Harvest time is near...

 It is that time of year again when I tend to get in somewhat of a frenzy. It has been a long time ago that I started to forage for at least part of my food. This means you have to harvest when it´s ripe, obviously. There is an almost spiritual, no, there IS a spiritual dimension to this. You actually live with the seasons and the tides of sun and moon, not with an esoteric mindset, but with a very down-to-earth feeling. If you don´t know it, it´s hard to describe, but that much I can say that it gives me a feeling of sense and purpose. Sometimes it´s plain stress, but if you hold in hand the fruit of your labour and the grace of the land, it gives you gratefulness and great joy. You know where it comes from, you say a thank you to no one in particular;-), and it´s more than food, or, in this case, drink. Above you can see a balloon of bramble/apple/grape/nettle/cinnamon/ginger mead.

Right to left in that lousy picture: Bramble syrup with rose petals and nettle, Hippocras mead with birch sap, birch sap yeast, Kwaß yeast, porter yeast, honey, sloe, grape, apple, brambles, rasperries, hawthorn leaves, flowers and berries, wild strawberries, elderberries, stinging nettle, ground ivy, elderflower, violets, clove, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, galangal, some very few juniper berries and reduced tartarus plus some secret ingredients;-) (all of which are legal!;-)). The hippocras mead I made after recipes from Konrad von Megenberg, Hildegard von Bingen, Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus von Hohenheim, Edward Kelley and several other manuscripts from the high medieval ages to early modern times (Johannes Staricius, Andreas Tenzelius, etc.), valuable input by our senior blackmithing master, Kazakh Russian Viktor Paukow, plus some of my own humble experience;-). It was a right fuss to get something to read about this drink, I can tell you. Other than that I messed up with the clove, I have to be careful not to drink too much from it!;-)

It´s certainly a winter drink, reminding you of many long days of sun and radiant warmth, good for your health (blood circulation, against fever, flu and bronchitis, is de-cramping and thusly works for menstruational problems, too, relaxes the tonus and simply warms you up, and if you drink three cups it also works as a ... ummmm... erm... stimulans;-).

Fruits of my labour I am a bit proud of, for I am learning a lot by it. There´s a lot to do these days, apples ready for the harvest, pears and plums and sloe and elderberries and brambles waiting to be confected and preserved, still some blacksmithing going on and work to earn that prybar of power, whatsitsnamenow, yap, money...;-) I tend to forget...

Summer is nearing its end, and I will be tired in autumn and winter-as it should be.

And when all of my seasons have passed, I hopefully will be tired and content to sleep, too.

Carla´s garden and the Easter bonfires

 On Saturday before Easter Sunday it is traditional in our region that bonfires are lit on every hill. In pagan times this was a custom to fend off the forces and spirits of winter and to light the fires of spring. This year I was especially looking forward to it, because Anna, an ex-girlfriend of mine and now one of the very best, if not the best friend I have was in my hometown to visit her parents. She now lives in Berlin and makes a living "ne´er do well" as a designer. We decided we´d visit her father and go to the fires with him. His partner, Carla, has one of the greatest locations for a house garden I have seen over here so far. It´s quite a big piece of land behind an old worker´s house. Hartwig, Anna ´s father is an architect and going frankly insane with that house.

 Does digging a cellar in while the house still stands by hand qualify;-)? In my book it certainly does... They are quite bushcrafty people, too, although the´d never admit it, living on herbs and edibles from the woods they planted in the garden. They have an area devoted entirely to wild plants, and they use them reularily. Carla taught me how to make dandelion honey in no time, and she is learning herblore by herself from ancient books, such as Hildegard von Bingen´s lore and Konrad von Megenberg´s herbarium. This is her kitchen herbs´spiral Hartwig set for her, with rosemary, thyme and many other herbs for the kitchen and for tea. I was quite amazed.

 This is a piece of garden after Carolus Magnus, with three kinds of salad. Also there´s a garden for potatoes and carrots, quite the paradise. They both are very selfmade people, doing all this by themselves, and this I very much respect.

 We had some very quality talk, and a drink of champagne, before making off to the site of the fire in the countryside. There were tents built up, and we had some curry sausage and french fries along with a beer or two or three...;-). The fire itself was built somewhat at a distance, for it had not rained for some weeks, and the authorities were taking care that no wildfires were set. After having our sausages and fries and beer and beer, and beer;-) we walked over to the fire. Met a strange crowd there, quite an interesting lot, the farmer himself whom the site belonged to, a guy from the Baltic Republic whom I talked for two hours with about bushlore, hunting and how it is in his home country. We heard some songs or at least some noise by the drunkards

 around the place and kept silent;-) ourselves, looking into the flames, seeing things and talking about how great this was. Man, it was everything at once! Silent and noisy, cozy and loud, good friends and strangers, all peacefully united by looking into the flames. Life can be so great, and sometimes it is greatest when it´s simplest.

When the cinders burned down, we went back to Hartwig´s and Carla´s place, and had some real great food and some tea. Carla and Hartwig simply  would not let us go without another meal.
After some very late night dinner, which was plainly delicious and consisted of two kinds of bread, cheese, butter, and cream with herbs from the garden, wild garlic and all;-), Anna and myself made for home.

We had some very deep talk, and I know she is a kind of sister to me, one person of those few closest to my heart. I am grateful she loves me that way, and I love her that way too.

It was a very healing experience for me, and I will dwell on that evening at least another year;-).