A Celebration!

Just a few nights ago, I mentioned to Naomi that I wanted to start a new tradition in our family.  For a few years now, we've been talking about making our own harvest celebration that was at a more appropriate time.  Thanksgiving is too late in the fall to be a proper harvest celebration, as most stuff is put up and the big harvest bulk, along with the stuff that's not fit to keep is long gone by then.  One of the best things about the harvest is the surplus, and taking time to be thankful for the bounty.  Careful planning (even a little rationing, eek!) can come later, but we need a time to let loose and enjoy.

While sitting in my treestand a few evenings ago, I was reflecting on this time last year.  It's been just a year since I shot my first deer on October 7, 2011 (I think), plunging Naomi and I into a weird place in the world, one where we became meat-eaters, but not in the way that our culture accepts as normal.  We still don't eat factory-farmed animals, and we eat teeny tiny portions compared to the national average.  The best part is that it's something that doesn't take ANY resources on our part, other than my time afield.  These animals are the definition of free-ranging organic.  Each one of them lives in total freedom.  I see this as a better option to things like genetically-modified soy protein products trucked into town from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away and farmed unsustainably.  The same path that led us to growing as much of our own vegetables brought us to this decision to eat wild game animals.  So, this led us to choosing the date of October 7th as our harvest celebration.

We had decided that our first year, it'd just be the two of us. We wanted to ease into this new festival of ours.  However, by the time band practice was finished and we were thinking about our preparatins, Sal and Maria were hanging out and we decided to ask them to stay.  We didn't allow them to help us in any of the preparations, either.  As they waited patiently, we prepared the following:

Harvard Beets
Stewed Radish Greens- saved from sometime in early summer
Fried Potatoes with Onions- the onions weren't from our garden, but were purchased from a local farmer in bulk for winter storing
Stewed shell beans with rice- the rice, of course, is from the store, but grown in the US.
Roasted Butternut Squash with nutmeg and cinnamon- spices came from the store too
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Garlic
Wheat Bread- made by me, but the grains weren't mine either.  Maybe someday I'll figure out this wheat thing

and it looks like this:

We hope that in years to come, this celebration can grow in size as we become more productive.  There will be some challenges, like when the date falls on a weekday and we're both working, but we'll make it happen.  And finally, here is a harvest record for October 7th, 2012. Some of these are the last that their plants have to offer.  It was 38 degrees last night, and I heard the heat come on in our house early this morning.  Here's to a good year!

Jalapeños + Cayenne peppers: 3 lb. 4 oz.
Shell Beans (the last) 2 lb. 1 oz.
Tomatillos: 2 lb. 9 oz. (not the last and not sure how I feel about that)
Fish Peppers: 1 oz (maybe 2 dozen)
Bell Peppers 10 oz. (4)