Soul & Belly
There are years when autumn means I’m canning tomatoes, peaches, pickles, beans, and more, grating all the zucchini and carrots and freezing them flat in freezer bags for muffins to come. This year is not that year.
As an earthling, a human who truly lives in relation with the earth, my heart has a yearning for years I’ve done it better. There is a picture in my mind of what the harvest looks like in the years I nail it; we’ll finally finish the root cellar in the basement; the pantry shelves will be stocked with peaches in a light syrup, bins of fresh fruit, potatoes, and rutabaga. There will be barrels of fermented pickles and kraut waiting to fill our bellies with beneficial bacteria and yumminess, and home-cured bacon in the kitchen, but this year is not that year.
This year I’ll use what I have to preserve some of the feelings the big dream invites, bread crumbs combined to become morsels for the soul and the belly. This year, I’ll gather herbs from the garden, tie them together with cotton string and hang them to dry in the living room. I’ll gather and cook the broccoli I had the sense to seed in July and blend it to make a creamy soup. I’ll snip every bit of invasive peppermint from the garden and dry it, grind it, and store it in the cupboard for a warm cup of tea on a cold winter’s night. I’ll gather the small apples that have fallen from our tree, steam them, press them through the food mill, and blend them into cinnamon-enhanced applesauce. I’ll visit my local farm to purchase 150lbs of potatoes to stash in the mudroom and source as much grass-fed beef as our little budget can swing—this will be enough. Enough to feel like I’m doing it. Enough to feel like I’m in connection with our food. Enough to get me to the dream of being self-sufficient. We don’t have to get it right all the time, just enough to keep the dream and the team going.
What small steps can you take to harness the feeling of your whole dream?
Jacquelyn Toupin lives with her family in a heritage farmhouse that has been in her family for several generations. You can follow them on Instagram @raisinghay
