Since the summer CSA program ended, life has been much less hectic here on the farm. We only have 20 folks in the winter CSA so it’s quicker to pack the bags on Wednesday and there’s a lot less product to pick in the garden or high tunnels. Many of the items in the winter program are greens…radishes (the greens are edible too), purple top turnips and Japanese turnips (these are very mild), mixed lettuce, kale, swiss chard and spinach. In a few weeks we’ll have green onions, broccoli and broccoli rabe. We had several days early this week where the overnight temps were around 19 degrees and we thought we’d lose the lettuce greens that were in the outside beds. Luckily they seem to have survived. I brought one of the Japanese turnips home the other day. I sliced it up, sauteed it in butter with fresh garlic (from the garden) and it was delicious. It had a really mild taste whereas the purple top turnips have a little bite to them. The winter CSA runs until Dec. 17.
Weatherman is calling for severe storms tomorrow and strong winds. It was my job to open the two high tunnels today and vent the kale bed so it was no surprise when I went back tonight to close them up that the row covers were partially blown off. Because the heat in the high tunnels creates condensation on the inside of the plastic roof, it’s important to vent the tunnel to dry out that moisture. With the raised beds, where the kale is growing we had to partially take the plastic off the hoops overtop of the bed so the kale doesn’t cook from the sun shining through the plastic. Everything is all closed up and buttoned down for any winds that come along. The night time temps are supposed to be ok for the next few nights so we don’t have to worry about freezing temps.
On the cool mornings we spend time in the fiber room, skirting the alpaca blankets. The goal is to get all of them done before the next shearing in the spring. I’m actually getting into a groove doing the skirting and liking it. The level of enjoyment depends on how short or uneven the fiber is and how dirty it is. A black blanket (what the main body of fiber is called) we skirted recently was so dirty and had flakes of what appeared to be dandruff in it and it was horrible to get that out of it. We use little brushes like you’d brush your dog with to fluff up the fiber and get the “vegetable matter” out of it. Usually while the other interns skirt, I would card the fiber that I had skirted before but I needed a break from that. I have enough batts done to make the baseball cap I want to make. The cap mold has been ordered so it should be here for me to use on the 23rd. There is a wet felting class where everyone will work on a hat, felted soap (we take two pieces of felted material and a bar of soap is felted into the center of it…kind of like a washcloth with built-in soap) and if there’s time, possibly a vase. Should be a fun and educational day.
Peanut is doing well. My phone is acting up and won’t let me send pictures to my e-mail so I don’t have any recent pictures to post. She is up over 16# and not being hand fed too often. Her cast should come off in two weeks and she’ll be ready to go. I had to try to feed her tonight and the two new kittens in the barn came around and rubbed all over her while I was trying to feed her and she didn’t like that. She only drank about a 1/2 ounce but she is getting plenty from mom so all is well.
All of us interns met with the sister who is the General Superior (top person here). Sister Denise is a great lady and easy to talk to. We were interested in learning more about the Sisters of Providence recent decision to allow seismic testing and possible drilling for oil on their land. She explained to us that it was an extremely difficult decision and one that they (all of the sisters) deliberated over for many months and sought out the advice of a local ecology professor before they decided to proceed. If it weren’t for the fact that their funding and the sustainability of continuing with their missions and programming was in jeopardy, they would have easily said no. They were approached by an Indiana oil company, Country Mark about the possibility of drilling. Country Mark is a co-op of farmers and has an exceptional record of no spills or accidents and truly were concerned that the sisters were comfortable with the process and accepted all the stipulations that the sisters put into the lease agreement. Currently they are in the “thumping” mode, where the truck is doing a seismic test on the roadways to get an image of the formations underground. There is a 50/50 chance that they will find oil. There is no fracing involved. It’s more of a sucking out of the oil because this oil formation is part of an underground coral reef. Indiana was under water millions of years ago and apparently a coral reef exists in this region. Isn’t that cool ? I’ve never heard of that but it makes sense that there could be a petrified one down there. All of the discussions and information has been shared with the community and neighbors in an effort to be totally transparent about everything. Sister Denise was sorry that they had forgotten to invite the interns to the information meetings but shared articles with us to bring us up to speed. We had concerns because of the Land Ethic that was developed in 2012 by the Sisters and this seemed to be a total contradiction to that. Many times in life there are no easy answers and when it comes down to a matter of survival for this convent, I think they did what was necessary to continue to serve the people in this area and around the world with their missions. If they could not continue with all that they do, many people would suffer. If they find a sizable cache of oil, they hope to look at updating their facilities to be more sustainable and possibly make some changes as far as their fossil fuel needs (they have 200 cars in their fleet that the sisters use). Let’s hope that there is a good outcome for all….Mother Earth and the Sisters of Providence.
Showing posts with label Sisters of Providence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sisters of Providence. Show all posts
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Fall is in the air….
Fall is in the Indiana air and the leaves are turning. Yesterday, in the tomato patch, it was downright chilly but not quite to the point of frost. I could see my breath as I picked tomatoes and they felt like they had been kept in a walk in refrigerator all night. They are slowing down though….only picked 274# yesterday.
I keep forgetting to tell you about the neat way that the convent creates their h
Here are some of things we harvested this week in the garden:
Look at all that celery….it was like loading a small tree into each bag. And it was so fragrant…Yum !
Beautiful Carmen and Bell peppers.
Bagged Swiss Chard…looks sort of like rhubarb but with beautiful stalks of pink, yellow, whitish.
On Thursday we had a potluck event for the CSA members. I finished work at 3:30 and then went to work with Sister Mo so she could teach me how to card the fiber I’ve been working on. This is the next step after skirting it. You take the tufts of fiber that are long enough and it’s laid on that ledge area so it spans the width of the carder. On the far right side is a crank that makes the drums turn and draws in the fiber. The “undesirables” are picked up on the small drum and the acceptable ones are wound around the large drum. When it gets covered to the point where you can’t see the belt seam and it seems full, the “batt” is pulled off the drum. You break the batt, with a large knitting needle type of tool, right at the belt seam. You just run the needle under the batt and pull up on it, separating it from the drum. As you turn the handle you pull gently to have the batt come off in one piece. You’re shooting for it to weigh (in its final weight) 1.0 – 1.2 oz. I had to run mine through twice to get all fibers running the same direction and looking nice and it came out at 1.1 oz…perfect ! The weight is crucial because if you use this to felt a hat, the layers have to weigh the same so it’s not lopsided when you put it together. That is what I’ll be learning next….how to make a felted hat. (This morning I finally finished skirting all the fiber on my table)….hallelujah ! So I worked on the carding till 5, went back to the dorm and showered and made my dish to pass and off to the potluck I went. Long day, beautiful night, great chats with the CSA members who came.
Friday, the new high tunnel got its’ roof installed. There was about 10-12 of us out there helping get the plastic on it. Ropes were thrown over the top of the roof and tied to the plastic. The way they did that was to wrap the plastic end around a rock or clump of dirt 
Tomorrow is Alpaca Farm Days all over the country and ours is from 1 – 4. I will bounce between the kids activity area and the tomato selling table, helping out. Should be a fun day if the weather holds out. We haven’t had much rain since I’ve been here but they are calling for about a 60% chance tomorrow. Hopefully it will rain early or hold off till afterwards.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Daily Gifts
Even though it's only been three weeks since I arrived here, each day gets better and better. The sisters are so happy to have us interns eat with them at lunchtime and to learn about what's growing in the gardens. They almost are giddy just talking about it. It doesn't hurt that they have a plump slice of tomato on their plate that they're getting ready to sink their teeth into and they know it came from the gardens here.
The sisters are so funny and I learn so much when I sit and talk with them. They are so giving and open to any questions we have. Today I sat with some sisters I had never met before. Three of them are from a parish in Chicago and two of the three are actual blood sisters. As they said: "Sister sisters". We got to talking about the weather in the next few days which is supposed to go back into the 90's through the middle of the week. They were talking about how glad they are to not be wearing habits anymore and the following story came to light.
The oldest sister at the table, we'll call her Sister N (she's 91 and still works everyday and looks amazing !) said that their habits were made out of surge (not sure of the spelling but it's a material like wool). The material wasn't available during the war because it came from France. They wore full length skirts and the headpiece sometimes would cut into their chins and they'd develop sores on their skin. There was no air conditioning in the parishes or convents and she said they must have smelled pretty bad back then as much as they'd perspire and for as long as they wore their clothes. During the time of WWII Sister N was taking a train from Indianapolis to Chicago with a group of sisters and they all were in full habits. They had to move from the second floor of the train station to the first floor and then a short while later needed to go back to the second level. The skirts on the habits had evenly spaced pleats in the front and gathers in the back of the skirt. Her skirt was getting pretty worn and the pleats were wearing thin so she had turned her skirt around so the pleats were in the back. All of the sisters gathered their belongings and were headed up the stairs to the second level. Sister N had a suitcase in one hand and held her skirt up with the other hand. Part way up the stairs, the sister behind her fell forward and in trying to catch herself grabbed Sister N's skirt in her hand and it tore off. With the skirt in hand, the sister tumbled end over end down the stairs in the train station. Sister N stood there with just a black slip on and with all the commotion, all the soldiers hanging out in the train station came running. They rushed to the aid of the sister who was fine but laying at the bottom of the stairs, still clutching Sister N's skirt in her hand. The soldiers helped up the fallen sister and she proceeded up the stairs and handed the skirt back to Sister N, who did not have a spare skirt with her. Back then she said they all carried pin cushions with them so all the sisters circled around Sister N and they pooled all their pins so she could reattach her skirt. Only problem was that once they boarded the train, she couldn't sit down. She had to stand because the pins would poke into her if she went to sit down. Finally one of the sisters in the group offered the spare skirt that she had with her but since Sister N was so much shorter than this sister, it took a lot of "rolling down the waistband" several turns to get it so it didn't drag on the ground.
As Sister N was telling this story, our table was cracking up in the dining hall. Oh my, just when you think these ladies are straight laced and puritanical they come out with these stories that just kill me. Another sister at the table told about a sister, who was from the northeast and was shopping for a "cart" for the convent but with her accent the "T" was not pronounced....you know how those Bostonians talk. She called someone at the convent and asked who she should call about a "car" (I can hear my friend Larry saying it now). They gave her a phone number for a local dealer who she promptly called. Here's how the conversation went:
Dealer: Hello, may I help you?
Sister: Hi, I'm looking for a car(t).
Dealer: Yes, we have those.
Sister: Does it have 4 wheels?
Dealer: Yes, they all come with 4 wheels.
Sister: Does it come in white?
Dealer: Yes, we have them in white.
Sister: Does it come assembled ?
Dealer: Yes they are all ready to go.
Sister: Can I set a microwave on it ?
Dealer: I suppose you could set a microwave on it.
By this time the dealer knew that something was amiss and they got the whole thing straightened out and figured out that she wanted a "cart" and not a "car".
Too funny...once again our table was in tears and by this time all of the tables in the dining room had finished lunch an
d left. We were still sitting there hearing stories about smelly sisters in habits and whether cars come in white. These ladies are truly a blessing to me and so much fun to be around. Here's a sign I walk by on the way to Sunday lunch and it cracks me up every time I see it. Who says that nuns don't have a sense of humor.
The sisters are so funny and I learn so much when I sit and talk with them. They are so giving and open to any questions we have. Today I sat with some sisters I had never met before. Three of them are from a parish in Chicago and two of the three are actual blood sisters. As they said: "Sister sisters". We got to talking about the weather in the next few days which is supposed to go back into the 90's through the middle of the week. They were talking about how glad they are to not be wearing habits anymore and the following story came to light.
The oldest sister at the table, we'll call her Sister N (she's 91 and still works everyday and looks amazing !) said that their habits were made out of surge (not sure of the spelling but it's a material like wool). The material wasn't available during the war because it came from France. They wore full length skirts and the headpiece sometimes would cut into their chins and they'd develop sores on their skin. There was no air conditioning in the parishes or convents and she said they must have smelled pretty bad back then as much as they'd perspire and for as long as they wore their clothes. During the time of WWII Sister N was taking a train from Indianapolis to Chicago with a group of sisters and they all were in full habits. They had to move from the second floor of the train station to the first floor and then a short while later needed to go back to the second level. The skirts on the habits had evenly spaced pleats in the front and gathers in the back of the skirt. Her skirt was getting pretty worn and the pleats were wearing thin so she had turned her skirt around so the pleats were in the back. All of the sisters gathered their belongings and were headed up the stairs to the second level. Sister N had a suitcase in one hand and held her skirt up with the other hand. Part way up the stairs, the sister behind her fell forward and in trying to catch herself grabbed Sister N's skirt in her hand and it tore off. With the skirt in hand, the sister tumbled end over end down the stairs in the train station. Sister N stood there with just a black slip on and with all the commotion, all the soldiers hanging out in the train station came running. They rushed to the aid of the sister who was fine but laying at the bottom of the stairs, still clutching Sister N's skirt in her hand. The soldiers helped up the fallen sister and she proceeded up the stairs and handed the skirt back to Sister N, who did not have a spare skirt with her. Back then she said they all carried pin cushions with them so all the sisters circled around Sister N and they pooled all their pins so she could reattach her skirt. Only problem was that once they boarded the train, she couldn't sit down. She had to stand because the pins would poke into her if she went to sit down. Finally one of the sisters in the group offered the spare skirt that she had with her but since Sister N was so much shorter than this sister, it took a lot of "rolling down the waistband" several turns to get it so it didn't drag on the ground.
As Sister N was telling this story, our table was cracking up in the dining hall. Oh my, just when you think these ladies are straight laced and puritanical they come out with these stories that just kill me. Another sister at the table told about a sister, who was from the northeast and was shopping for a "cart" for the convent but with her accent the "T" was not pronounced....you know how those Bostonians talk. She called someone at the convent and asked who she should call about a "car" (I can hear my friend Larry saying it now). They gave her a phone number for a local dealer who she promptly called. Here's how the conversation went:
Dealer: Hello, may I help you?
Sister: Hi, I'm looking for a car(t).
Dealer: Yes, we have those.
Sister: Does it have 4 wheels?
Dealer: Yes, they all come with 4 wheels.
Sister: Does it come in white?
Dealer: Yes, we have them in white.
Sister: Does it come assembled ?
Dealer: Yes they are all ready to go.
Sister: Can I set a microwave on it ?
Dealer: I suppose you could set a microwave on it.
By this time the dealer knew that something was amiss and they got the whole thing straightened out and figured out that she wanted a "cart" and not a "car".
Too funny...once again our table was in tears and by this time all of the tables in the dining room had finished lunch an
d left. We were still sitting there hearing stories about smelly sisters in habits and whether cars come in white. These ladies are truly a blessing to me and so much fun to be around. Here's a sign I walk by on the way to Sunday lunch and it cracks me up every time I see it. Who says that nuns don't have a sense of humor.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
I Survived the First Week....
and I'm sure glad it's the weekend. Yesterday was a busy day of weeding here. My hands are so sore from pulling 2-3' tall weeds. We spent
the whole morning in the high tunnel, getting rid of the weeds. Here is the "after" picture. From right to left we have strawberries, swiss chard, melons and cantalopes. Picture the rows in between with tall weeds that were really stubborn and hard to pull out. In a high tunnel, you plant directly into the ground and there is no additional heat source. It allows you to extend the growing season for veggies and fruit. The far left side of the high tunnel will be planted next week for the winter CSA program. Not sure what we're planting but it's ready to go.
My thoughts exactly....
This morning I spent more time walking in the cemetery. In the center are the graves of three men and I was a little dumbfounded why, in a place that is for and run by women, there are these graves of men. Then it dawned on me....Women can't be priests. These are the men
who have been the priests over the years. Graves from the 1840's to current times are here and there is a memorial to the sisters who are buried in other countries. Keep in mind that a lot of work, by the sisters of Providence is done in Taiwan, China, and other countries so it only makes sense that some who have made it their life's work to work there would also want to be laid to rest there.
"Providing shelter to all"(see if you can see the mud wasp nests)
This is one of my favorite spots. I call it the meditation maze....I know there's a more formal name for it but I don't recall what it is. This is
where I have my chat with the universe each morning and is a great place to center yourself for the day ahead. The twisting and turning paths all lead to the center, where the bench is. The paths are lined with ground up rubber so it's easy on the legs. It's a really neat place and really close to Owens Hall, where my room is. It's usually the last stop on my walk before heading back to fix breakfast.
Part off Equine Studies at the college here
These are the sweet potatoes we weeded yesterday. In organic farming methods, since you don't use chemicals to control weeds, many times ground cover is planted. The sweet potatoes are in the hilled rows and in between is planted hairy vetch, clover and something else. When we weeded, we lay it in between the rows so it will decompose and put nitrogen back into the soil. It was a pretty dense jungle before we weeded. Many of the sweet potato vines were eaten by the deer, hence the spotty planting.
Orchard
Ground Cover at Work
Another high tunnel under construction for a winter crop.
the whole morning in the high tunnel, getting rid of the weeds. Here is the "after" picture. From right to left we have strawberries, swiss chard, melons and cantalopes. Picture the rows in between with tall weeds that were really stubborn and hard to pull out. In a high tunnel, you plant directly into the ground and there is no additional heat source. It allows you to extend the growing season for veggies and fruit. The far left side of the high tunnel will be planted next week for the winter CSA program. Not sure what we're planting but it's ready to go.
Owie !! Fingers are swollen (must be all those muscles I haven't used in a while)
Exterior view of High tunnel
Wednesday was CSA day. We had produce to pick in the morning (raspberries and blackberries) and then after lunch the final push to get everything cleaned and ready to pack by 2:00. Each person's "share" is packed in a cloth bag that they return to us the following week. They are given two so we always have one to pack in. The heaviest items are placed in the bottom of the bag and the lighter, more fragile items are put on top. This week's items were potatoes, pears, onions, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, basil, peppers. Some people got cucs, green beans, blackberries or raspberries, eggs, jalepeno peppers or anaheims (not hot but long and pointy), or eggplant. For items that are just coming on, we have to rotate between who gets them when there isn't enough for everybody. It's a crazy system to figure out for Ann (the lady in charge right now). We have so many tomatoes right now. I've picked them twice and it's sad to see that the brandywine breed does not hold up well to pests. You reach in to grab a huge, beautiful tomato and it will be mush and half eaten or half rotten. That is not a particularly great feeling.....Yuck ! We have yellow ones, romas, brandywine, several different cherry tomatoes (one that has the coloring of a brandywine and is delicious) and several other red ones that I don't know the names of. Yesterday I worked with Ann to take some of the 2nds and prep them for drying. You cut them in even slices, soak in Fruit Fresh and place on the drying racks. They go into a large Cabela dryer and stay there for 23 hours. I had to go down last night and rotate the racks cause there are hot spots in the dryer. I'll go down at 2 and see if they are done and if they are, they get removed from the racks and placed in a glass jar. It's a great way to preserve them for winter use.
The sisters take some of the berries that are too mushy to put in containers and turn them into jam or jelly to give out to the CSA members. I think we have enough now that everyone will get a jar of jelly next week. On Tuesday, Ann showed the other interns how to make chimichurri sauce and that was given out on CSA day. It's made with parsley, red pepper flakes, onion, etc and is a great condiment for steak or other meats. I didn't work on that since I needed to unpack and get settled into my room.
Been trying to get out most days to walk...here are pics of what I see on my route...
Alpaca Barn
Grotto...
This morning I spent more time walking in the cemetery. In the center are the graves of three men and I was a little dumbfounded why, in a place that is for and run by women, there are these graves of men. Then it dawned on me....Women can't be priests. These are the men
who have been the priests over the years. Graves from the 1840's to current times are here and there is a memorial to the sisters who are buried in other countries. Keep in mind that a lot of work, by the sisters of Providence is done in Taiwan, China, and other countries so it only makes sense that some who have made it their life's work to work there would also want to be laid to rest there.
"Providing shelter to all"(see if you can see the mud wasp nests)
where I have my chat with the universe each morning and is a great place to center yourself for the day ahead. The twisting and turning paths all lead to the center, where the bench is. The paths are lined with ground up rubber so it's easy on the legs. It's a really neat place and really close to Owens Hall, where my room is. It's usually the last stop on my walk before heading back to fix breakfast.
Part off Equine Studies at the college here
Our portable chicken coop. There is a timer on the ramp door that pulls it up when it approaches night so the chickens are safe. They learn very quickly when curfew is.
These are the sweet potatoes we weeded yesterday. In organic farming methods, since you don't use chemicals to control weeds, many times ground cover is planted. The sweet potatoes are in the hilled rows and in between is planted hairy vetch, clover and something else. When we weeded, we lay it in between the rows so it will decompose and put nitrogen back into the soil. It was a pretty dense jungle before we weeded. Many of the sweet potato vines were eaten by the deer, hence the spotty planting.
Orchard
Ground Cover at Work
Greenhouse
Beautiful steeple on church here at Sisters of Providence
Everyone is so nice here. The sisters are so cool. I just came from having lunch in the Owens Hall cafeteria and the sisters were talking about an event going on nearby and who was going to go on the zipline. Any of the stereotypes that one might have about nuns certainly doesn't apply to most of the ones I've met here. I did see a sister at lunch who wore the head covering of a habit but I think she is part of a group that is here for a retreat. Most of the sisters here are in t-shirts and jeans or shorts and are talking about horse racing, rollercoasters and NASCAR. Neat bunch of ladies !
Since this is a facility that values the environment and all of God's creatures, most people abide by the "No Kill" policy when it comes to a critter found in the garden or things that we pick. I'm fine with flicking a slug off a tomato and put the wolly worm aside that is crawling up the clover. The other day I was washing heads of cabbage and there was a really big hairy brown spider that was on one of the heads. I washed him off the head only to watch him run around the bottom of the sink and I kept thinking about the No Kill policy. I didn't kill him but I sure hope he brought a canoe with him cause he's gonna need it cause I "escorted" him down the drain. I'll say a little prayer for him tomorrow while I'm walking the meditation maze.
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