South Trelawny Yam Festival

We first learned of the South Trelawny [Jamaica] Environmental Association via Adam Rhoads' article about their efforts to protect the venerated "Cockpit Country" of Jamaica

the S.T.E.A. also helps to put on the annual South Trelawny Yam Festival, which appears to be one of the most wonderful events anywhere

Adam just sent us an email saying:

With cricket world cup [in Jamaica] in the spring this year's yam festival would be an
excellent one to attend, you should try to come down

We will certainly be there in spirit this year. It's hard for us ag workers to take off during March and April. Any time of year visiting Cockpit Country would be unbounded joy

picture at left: Yam Queen of 1999, Ms. Philicia Grant

Agricultural /seasonal /local festivals offer a precious opportunity ( no joke!) to connect with the soul of a place and with the people who live there

One highlight for us of such a festival in the area where we live: the Lummi Stommish festival in the summer

we've made numerous friends during Stommish, and experienced water and the sea and its bounty in ways we could not have imagined otherwise

traditional festivals can encapsulate a great deal of awareness and understanding without bothering to describe it at all

maybe you'll notice some interesting festivals of this sort which you could attend next year !

padilla bay sunset

photo by t'ruth

looking from Bayview west across Padilla Bay toward the refineries at March's Point and Fidalgo Island, snow on the beach

yes-I driving

Raspberry Work

we live in an area where a lot of raspberries are grown: on the edge of the Salish Sea in the Skagit Valley of northwest washington state.

we've been working with the Morgan family at their farmstand near Blanchard Washington for several seasons, where there's a lovely raspberry patch just a couple of years old

we have come to love the raspberry very dearly

besides the wonderful food, the plants have a friendly and mothering or sisterly quality which is reflected in the herbalism of raspberry leaf (red raspberry is a favorite for use during pregnancy)
the raspberry is a pleasure to be around at any time of year (tho the blackcaps are thorny, unlike most raspberries)

regarding the berries themselves: everyone should enjoy plenty of a variety of fresh fruits and berries. only the wealthy could afford to buy all the berries necessary at store prices (and god bless 'em too!) but cost aside, you want the best and they're not usually available in most stores. incorporate farmers markets, u-picks and planting your own berries into your healthy lifestyle.

we try to plant raspberries as often as we can for gardening clients, and we use basically the same methods for home gardeners as are shown here.

photo by yes-I

this patch at the farmstand has 3 rows of about 60 yards in length (i'll check that). there's a cedar post at each end of a row, with berry wire between and metal support posts for the wire spaced along its length. they're all summer (single) bearing red raspberries, about 3 varieties are in there. the berries are for commercial sale (last year it was a u-pick, occasionally we pick for a client or for a restaurant) and home gorging.

we want to see the same prolificity next year as we did this last season. so now is the time to cut out the canes which fruited last year, tie up the canes for next year, weed, and amend the beds

photo by yes-I

this is what it feels like up in the canes right now. imagine a nice gusty breeze too. the twine-tied parts are done and are coming out

photo by yes-I
just cutting out the old ones with the hand pruners

it's helpful that the canes to be removed are tied together, as that way it's not necessary to try to determine for each cane whether it is last year's or next year's, one simply cuts all the ones which are tied into the bundle
less head-scratchin', fewer errors

yes that's nice organic cow-pucky on the ground

here's the debris-pile from the first row:
(took a couple hours to cut out for one row)
maybe i should burn 'em

photo by yes-I

--yes-I

chickens in winter

photo by t'ruth

chickens need extra food in the winter, and care that their water doesn't freeze over
our leghorns abuse the brown hens, some of whom are pretty cold with just a few feathers
this one's looking pretty comfy

then wind

photo by t'ruth

than there was a windstorm
this was once the Edison Granary barn

brief snow

photo by t'ruth

we had a bit of snow recently
yes-I peeking out the window of our little house, rabbit-hutch and chicken-house to the right

here's looking west (the other way) across the yard a bit later in the morning


photo by t'ruth

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