harvest swap | Seeds & Stones

Yesterday we swapped, today we ate…homemade sourdough bread, fresh goat cheese, pear ginger butter, and homemade cultured butter…yep, all in one bite!!

I know, I should save all these goodies and slowly dool them out over the year, but hey, it feels like time to celebrate. Not just the food, but the efforts, the thought, the attention that when into all this bounty. Everyone one who came this year put so much time into their offerings, and some serious creativity.

I am talking tinctures that have been steeping for months made from wild crafted herbs, cheese made from Almonds, Mushrooms gathered from the mountains, Mustard made and labeled by homeschooled hands, homemade, frozen and indivdiually wrapped cinnamon buns that just need to be heated up on that special Sunday morning!!! I mean really, this was above and beyond anything I ever dreamed of when I was staring at my pile of green tomatoes wondering who, oh who might be willing to trade for something, anything!!

OK, I admit, I do have some amazing friends, but it is not just that. What amazed me the most is that all of the swappers stepped off the hamster wheel of consumer culture, stepped into their creative capacity, whipped up some magic and yes, gave it away!! All in the name of sharing. To give and receive comes so naturally to us human beings, we work so hard with our children on these fundamental human skills, and yet when I look around in most of the messages our culture is sending us, I see very little authentic generousity. It’s mostly ‘ get yours’ ‘every man for himself’ and ‘you gotta look out for your own’ which all negate all that we learn in kindergarden about ‘doing unto others as you would have them do unto you’. There are many days that is feels hard parenting a child to share in a world that may later tell him otherwise. But yesterday, It felt so good to see reciprocity in action and to know that at least for today, we are setting a good example.

I just want to say Thanks to these folks who came out on Sunday morning with their arms full of their precious handmade and home grown to share. We all left with boxes full as well, all mixed up with herbs, spices, seeds and fruits of other peoples labors of love. I am starting to see a tiny glimmer of new economies, new possibilities, new options. Sorry Whole Foods, I don’t see hand rendered Beef tallow on your shelves!

After some of the sampling I had a brilliant idea…. to make a Santa Fe Harvest Swap Cook Book, but then I quickly realized, no I don’t want Lisa’s Mustard recipe, I want Lisa to make my Mustard, and Sarah to make my pepper jelly and Kyce to make my medicine and Becca my butter!! I want us to nourish each other deeply and truly like we did yesterday. I want that for all of everyone and all of our children. I will do whatever it takes to make that happen, weather it put on more swaps, weave more webs, or construct more soap boxes….I see now my true passion is bringing our gifts, our talents, and our hearts together, because all this goodness needs to be shared and spread, onto a piece of Ty’s homemade bread!! If you are up for more learning, sharing and co-creating, make sure to check out what else we are up to here.

Last year at this time, fruit was falling from the trees faster than we could pick it. The old abandoned apple across the road that was breaking bows under the juicy weight now stands solemn with one lonely apple. Noticing these cycles just reminds me that there are fruit years and there are root years, there are times to work outward and times to go in, as is said through many faiths, there is an in breath and an out breath to all life, each as important as the other. I may miss the baskets overflowing with sun ripened bounty, but I am not in mourning as there are so many other things to reap and process, both inside and out this year.

digging roots

My garden has been slower, more steady some how this year, struggling in ways, longing for more sweet rain water, but self-sufficient in other ways it hadn’t been in the past. My composting, de- weeding, cultivation and care are now showing an independence and more resourceful roots. inseparable am I from my eathern ground, this growth is reflected inside my own being too. Now 2 years into motherhood and finally finding a stride, after much heavy watering and tilling up inside, this earthen woman is setting roots and showing signs of another bloom.

growing up

So in the spirit of gathering, swapping and sharing ourselves and our harvests, as our work, our hearts our offering the Harvest Swap is on this year. It is an opportunity to meet each other where we are, for us to gather what we have in excess and receive what we may be needing. This effort is to celebrate the wealth we have collectively and shift ourselves from an independence to an interdependence.

gathering together

I come forth with herbs, both wild and grown, maybe because the medicine I need is in them and encouragement to slow down the coffee pot and sip more tea!! What is it that you have been tending and reaping this year, what do others have that you need? Can’t wait to swap and share, grow and gather in our inner and inter wealth and gratitude. Sign up for this year’s harvest swap here.

“In these times of hyper capitalism, it is a radical act to harvest apples from my yard, preserve them and trade them for eggs with my neighbor down the street, to rely on each other in place of the current systems. [The swap] stimulates the part of us that remembers those bygone times when economies of scale and self-reliance were the norm. The part of us that knows that social capital via community connections are at a premium in times of social, ecological and economic turmoil.”- Sarah Ghoirse Harvest Swap 2012