Winter Gardening and Eating!

 As Fall becomes Winter, there comes a time when rather than leaving our potatoes in the Earth to be harvested as needed, we do a final digging and collect everything that is left rather than risk the potatoes freezing, or needing to mulch them heavily and dig them up in colder weather.  We leave this to the last minute, sometimes because we are so busy with other things, but also because the Earth is the best "refrigerator" for the potato.  In the bucket above is a potato called "Purple Sun" with a Purple skin and yellow inside,  below are fingerlings, which are a delicate potato that grows in amazing shapes with a distinctive flavor.  As of today (mid February) we are still eating and enjoying these potatoes.  Potatoes along with winter squash, and other root vegetables are excellent winter garden produce.  In fact we still have our carrots and beets growing in the garden since cold weather makes them sweeter and they are resistant to freezing.

We have been described in past with negative connotation as "Subsistence Farmers" scratching a living out of the soil.  Not only is this inaccurate, but it is also arrogant.  There is a prevailing concept among many people, including, sadly, urban and suburban Tainos, that working with the Earth to produce one's food is somehow a "lower class" activity or an activity that modern people have happily been able to move away from.  Most are aware that there was a time when the majority of the populations of the Earth were involved directly in gardening and farming activities on either part time or full time scales.  We know that our Taino Ancestors were master Gardeners along with our Relatives to the South, West, North and East.  We come from a continent of amazing botanical, agricultural innovation.  The permaculture movement that is very popular today among Europeans as well as many others, does come directly from our Indigenous Gardening Traditions.  Although our Ancestors are rarely credited, they are the genius behind this "new" movement that actually is our Cultural Legacy.

We do not come from a Cultural Legacy of Fast Food Restaurants and tasteless cooking that creates dis-ease and disease and shuts down our mental bodies.  Our Cultural Legacy involves eating fresh, local, sustainably produced foods.  Our Ancestors did not go from doing the Ceremonies to visiting fast food venues and sipping soda.  Our Ancestors did not shop at the supermarket for "offerings".  Our Ancestors cultivated the offerings with love, ingenuity, knowledge, wisdom, and sweat.  In this way our Ancestors knew the value of the offerings on a profound level and the Cemis, Spirits and Ancestors received those offerings on a profound level.  

While we have access to books, artifacts, papers, internet and so on today as sources of how our Ancestors lived, we cannot overlook who was the master Teacher of our Ancestors, and that master Teacher was (and still is) Mother Earth in the greatest concept of what Mother Earth really is with the Sun, Moon, and whole Universe embodying Mother Earth.  Mother Earth cannot teach through books, internet and so on, although humans can exchange ideas, concepts and discoveries in this way.  Mother Earth teaches through direct contact, direct communication, and it is up to us to learn her language.  Maybe we may start by only knowing a couple "words" but as we explore further we do realize that her language is profound and embodies wisdom beyond what can be captured by our human words.  

Many speak of the "Taino Resurgence" movement as a time when so many of us woke up to being "Taino" and came together to form communities.  For sure today many more of our people are including "Taino" as an aspect or central core of our identity.  Many of us began our awakening with false romantic notions on what it is to be Indigenous, what is an Indigenous Identity, and many took it upon themselves to define that for the rest of us with varying degrees of accuracy or integrity.  However, to truly embrace our Traditional Essence there is a profound and lengthy process, which is largely mental, of detoxifying from the colonial, western, materialistic mentality that has oppressed us for centuries. We must not underestimate the damage that has been done to us, and the distance we need to travel in truly returning to our Indigenous Identity in reality rather than in fantasy.  We also do need to recognize that Life is constantly changing, Earth is constantly changing, and what we are seeking is our Indigenous Spirit, whose expression may be significantly different that we know of from 500 years ago.

 Our Ancestors knew of the true taste of foods, but today many of us have become reliant on false flavors rather than true flavors.  A simple example is the chicken, which is a very popular food among our people.  The chicken that is factory farmed (all chicken from the supermarket) is a chicken that is raised in conditions that are similar to those of a slave ship.   This abusive way of raising chickens produces chickens that are not only flavorless but who also embody all the desperate, greedy, abusive, Earth-hating energies of those factory farms, and it is those energies that we are consuming when we eat those chickens.  This is made even worse if we go to a fast food venue to eat chicken.  This can only have impacts on our bodies, minds and Spirits.  


We raise chickens, and although we typically avoid the "boiler" chickens who have been bred for rapid weight gain and low intelligence, in error we received some in a shipment of chicks that came to us.  Above, our daughter is holding one of these "boilers" that we needed to slaughter for the table.  As a side note, it is important for us that the children gain an appreciation for the origin of their food.  It is a hypocrisy for people to simultaneously shy away from the idea of slaughtering a chicken, yet consume huge quantities of chicken on a yearly basis.  The children need to understand the value of that chicken they are eating, and can only truly understand that when they see and are involved in the process of raising that chicken, slaughtering and gutting that chicken and cooking that chicken.  When we slaughter our chicken we make sure that no part of the chicken is thrown in the garbage, every part is used one way or another, either to make stock, or to compost, the guts go to the dog or sometimes to the wildlife who also appreciate them.

 The chicken above becomes roasted chicken (actually here are 4 of them roasted for a gathering).  Unlike factory chicken, these chickens have a full flavor, a stronger aroma and a different texture.  Even the raw meat smells different- cleaner.  Within hours they go from walking around to the table.  Those that have never tasted fresh chicken may find the flavor strong, others taste the chicken and reminisce about their grandmother's flock, or how they used to slaughter the chickens in their homelands.  Once tasted, it becomes obvious that the factory chicken and home chicken are two very different meals, one comes from a total disrespect for Life, the other comes from Respect for Life.  We can all agree that our Indigenous Ancestors held a deep respect for life.

In our cold frames we pick salad greens all winter long, in sun, rain or snow.  The greens reach their best flavors during the winter as the coolness brings out their full flavor, while the heat of late spring and summer brings out their bitterness.  We not only grow the typical lettuce (although not iceberg- the fast food favorite), but also various other greens such as arugula, mizuna, tat soi, asian cabbage, chard, radicio, parsley and more.  These greens give us a full flavored nutritious salad that could not be any fresher.  From these simple cold frames we grow enough greens to never have to buy any lettuce or greens from the market all winter.  Our first harvest began in October and will continue until the greens begin to become bitter due to the heat, or set seeds.  We harvest the seeds to plant the next season's crop. 


As we have evolved in our own understanding and expression of re-embracing our Indigenous Roots, we have learned that there is a natural cycle of eating that has a direct relationship to the foods that are naturally available during the cycle of the year.  Once the greens become bitter, we enjoy salads that are made from green beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and greens that can handle the summer heat.  We have learned to avoid the tomatoes available in the winter from the supermarket as they are always a flavor disappointment and a sorry substitute for the fully flavored tomato from the summer garden.  Living as Indigenous People, re-Embracing or re-Discovering our Indigenous Essence is not at all "subsistence farming or scratching a living", it is a return to Sanity, a return to Thriving, and a return to Truth, including a return to the true Cycle and Flavor of the foods we eat and the foods we use as offerings to the Spirits.

Achieving One of Our Goals in Sustainability- Winter Harvest!

Every night now the frost sweeps through the hills and forests around us.  All the tender plants have collapsed, discolored to the Earth, returning quickly to her to become soil as the freezing temperatures destroy their delicate leaves and stems.  The trees stand naked, stretching upwards with their expressive trunks ranging from deep brown to grey and silver and even purplish hues.  We watch carefully the depth of the frost every night to determine when to pull out our potatoes whose delicate stems and leaves have long since disappeared to the chill of winter.  We consider whether to mulch over them with straw and leaves and leave them within the natural winter refrigerator of Mother Earth or to pull them out before the frost penetrates to their depth and store them in a cool room or basement.  

Meanwhile behind a crate of potatoes the garlic begins its cycle of growth, just pushing up above the compost, impervious to the chill of winter.  Little by little we pull the potatoes from the Earth, looking to see what condition they are in.  They are crisp, with perfect skins, red, purple, yellow, delicate fingerlings, russets.  They are the legacy of Indigenous Wisdom and generations of careful plant selection from our Relatives of the South- Genius Gardeners, Genius Plant Breeders, Genius Botanists, who continue to gift us the Potato which embodies not only incredible nutrition but also the wisdom of these generations, the Ancestors!

For us Sustainability is not only an ideal, but it is also deeply ingrained within the choices and actions that we take everyday.  These purple Potatoes skins glisten with a deep purple color and when cut open an intense purple with fascinating designs within it is visible.  The energy of them is striking.  Although purple potatoes, red potatoes, yellow and fingerlings can be purchased at a health food store or in the gourmet section of the not so local supermarket at times, the texture, the crispness and the earthy smell of these freshly dug potatoes is in a world of its own in comparison.   The difference is in the Spirit, the Vitality of the potato itself.  While research has shown that organically grown food and specifically homegrown food is in general more nutritious than the ordinary supermarket equivalent, this does not acknowledge the Spirit.  What we eat becomes incorporated into our physical, mental and spiritual bodies, and food that is produced by machinery, by chemical onslaught and then shipped thousands of miles has a depleted Spirit, and then we eat that depleted spirit.  Our vegetables are complete hand raised!  Our garden beds do not see a plow or chemical and we incorporate spiritual practices directly into the growing of them.  

It is common knowledge (to many) that our Taino Ancestors buried medicine right with the plants in the form of stone Cemis, directly linking Spiritual-Ancestral Power and Wisdom with the Agricultural process. This was in addition to other natural additives that they enhanced the soil with (bat feces, etc).  This was (and continues for us to be) all about bringing the Ancestral Spirit, Mpungo and the Spirit of Mother Earth together along with our own Spirit and Energy within the planting and harvesting process. Additionally attention is given to the Moon and other Celestial movements to bring further vitality to the food which will nourish the body, mind and Spirit!  

Rather than fighting to grow tomatoes in a green house with all kinds of burning of fuels to heat it and bring light to it to force a tomato to grow in winter or to burn fuels bringing a hard, flavorless tomato thousands of miles, we "GROW WITH THE FLOW"!  Here we harvest arugula and mustard greens which will survive many nights of frost before succumbing to the cold much later in the winter.  While these plants struggle to survive the onslaught of bugs in the spring and turn bitter and stringy in the heat of summer, they stay tender and crisp at this time of year, totally free from pests.

Meanwhile in the cold frames our lettuce is growing in abundance interspersed with cold loving greens like mache, endive, cress, strawberry spinach, spinach, swiss chard and cilantro.  These will continue to thrive throughout winter and as soon as the light starts to return in the new year they will resume their rapid rate of growth.  The cold frames allow us to eat fresh greens all through winter with no fuel input other than the radiant heat of the Sun!  (Below: dark green spinach in the center, lettuce to the left and mache to the right).  

While as adults our sensitivities may have become numbed due to years of consuming spirit-less highly processed foods or limp tasteless vegetables, canned veggies or frozen veggies, we can see in our children a sharper mirror image of the vitality or lack of vitality of the foods that are eaten.  In an infant who is first eating vegetables after months of only Momma's Milk we see a Spiritual-Mental Leap that takes place in the child's development when they begin to taste the various vegetables!  And it is a well known fact to those who follow the research that children who eat wholesome organic and homegrown or garden grown vegetables, meats, eggs and fruits are healthier and more mentally alert, more able to learn and develop.  The children are a sensitive mirror of the facts of healthy living, and healthy living IS Natural Living, IS Sustainable Living, IS Living with Sensitivity to Spirit within the continued movement of the Spirit of Our Ancestors!!!   

There is an prevalent arrogance especially in so called "developed" countries where some people look down at those who "Live from/ with the Earth", derogatory phrases such as "subsistence farming" are utilized by ignorant and arrogant people.  These people forget that their sustenance also comes from the Earth although they may be desensitized to this fact through distance from the source of their food and an array of plastic and metal barriers between themselves and the Fertile Earth!  Working as Tainos and as Paleros with Our Mother Earth directly is a great blessing in multiple dimensions, from an abundance of vital nutrients, rich and vibrant textures and colors year around, the beneficial exercise and mental stimulation (positive vibration!) that comes from working with Our Mother, and an Ancestral Connection to all those Ancestors stretching back generations who also worked with the Earth directly.  From the most miniscule of soil bacteria that is invisible to our eye (Mycobacterium vaccae) we learn what we already know: working with the Earth stimulates Serotonin (hormone linked with feelings of well being, decreased stress and anxiety and increased ability to learn) (Note to Paleros:  Think FUNDAMENTO)!  Our Camino  within this Physical Experience of Atabey (Mother Earth) is inextricably linked to growing that which Nourishes us directly from her rich, fertile soils!  The ignorant term "subsistence living" gives us images of depressed people struggling to grow a straggly bunch of crops from poor, abused and compacted soil.  Nothing could be further from the Truth as Our Taino Ancestors and all Our Ancestors from this whole Continent understood very well, Growing "crops" in the permaculture style of the Past and utilizing the Indigenous Practices of Agriculture contains within it a whole University of Wisdom, Knowledge and Positive Spiritual- Mental Development; a healthy body, mind and Spirit!!!

Cold Frames for Winter Vegetable Garden

At the end of the summer there is a general dying back in the gardens and forests and by the time the first frost of the fall comes through there is the disappearance of many of the fresh vegetables and flowers that make summer so delicious. Many people will can and freeze all kinds of vegetables from the garden and resign themselves to lifeless and tasteless greens from the market during the winter. Over the last couple years we noticed that our green onions, some kale and mustard greens and even lettuce continue to grow and give us salads during november and december, even some into january. So this year we put together two cold frames to create a microcosm to further increase our harvest of greens into the winter. We are looking forward to having fresh salad throughout the year. One undoubtable fact is that the salad greens, including mustard, beet greens, kale etc, are much more flavorful and tender when grown during the cold months. Meanwhile we are keeping our potatoes in the "earth-frigerator" in the Earth where they grew, covering them with mulch once it gets cold. Carrots will also stay fresh in this way, getting even more sweet with the colder weather. We started out with some planks of pine wood (2"x10") made a box, raised the back part of it, and made a frame for a "sunroom" window which we had salvaged years ago with a view to make a green house (a project for later in the winter) and put the window on top with hinges.

We placed the cold frame on the south side of our house (in progress) where a warm microcosm is created from the south wall stone absorbing heat and the house protecting the frames from the cold north wind. We put compost, topsoil and leaf mulch into the frames, and planted arugula, cress, mustard greens, mesculin salad mix, spinach, beets, cilantro, parsley, a couple broccoli. (They were all seeds left over from summer). This was the last week in September. 4 weeks later the salad mixes are ready to harvest, but since we still have some greens in the garden we will leave them to get bigger before harvesting them. It is important to get the greens growing before the daylight really shortens later in the fall, as the growth rate will slow down dramatically. It is also important not to just close the cold frame lid and forget about the plants as they will heat up dramatically during the day to over 100 degrees, killing the plants. At this time we just close the frame if it is predicted to freeze over night, making sure we open the frame by about 10-11 am to prevent over heating, especially if it is sunny. Later in the winter we will keep the frame mostly closed.

This is a salad from our garden (with the exception of the avocado!). The flowers are nasturtiums which are spicy flavored and beautiful. This is what we are looking forward to enjoying year around in the very near future.

Here is some of the greens in the cold frame. They are spicy mixes with stronger flavors, the bland lettuces tend not to do so well in cold temperatures. We are looking to find the most cold hardy varieties for the winter gardening!