A few days ago we picked and ate our last Gala apple. I left it hanging on the tree a while longer than I should have, sacrificing the flavor, because I knew that not only would it be the last apple of the season, but it would be the last anything. We have no harvest-ready calories in our yard. And it will be at least a month before the cool season crop comes in.
I came across the phrase that heads this entry in the writing of Eliot Coleman, a pioneering organic farmer. Coleman farms in Maine, where the less than 10-hour days the phrase describes are not only low on light but also bitter cold. The Greeks crafted the myth of Persephone to explain why their lands were less fruitful in the winter months. According to the legend, Hades abducted Persephone and took her to the underworld to be his queen. In her anguish, Persephone’s mother (and goddess of the earth), Demeter, refused to allow the earth to grow and fruit, essentially starving all of humanity. Zeus negotiated the girl’s release, but a trick of Hades required that Persephone live with him part of the year. Thus, when mother and daughter are reunited, there are bountiful harvests, but when Persephone returns to the underworld each year, all is barren.
San Diego doesn’t suffer under Demeter’s sorrow — a fact attested to by the fat, out-of-season squash that hang from my garden beds and the stubby watermelon that recently decided this would be a good time to set fruit and grow. But those are a long way from edible. As are the beets, lettuce, beans, carrots, and peas. My next harvest will come in the traditionally barren months between November and February.
For us, these typically plentiful times are our Persephone months, and it’s hard to blame the gods. Sure, I could invent some tale to explain away the troubles my warm-season crops suffered, but it seems more practical to chalk it up to inexperience and do better. I mean, if we’re flush with fruits, vegetables, and nuts next summer, I’m not going to give credit to the gods. I’m going to say, “I did it! Look what I did! It was me!” So it hardly seems fair to dump these fruitless times on Hades because he thought some girl was smoking hot. Nor on a goddess that grieved. The problems with my warm season crop were not Greek. They were more local than that.
I did it. Look what I did. It was me.
We’ll eat better. Soon.
You know what would add some calories during these lean months…? A chicken!
I can certainly understand your woes. When things in the garden do not grow as planned, it is indeed frustrating or worse. But if you’re doing a veggie garden in San Diego, perhaps the winter months will bring more harvest. I hope so. I’m in LA, getting my fall/winter garden in.
It’s in the works! We’re planning on building a coop in the next month or so, and then a few chicks shortly after that.
When you start harvesting again my garden will be locked down with Demeter’s sorrow. I might have a couple of things still valiantly struggling, but there will be no more growth until spring hits. Good luck with your fall and winter garden.
You must be talking about eggs, Paul. Since they’re more sustainable than chicken meat.
Hey, I like all your writings, keep them coming.