live in now.    

This doesn't prevent me from having a relationship with the fermentation practices I was taught as a child; it inspires me.  I use the practices and the ingredients I can access locally that are of my lineage and those that are local that are not.  When I am able to sustainably source the rarer ingredients from my lineage, I make small batches of ferments that I cherish and store small amounts of the raw ingredients in my home apothecary.

Blending those ancestral practices with the present day places and spaces I live in now is something I truly enjoy because in someway I feel like its a representation of me and many like me who are "in between".  Being a child of displaced peoples due to colonization; born in a land that is supposed to be "my country, my land" but from young, I knew clearly in my bones, was not.

Severing my/our connection from our ancestral lands and the sources and resources that nourished the bodies of those that came before me for generations was felt within me without the words to express it.  My people are peoples of the tropics; the foods and smells and spices and places that connect me to that story, that truth, that self knowing are not of this land. Some of the foods from my ancestral lands can be obtained in the markets I have access to in Vermont, but many are not.  Access to variety increases when one goes to big cities like NYC or uses the internet but, this also serves as a reminder that a part of my being craves for nourishment and connection to a home that is far, far away from my home now.    

Through the alchemy of food I find ways to make sense of my own narrative of being in between a new home and old home and transform it into a narrative of being a bridge, a portal of healing for  both myself and my ancestral narratives.

Its November here in Vermont and there are some awesome foods that are in season right now like an astounding variety of gourds, squashes and pumpkins.  We still have some beautiful dark leafy greens like an assorted variety of kale and overwintered greens like spinach.  We also still have some glorious root veggies being harvested as well.  

But Ive been waiting for one of my favorite seasonal foods to make their ways into the markets: cranberries!

I LOVE whole cranberries!
And, as Ive shared, I LOVE fermented foods!
And one of my favorite things to make is fermented cranberries.  It's super simple in its basic recipe which allows me to preserve and store cranberries to make in various ways; cranberry chutney, cranberry sauce, cranberry jam, cranberry salsa and more!  

Basic Fermented Cranberries Recipe

Ingredients: 
fresh whole cranberries
water
celtic grey salt OR sea salt
ferment starter

Equipment:
ball jar with clean rubber sealed lid
ferment weight (make sure its the right size for your jar)

Directions:

• Begin with clean jar and lid (do not use antibacterial soap)
• Fill jar to the ridge line with cranberries
• Add salt (4 oz jar - 1/4 tsp) (8 oz jar - 1/2 tsp) (16 oz jar - 1 tsp) (32 oz jar - 1.5 tsp) (64 oz jar - 1 tbsp)
• Add a splash or two of starter (A note on starter: You can use a previous ferments liquid as a starter. You can use some liquid from a jar of fermented pickles or kraut that you purchased in a store. Not all krauts in the markets are fermented. Typically fermented jars of foods are refrigerated in markets while the pickled jars are on the shelves in the center of the markets not refrigerated.  I always recommend Bubbies.  You can also procure starts from Cultures for Health.
• Fill with water
• Top with a ferment weight (make sure its the right size for your jar).  Cranberries are super buoyant so without the weight they will not stay submerged and can contaminate your ferment.  
• Seal the jar with the lid and set aside

Fermentation process:

• depending on the strength of your ferment starter and the amount of salt you used the ferment should take around 5 days to complete.  
• during that 5 day period you will need to check on your jar(s).  You may hear hissing which means they need to be burped.  You may also need to clean them a bit because sometimes as pressure building some liquids leak/drip out. 
• how to burp jars: slightly unseal/unscrew the lid (not completely off!) just enough to allow some of the pressure out. After some pressure is released rescrew/reseal the lid tightly.  Do this everyday during the 5 days even if they do not hiss.  
• on the 5th day, burp the jar, reseal, label and store in a cool space in your home until ready to be consumed.  Examples are a root cellar, basement, or even in the back of your  fridge.  
• once opened a jar of ferments can last a long time with or without refrigeration.  Keep the contents submerged in its fermentation brine and all should be well.  Always making sure to properly reseal the jars.  If you do keep the jars out of refrigeration but in a cooler place in your home  you will likely need to check on them and occasionally burp if you notice any bulging or hear any hissing.   
• on refrigeration: You are welcome to keep the jars, once fermented in the fridge if its opened or not.  Just note that refrigeration slows down the fermentation process and makes your bacteria "sleepy".  
• Enjoy and remember you can take these fermented cranberries and make them into any number of yummy cranberry recipes.  You can also enjoy as is as well! This is simply a way to preserve the cranberries and its nutrients in a live and vibrant form until ready for use in your own time.  

Spiced Fermented Sorrell Cranberries Recipe
​Much of this recipe will mimic the recipe above but with lots of fun additional ingredients inspired by my Afro-Caribbean ancestry.  Here goes!

Ingredients: 
fresh whole cranberries
sorrel infused water
celtic grey salt OR sea salt
cinnamon stick
clove
thyme
ginger
star anise
lime skin
ferment starter

Equipment:
ball jar with clean rubber sealed lid
ferment weight (make sure its the right size for your jar)

Salt measurements based on size jar:

• Add salt (4 oz jar - 1/4 tsp)
• (8 oz jar - 1/2 tsp)
• (16 oz jar - 1 tsp)
• (32 oz jar - 1.5 tsp)
• (64 oz jar - 1 tbsp)

Directions:

• Begin with clean jar and lid (do not use antibacterial soap)
• In a separate bowl take a jars worth of whole cranberries into the bowl. 
• Add the following into the bowl of cranberries: freshly grated/chopped ginger root, fresh thyme de-stemmed, whole cloves, and celtic grey or sea salt. Mix together gently with a wooden spoon or hands to distribute. Set aside.
•  Assemble the following: cinnamon stick and star anise.
• Place the cinnamon stick into the jar and begin to add the cranberry blend to the jar.  Release the cinnamon stick when it is well supported by the cranberry blend. 
• Fill jar to the ridge line with cranberry blend, insert a lime skin and top with a star anise. 
• Add a splash or two of starter (A note on starter: You can use a previous ferments liquid as a starter. You can use some liquid from a jar of fermented pickles or kraut that you purchased in a store. Not all krauts in the markets are fermented. Typically fermented jars of foods are refrigerated in markets while the pickled jars are on the shelves in the center of the markets not refrigerated.  I always recommend Bubbies.  You can also procure starts from Cultures for Health.
• Fill with sorrel infused water (sorrel tea)
• Top with a ferment weight (make sure its the right size for your jar).  Cranberries are super buoyant so without the weight they will not stay submerged and can contaminate your ferment.  
• Seal the jar with the lid and set aside

From this point follow the same steps outlined in Fermentation Process above.  

Once completed you could enjoy as is or use this blend to make a chutney with more Afro-Caribbean ingredients like:  tamarind, mango, peaches, molasses, prunes and more.

Remember to listen to and offer gratitude to the foods and nourishing bacteria in your ferments, have fun exploring and enjoy the journey!

With love, 
Candace
@conscioushomestead
​@consciouskitchenvt

​I begin always with gratitude to one of my biggest teachers, Earth, for grounding me in the fullness of my being. Showing me that my whole being extends beyond my physical form into the vastness of both nature and the cosmos. It is in honor of that wholeness that I share the truth.