Since getting back to Songaia, things have tipped definitely into late summer: blackberries, the beginning of the tomatoes, even apples. Work has shifted almost exclusively to harvesting, and partially to get out of the heat, partly because it really does need doing, we’ve been spending the afternoons in the common house kitchen preserving. We’ve dried, we’ve canned, and frozen. There have been gallons of applesauce.
On Monday, I spent the afternoon pickling purple beans (very unfortunately, they immediately lose their rich color after just a few minutes in brine). I remember planting those beans right at the beginning of my time at Songaia, and later building the trellises that they grew up. It’s reminding me of one of the reasons I first wanted to spend a whole summer at Songaia – the chance to follow through an entire season in one place, to get to see the real turning of the cycle.
On Monday, I spent the afternoon pickling purple beans (very unfortunately, they immediately lose their rich color after just a few minutes in brine). I remember planting those beans right at the beginning of my time at Songaia, and later building the trellises that they grew up. It’s reminding me of one of the reasons I first wanted to spend a whole summer at Songaia – the chance to follow through an entire season in one place, to get to see the real turning of the cycle.
I just found out recently that I got a job in Portland, starting September 1. It’s at a community garden by a public school, reaching out the neighbors in an area with many different immigrant groups (kids at the school speak 40 different languages at home). It’s coming home to me that my time at Songaia is getting towards its end, sooner than I would have wanted. But it’s good to know that I’m heading back around towards another garden, another season. I just hope I can find a community that’s anything close to as good to me as Songaia has been.
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