Spinning Yarns: Fiber Arts for the Fall

As the temperatures drop our sheep look more and more in their element. The winter is a happy, happy time for the sheep. They work all year to grow a great fleece and it comes in mighty handy as the temperatures dip. I am looking forward to a great fleece harvest next year as I spin up the final wraps of last year's fleeces. The cooler weather keeps me inside spinning and knitting; it just seems like the right natural rhythm.

When people learn that I spin and knit the wool from our own farm they seem shocked that spinning wheels are still available for purchase. Thankfully the art of spinning, weaving and knitting are on the upsurge. My theory is that as our societies grow more chaotic, our hearts and souls search for things that are timeless, repetitious and quiet. Fiber Arts certainly fit the bill. I can't count how many time my children fell asleep to the whirl of my wheel and no matter how ADD a child is, they stand almost breathless and completely amazed watching the wheel spin, and spin.

This winter we will have yarn from our own sheep as well as hand dyed yarns from several talented artists from Tennessee for sale at the Franklin Farmers Market. We have a wide range of fleece products available from raw fleeces for spinners to hand spun yarns for those who prefer knitting and crocheting.

"The Cook and the Gardener"

Although set in the French Countryside, Amanda Hesser's book The Cook and the Gardener holds many lessons and much encouragement for Americans seeking to tie their living more closely to the land. Over the year she served as a cook in a chateau in Burgundy, Hesser developed a friendship with the chateau's gardener and documented the garden and its impact on her cooking throughout the months. I enjoyed the descriptions of what was happening on the land during each month and also the interesting descriptions of heirloom foods and how to cook them. In each section, Hesser covers one month, with additional chapters devoted to the seasons in general, and includes many recipes and shorter essays on particular foods and how to select and prepare them. The recipes are adapted for American cooks, and Hesser notes, where possible, how to find and select the foods she mentions from American sources.

The book's emphasis on cooking with fresh in season foods, preserving for the colder months, and adapting the kitchen to the rhythyms of the seasons makes this a great read for those who would like to incorporate more local seasonal foods into their diets, but also invites the reader to consider the passing of seasons in our own backyard gardens and homes.

It is difficult to say if this book is a cookbook that also includes interesting reading, or if it is a memoir/treatise that also includes recipes. Either way I think you'd find something to interest you and I'd recommend it.

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"The Animal is the Product of the Soil"

Published on behalf of Debbie via the Farm newsletter. To subscribe to the letter, please contact us! It's a great way to stay up to date on farm news and product information.

Well, the heat is on. Temperatures are soaring and things just seem to naturally slow down on the farm. Chickens stop laying eggs, we need more breaks, and the pace of life mimics the pace of nature and becomes slower and quieter.

I sometimes wonder about our running around and hurrying from one emergency to the next. Chaos seems to find a crack in the door and pries and pulls until it finally enters into our lives, fully and with force, almost without our knowledge. And then come the storms or the heat or the snow and life takes on a whole new look. We remember that things can be set aside and the truly important always get done if we look through the eyes of peace.

And that is where we find ourselves this week. We are sitting more, talking more, reading more and allowing ourselves more rest once all the needs of the animals are tended to. I have picked up a book I read years and years ago by Andre Voisin called Soil, Grass and Cancer that fascinated me 13 years ago and continues to do so each time I slow down enough for a reread.

Andre begins by reminding us that the famous quote “Man, remember that you are dust and that you will return to dust” is not just a religious or philosophic statement but that it should be engraved above the door to every faculty of medicine. I would add that every farmer should have it engraved above the barn door to remind us of the direct link between the “dust” that grows the grass consumed by our animals and the “dust” that makes us what we are. The fact that our farming ancestors understood this connection is obvious when you read old farming manuals that repeat the mantra “the animal is the product of the soil”.It would do us well to remember this also. There was a time when serious detective work could be done to determine where a problem was stemming from since most of the food and water consumed came from a small circle around the home. Now, with our foods coming from all parts of the world it is much more difficult to pinpoint insufficient “dirt” in order to fix a problem due to missing nutrients.

Carlo Petrini of Slow Food coined the phrase “co-producers” to explain the relationship between farmers and consumers. Indeed we could not do what we do without your support. Thank you for your patience as we learn the ways of this “dirt” beneath our feet and as we continue to understand the relationship between, soil, animals and man.

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How to Hang a Clothesline - the Technical Part

Clothes and linens dried in the sunshine smell fresh and feel crisp. A clothesline is a wonderful addition to any back yard. Here are two ways to install one:

The first method is for a simple, single line that is easy to take down and put back up. The second is for a line that is a loop strung between two pulleys. Both are easy to tighten if they sag.For either version, you can use a cotton or plastic clothesline rope. I prefer the look and feel of cotton.


The height of the line depends on how tall you are -- make sure the line is comfortable for you to reach, and high enough that your laundry won't touch the ground. If you use the pulley system one end can be sent high in the air to catch every drop of breeze.

The length of the line depends on the size of your back yard, but 20 to 25 feet is average. You'll need two strong supports, such as trees or a post of your porch. Choose an area of the yard where the clothesline won't get in anyone's way.

For the single line, you'll need a heavy-duty hook, a metal eye hook, a cleat, a small metal fitting that you'll wrap the rope around to anchor it (imagine the device you use to secure a rope on a flagpole), and a metal ring.

Start by marking the height you want the line to be on each support. On one support, screw in the hook at the point you marked; start the hole with a drill. On the other, screw in the eye hook. Twelve inches below the eye hook, install a cleat. Using a tight knot, tie one end of the rope to the ring. Loop the ring over the hook, and walk the rope over to the other support. Thread the other end through the eye hook, pull it tight, and wind it around the cleat to secure.

For the double-strung line, you'll need two heavy-duty hooks, two pulleys, a line tightener, to allow you to take up the slack in the line, and a line separator to keep the top and bottom lines separate but parallel.

Screw the hooks into the supports at the height you want the line to be. Tie one end of the rope securely to the ring on the end of the line tightener. Thread the other end of the rope through the pulley, the line separator, the other pulley and the line tightener. Hang the pulleys from the hooks on your supports, pull the end of the rope through the tightener until taut and cut away the excess rope. Hook the line separator around the bottom rope.

If this is a little to technical for you, come out to the farm and I can walk you through my system so you can get a good idea of what works.

Happy Hanging!

Laundry on the Line

I have been a die hard clothesline fan since I purchased a kit from Martha Stewart and set up a proper line. Sure you can use a couple of hooks and a plastic line from Home Depot in a pinch but if you intend on committing to forgoing the dryer whenever possible you really need to respect the line, especially if you want to enjoy the process.

The first thing to think about is how you do laundry now. Do you like to do a load a day or do you save it all up for one day a week, put your head down and plow through? The answer to this question will determine how much space should be dedicated to your line. I have some Amish friends who have a 300 foot line from the back door to the top of their barn. My line is about 75 ft and with my Ecosmart washer that does me just fine. I have a Fisher & Paykel Ecosmart and with its 1000 rpm spin cycle I can get 5 loads done and folded in an afternoon.

Here is what you need for a great line.

1. Clothes line, I like cotton it runs through the pulley system easily

2. Line tightener - keeps the line good and tight - you tie one end and feed the other through

3. Spacers - to keep the clothes off the ground by pulling the lines together

4. Clothes pins - I like wooden but many like the plastic because they come in pretty colors

5. 2 pulleys - Rust proof is a must

I like to put one end of my line near my back door and the other I will put way up in the air somewhere like a tree or a tall post. The higher the clothes the more wind you can catch and the quicker they dry.

There is truly nothing like clothes fresh off the line for a sense of well being. Guests at our farm ALWAYS get bedding fresh off the line if the weather is co-operating and fresh linens off the line are a gift to my children of wonderful memories they will always cherish.

The Fragrance of God

People recommend books to me on a daily basis as I am known as some what of a book buff. And as an avid collector of books I check into almost all recommendation, never wanting to let one good book escape my library. Every once in awhile though, someone doesn't just recommend a book, they insist that I buy it and that I can't live without it. Such is the book by Vigen Guroian , The Fragrance of God. This book is unlike any other gardening book I have read. It is the kind of book that I will re read every year as I find myself out of the garden due to inclement weather and on the verge of spring. Beautiful, inspiring and heart stirring, The Fragrance of God reminds us, or shows us for the first time, why we really garden.

What is it that causes us to toil and sweat over weeds we know will just return, probably stronger than ever? Why plan and dig and plant and weed when we can just load into an air conditioned car, drive to the air conditioned supermarket and buy perfectly clean versions of what comes out of the ground? Vigen knows. This is his personal journey through the seasons of his life, moving and staying, losing and finding, all relating to the garden. In The Fragrance of God Vigen takes us with him on a journey through the year’s

changing seasons as he reflects on the great biblical themes of the sublimity of God’s creation, on seeing the senses as “paths” to experiencing God and “the garden as a place of birth, death and renewal."

This is not a how-to gardening book but a look throughout the ages into why we garden and how gardening relates to our spiritual state. Vigen summons the words of Christian mystics from as far back as the first century who warned us of our tendencies to leave behind the senses and remind us that there was a time when beauty was the trademark of Christianity, when all of the senses were employed in the the worship of God and a true understanding of His Creation.

I remember reading of a discourse between Plato and some of his followers regarding the question of what happens when we forget true beauty. I was immediately reminded of that conversation when I passed a garden in a front yard that was planted entirely with plastic flowers. The haunting words of Plato came rushing back and continues to echo each time I witness such an abuse of the senses. What happens when we forget the beautiful scent of a rose - Glad Air Wicks. What happens when we forget the taste of strawberries from the garden still warm from the sun? We are assaulted with "strawberry" jello. Pockets that taste like - you name it - are the inheritance of our children if we are not careful to wade through the products that lie to our senses. Every once in a while we need an awakening and this book will certainly fill the bill.

This book is half gardening guide, half spiritual guide. Read it at your own risk. It will change the way you see, smell, taste, touch and hear.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Farm Happenings - Winter

"So things must be slowing down for you guys on the farm now that the winter has set in."

This is question asked of us almost every day and it made me realize that it is been some time since I wrote about our farm activities.

As was written by Sir Albert Howard in his awe-inspiring book, The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture, no soil can be truly healthy unless animals graze upon it. This was a concept that Alfred and Carney Farris took to heart and plans were made to remedy this situation on their farm. Thus the long process began to switch the farm from all grain to a grain and livestock farm which entailed fencing the entire farm and installing a watering system that could water the stock anywhere on the farm, a task of monumental effort and resources.

Anyone who has been to The Farm Shop since the summer has seen the trenches stretching across and throughout the fields. These trenches house an intricate labyrinth of pipes all feeding several watering troughs over approximately 260 acres.

Our new solar panel harnesses energy from the sun to run a pump which fills the blue tank that has found its way to the back of my garden. All the troughs are filled utilizing gravity power. So, next summer when you come to the farm shop you will be able to see all of the animals trying out the new system.

Now that most of the trenches are filled we go back to the everyday workings of the farm, feeding, moving, milking, collecting eggs and caring for our stock which knows no seasons. So, unlike a produce farm that tucks the garden in for winter, livestock farming, with the exception of smashing ice in the water troughs, continues on virtually the same throughout the year.

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A Warming Soup

As the weather is colder and I have a freezer full of pumpkin puree (having roasted six already and two more in the cupboard!), I find myself making this delicious warm pumpkin soup weekly. Paired with a loaf of fresh bread and some cheese, it makes a good simple supper, or served with muffins and fruit it forms a hearty lunch.

Using spices like those in curry powder (cumin, turmeric, etc) is helpful in winter, as those tend to keep the sinuses clear! Many reports also suggest that these warming spices aid the immune system and promote good circulation. In any case, the soup itself is versatile and healthful and perfect for a frosty winter night!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons curry powder
4 cups bone broth
4 cups pureed pumpkin or other squash puree
1 1/2 cups fresh milk
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in large saucepan or soup pot. Whisk in flour and curry powder until blended and bubbly. Gradually whisk in broth until mixed and somewhat thickened. Add pumpkin and milk, stirring to warm. Add rest of ingredients and heat to desired warmth, serve.

Recipe modified from several sources, including recipes on AllRecipes.com, several cookbooks, and my mother's recollection of a soup she ate in Korea!

Book Review - Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul

Roast Figs Sugar Snow: Winter Food to Warm the Soul is a beautiful cookbook full of warm and comforting recipes inspired by seasonal foods and the author's travels around Europe and America.

I most enjoyed the author's essays at the beginning of each section. Her ode to cheese is outstanding. The book also boasts wonderful food photography and a sprinkling of quotes from literature about winter food.

I appreciated the author's interpretation of traditional winter foods using interesting flavor combinations I would not have thought to try on my own. For example, I have never paired red cabbage with cranberries, nor have I thought of using parsnips as a mashed potato substitute. The recipes are all hearty and warming - this can in no way be construed as a dieting book - but a variety of ingredients and foods in season is a healthful way to eat and I think if you're willing to exercise moderation and portion control this cookbook would add a great variety to your winter cooking repretoire.

If you enjoy eating seasonal foods and trying new combinations of flavors, or even if you just like to read pretty cookbooks, I would highly recommend Roast Figs Sugar Snow.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Another resource for seasonal eating

If you don't already read it, may I recommend The Cooks Next Door? The authors (friends of mine) do a great job of highlighting what is in season and how to use it, reviewing cookbooks, talking about preserving foods, and offering fantastic recipes using fresh and natural ingredients.

I have tried several recipes from the website, including pumpkin butter that I made yesterday from another roasted pumpkin. Scrumptious.

What other resources do you use for eating what's in season?

The Early Turkey

I cooked a turkey for the first time yesterday (I'm not sure what's going on with the wings, they are askew and it makes the turkey look like a cross between a bird and a crab!) and it was not terribly difficult, just time consuming! I used sage and rosemary from my mother-in-law's garden and we were quite pleased with the results. We are traveling for Thanksgiving this year so I wanted to cook a turkey just for my family in order to have meat and broth for the freezer.

If you get sick of turkey turkey turkey next weekend, remember you can freeze the cooked leftover meat in small pieces to use in soups and casseroles and the like later on. Pretty much any recipe that calls for chicken can be made with turkey instead.

Also don't forget to save the bones for bone broth! I have some simmering on my stove right now and it makes the whole house smell marvelous!

Eating the Decorations

One of my favorite things about Autumn is that the seasonal food is excellent for decorating! I love to find interesting looking edible squash and use it to make my home look seasonal until I'm ready to use it to make my dinner taste seasonal. This year I found some really pretty little orange and yellow striped squash (pictured), and acorn squash in an unusual yellow and green pattern that mixed nicely with yellow spaghetti squash. I also procured a gigantic pumpkin that reigned autumnally on my kitchen island for a week or two before I finally got up the nerve to roast it.

Initially I planned to put the whole pumpkin in the oven, but it was nearly too heavy to lift and then I couldn't get the thing wedged into my oven all of a piece, so I resorted to cutting it in half and roasting it in shifts. After about an hour of roasting the pumpkin halves at 350 degrees, I let them cool and then peeled the skin off and pureed the pumpkin. I got FORTY cups of pumpkin puree from the effort! I've been told that puree from large pumpkins doesn't taste as "pumpkiny" as that from a can or from smaller pie pumpkins, however I found the puree I made did just fine in the pumpkin streusel muffins and savory pumpkin soup I have made from it so far. I haven't tried a pie, but pumpkin pie is not my favorite. I know, I'm weird.

If you have pumpkins or squash as part of your seasonal decor, don't forget to incorporate it into your menus before you move on to Christmas decorations! Of course, make sure it was EDIBLE squash that you purchased, not display gourds!

Book Review: Chez Panisse Cookbooks

Cookbooks are always interesting to read because they spark the culinary imagination and give new recipes to try, but some go far beyond simple cookery and offer a wealth of information on food history, living by the seasons, eating locally, and natural health. The Chez Panisse series of cookbooks falls squarely into the latter category. Each book offers fantastic and useful information as well as recipes that range from simple to gourmet, all using fresh and flavorful ingredients in combinations that work seasonally. Available titles include Chez Panisse Vegetables, Chez Panisse Fruit, Chez Panisse Cooking, Chez Panisse Desserts, and many others.

These cookbooks are wonderful to have on hand if you're supporting local sustainable farming, because you'll be able to craft delicious recipes with foods and herbs that are in season at the same time.  It's helpful to be able to structure menus around whole food in season and to pursue a goal of organic cooking with local foods.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Traditional Bone Broth - Food or Medicine?

When the cold weather creeps in it is time for me to make broth.  The warmth and nourishment seem to fit well with my quest toward natural and seasonal living.  I used my last quart of beef broth last week for the sensational, crowd pleasing Shepherds Pie (recipe forthcoming). Something in me just doesn't feel right when there is no stock in the freezer. I have had the severe misfortune some years ago of depleting my stock of stock and being forced to resort to store bought "stock". What an ordeal! What salty, tasteless, flat squalor!

I normally put up at least 52 quarts of bone both broth throughout the winter, one for each week but after reading the article by Traditional bone broth in modern health and disease by Allison Siebecker I may have to double that amount. Her article describes in detail the benefits of bone broth as well as explaining each component of bone broth and its benefits. Here is her list of ailments that are benefited by broth: aging skin, allergies, anemia, anxiety, asthma, atherosclerosis, attention deficit, bean maldigestion, brittle nails, carbohydrate maldigestion, Celiac Disease, colic, confusion, constipation, dairy maldigestion, delusions, dental degeneration, depression, detoxification, Diabetes, diarrhea, fatigue, food sensitivities, fractures, Gastritis, grain maldigestion, heart attack, high cholesterol, hyperactivity, hyperchlorhydria (reflux, ulcer), hyperparathyroidism (primary), hypertension, hypochlorhydria, hypoglycemia, immunodepression, increased urination, infectious disease, inflammation, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis), insomnia, intestinal bacterial infections, irritability, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Jaundice, joint injury, Kidney stones, leaky gut, loss of appetite, meat maldigestion, memory, muscle cramps, muscle spasms, muscle wasting, muscle weakness, Muscular Dystrophy, nausea, nervousness, Osteoarthritis, Osteomalacia, Osteoporosis, pain, palpitations, Periodontal Disease, pregnancy, rapid growth, restlessness, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rickets, seizure, shallow breathing, stupor, virility, vomiting, weakness, weight loss due to illness, wound healing.

Broth is one of those foods that have been around for centuries and due to our overly busy schedules we have let fall by the wayside, imagining hours of straining and stirring. Nothing could be further from the truth. Stock making can be an easy and enjoyable part of natural and seasonal living, if you remember a few key tips.

1. Always use bones from healthy animals
2. The longer you simmer, the more you will pull from the bones
3. Don't boil the stock - just let it gently simmer - don't let it go over 200-220 F
4. Don't leave the lid on the pot
5. Use only organic vegetables
6. Try to use a variety of bones for their different properties

Putting things up

I did not grow up with the concept of preserving food, although my mother canned jams and applesauce with her grandmother. The idea of preserving food while it's in season appeals to me not just because of tradition but because of health and stewardship.

First, fruits and vegetables at the height of their season in your area will be freshest and the vitamins and nutrients in them will be most available to your body. If you buy a food out of season, you can bet it didn't come from close by and that it lost quite a lot along the way getting to you. Preserving foods when they are at their nutritional height is the smart way to be able to enjoy those foods longer than their brief season.

Second, I find that when a food is in season, it is also at it's lowest price. This is the time of year for apples and squashes and pumpkins. You can get quite a lot of food for not much money, especially if you're willing to buy in bulk, as you would certainly want to do to preserve it. Of course apples and pumpkins can be found in one form or another year round, but you'll pay a premium for them six months from now and they won't be promoting sustainable farming in your area.

I may have mentioned before that I don't can (I have very little pantry space and an extreme fear of botulism!), but I do have a stand alone chest freezer that I've been filling up with applesauce (there would be more if we didn't eat it almost as fast as I can make it!), and this week I'm aiming to roast and puree an enormous pumpkin and a huge assortment of squashes of various types. I plan to freeze the puree in one and two cup amounts as that is what most recipes call for. We will love eating the pumpkin and squash in savory soups, baked goods and desserts throughout the winter.

Lots of produce can be frozen or canned or stored in one way or another. It's another way to live by the seasons while also extending them somewhat!

Autumn Comfort Foods

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is make applesauce. I wash and slice enough apples to fit in my stock pot, add a little water and a cinnamon stick, and simmer it until the apples are falling apart. I then stir it together and, depending on if it's intended as a snack or dessert, I might add a little bit of sugar. Many people can applesauce (if you do that you'll want to make sure you consult a canning resource to make sure you process it long enough to safely preserve it) but I don't have much pantry space so I freeze mine instead. The benefit to freezing is that I have a chest freezer that fits plenty of gallon bags of applesauce stored flat, and also that I don't have to remove the peels. I think the peel in homemade applesauce is the best part!

If you enjoy cooking and preserving apples in one way or another, you might check to see if your local orchards offer price breaks for seconds or drops - those apples are sometimes smaller or not as pretty as the rest, but they are an economical alternative when you're planning to cook them anyway. I have also found local apples for sale in supermarkets this time of year, often quite inexpensively. Once I even found organic local apples for the same price as the ones that were conventionally grown. In those cases I think it is sometimes worthwhile to vote with your dollars and let the supermarkets know that consumers are looking for more local and organic options. You can also make a comment to the produce manager at a store, and perhaps help encourage the store to make small steps toward fresher, local options. In general though I do think it's better to buy straight from an orchard and not bother with the middleman!

Most people think of apples as a dessert fruit for pies and crumbles and brown betties and the like, and those are certainly delicious uses for apples, but apples are also delicious additions to savory dishes like curries. Curried apples and pumpkin is a wonderfully filling and tasty meal for a cold autumn night.

What are your favorite autumn comfort foods?

Baking Homemade Bread

There's something about Autumn that turns the hearts of bakers to bread. In the past week I've heard from three people that they unaccountably feel like baking bread now, after taking time off from it over the summer. As Debbie pointed out in her post on living by the seasons, there are some thing that just fit the rhythm of Fall - root vegetables, apples, hearty stews, pulling out heavier clothes and blankets and baking homemade bread.

As you may know, the Farm produces certified organic grain (which you can purchase from the Farm Shop of course!) and Debbie is something of an expert in the art of grinding grain into flour and transforming it into delicious loaves of nutritious whole grain bread. Next time you're in the shop, be sure to ask her for some tips!

For the novice, baking yeast bread can be an overwhelming task. You might want to start small and build up some confidence before jumping in to a more complicated recipe. On the other hand there is something to be said for naivete if it keeps you from being intimidated by what other bakers might see as a daunting recipe!

The health benefits of using whole grains in bread are well documented and doubtless familiar to you. By baking your own whole grain bread rather that buying it in the store, you can get the added bonus of eliminating preservatives and additives. For families with wheat allergies or for those who just have a taste for variety, baking your own bread gives you the freedom to experiment with different grains or alternative flours.

Aside from purely nutritional benefits, I'm convinced that baking bread is good for the soul. Fitting the timetable of mixing, kneading, rising and baking bread into your day forces you to think about your schedule and maybe simplify your day a little. The rhythm of baking days helps set a productive but not frantic pace. Kneading dough, as even the newest baker can attest, is a marvelous stress reducer and a good upper body workout. And nothing beats the feeling of serving your family a slice of warm buttered bread fresh from the oven!

We're planning to do a few posts on grain grinding, different bread recipes, and general tips about bread. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and we'll be happy to address them!

The Comfort of Fall

I have been in a serious bread groove all summer. I think because sourdough seems like a light, summery bread it has been my bread of choice since spring. So while I sat under the maple tree in the front yard with my bread, cheese and wine, all those single-celled organisms (yeast) sat ignored in the freezer.

I am a big believer in living by the seasons and each fall I bring out all the feather comforters and get them ready for snuggling and cuddling my babies (18 and 12) during the cold, blustery nights. As I get older and hopefully wiser, I am "being attentive to thyself" more than ever and that introspeciont has me seeing some interesting patterns.

Right now I am noticing how my spinning wheel, the comforters and the yeast find their way back into my life in the autumn. I believe that there is an innate "knowing" that has come to be buried under the weight of sitcoms that find their way in to our lives. Isn't it time to shake off the unwanted burdens that are weighing us down and keeping us from doing what we really desire? It can, and possibly should, begin slowly. One step at a time.

In this next series of posts we will explore activities that just belong to the fall. It will warm and comfort you to live closer to the seasons. Try to think of the activities you most think about as the weather begins to change, foods you crave or activities you wish you had time for. Send us a comment for ideas you may have for future posts and let us know how you desire to live closer to the seasons. If you have conquered the pressing-in to live a homogeneous life please drop us a comment to let us in your secrets to living life to its fullest.