Winter | January 13, 2017

The Weather Report with Scott Chaskey

A common question, in relation to one who farms, seems to resurface at this time each year: "What do you do in the Winter?" Since you ask...



Let it be known, at least for those who grow food and harvest in Zone 7 (on the USDA map), the season of rest is quite abbreviated. In December we harvested from the field: carrots, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower, and greens, and every two weeks for the Winter Share (through February) we fill bins and boxes with potatoes, beets, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, garlic, wheatberries and more. As of today the seed catalogues have arrived and soon we will enter into the enjoyable, dazzling, and daunting process of selecting and ordering over 500 varieties of seeds -- packets, boxes, and pallets that we must schedule to arrive by late February. And then we are off and running -- seeding, planting, pruning, preparing -- once again.
 
But Winter is also a fine time to surround oneself with all forms of literature. Lately we have been immersed in Robert MacFarlane's "joyous meditation on land and language," Landmarks. The reader can enter this book in a variety of ways; each chapter closes with a glossary of fascinating words that seem to surface naturally out of the landscape of the British Isles and the water that surrounds it. These words -- thousands of words gathered by MacFarlane from a great many sources -- are descriptive, musical, and sometimes comical, evoking flatlands, uplands, edgelands, and woodlands. Chizzelly (Northamptonshire) is "land that breaks into small hard fragments when it is turned up by the plough." Fox-Fire  (Lincolnshire) is "the phosphorescent light emitted by decaying timber." Hope (SE England) is "an inlet, small bay, a haven." Af'luva, Af'rug  (Shetland) is "the reflex of a wave after it has struck the shore." Braon  (Gaelic) is "a heavy shower at the beginning of summer, favorable to the growth of plants and crops," one of 101 words to describe rain.



I recognize a number of words that originate in Cornwall, the Southwest peninsular county of England where I learned some of the ways of plants. Porth is Cornish for "pass;" the village where I lived, protected by a small granite island often swallowed by high tides or waves, was formerly known as Porthenys (island-pass). I am particularly drawn to the poetic word attributed to John Clare, Suthering: the " noise of the wind through the trees" I hear often in my farm office under the graceful limbs of beech trees. And here is a secret I will share: in the tree alphabet Beech is a synonym for literature, since writing tablets were made of beechwood, and the word has an etymological correspondence with the ancient Germanic word for book. For over 25 years my letters (and books) have taken shape under the great beech tree that hugs our farmshop, thanks to the foresight of Deborah Light.


 
Just as MacFarlane was finishing the writing of Landmarks he received a surprise letter from a scholar of languages who for many years has been compiling a "global glossary of landscape words." This scholar began by listing place-words from Arabic dialects, and he was then led on to include words of Semitic and Afro-Eurasian origin; his glossary has now come to contain words from 140 languages, "words as diverse, intricate, and dynamic as the land itself ... an ancient yet evolving text that tells the stories of its places and the histories of its people, for the land is layered in language as surely as the rocks are layered beneath its surface."
 
When I returned from China, a year ago, after attending a global conference on Community Supported Agriculture, I immersed myself in the wilderness poetry of ancient China -- beginning with 5th century writers -- specifically through the translations of David Hinton, Mountain Home. From the poet Han Shan (also known as Cold Mountain):



            "I've lived out tens of thousands of years on Cold Mountain.
            Given to the seasons, I vanished among forests and cascades,
            Gazed into things so utterly themselves..."



There are several key terms described by Hinton that lure the reader toward an understanding of this wilderness thought and expression. The term that enthralls me, one I contemplate a year later, is known in Chinese as Tzu-Jan, translated literally as "self-ablaze." Another somewhat mysterious translation of Tzu-Jan is "occurrence appearing of itself," the ten thousand things springing forth spontaneously from a generative source. With the help of the expressive words compiled by Robert MacFarlane, and after plowing, seeding, and tending the good soil of Amagansett for a quarter century, I can now begin to intuit the meaning of Tzu-Jan. In a few months the meaning of the term will be revealed in action rather than contemplation. 
 
When the snow melts and the silt loam of Amagansett begins to warm, under the layers of this Live-Earth (from Landmarks, "common vegetable mould," Northamptonshire) my guess is that there are many words waiting to be revealed, to be cultivated. Should you come upon such a word, speak it aloud, bring it to life, share it with the community.
 
Peace in the coming year,



Scott Chaskey



Check out a little snow fun with Scott and Bella, courtesy of Layton!



 
Upcoming Events



Sunday, January 15

Writers Resist: Teach In/Speak Out




Duke Auditorium, Chancellors Hall, Stony Brook Southampton campus, 239 Montauk Highway, Southampton



2:30 to 5:00 p.m.



Please join writers, community members and educators at this local literary event sponsored by PEN America. Under the banner of WRITERS RESIST, this 2-part event seeks to bring people together in a collective stand to defend free expression, reject hatred, and uphold truth in the face of lies and misinformation.



The event features the Teach In: gathering of thoughts and insights from 2:30-3:45 and then the Speak Out: readings and insights from 4-5:00, shared by many well-known community members, including our own Scott Chaskey and his wife Megan, along with Roger Rosenblatt, Afua Ansong, LB Thompson, Ursula Hegi, and many others. Moderated by Julie Sheehan, the speak-out will be followed by a reception at 5pm.



Books on sale by Canio's Books of Sag Harbor. Sponsored by PEN America, Canio's Books, Poetry Street, MFA Creative Writing Program of Stony Brook Southampton.


Saturday, February 11

3rd Annual Long Island Regional Seed Consortium's Seed Swap




Suffolk Community College, Riverhead Campus 
12:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Attention all gardeners, growers, and farmers - join us at the 3rd Annual Long Island Regional Seed Consortium's Seed Swap!



This event is not only a fun way to meet other gardeners, farmers, and seed savers, it also offers an opportunity for you to brush up on new techniques for saving seeds, ask questions, and of course get new seeds.



Throughout the afternoon there will demonstrations, presentations, panel discussions, information booths, and of course the seed swap. Even if you're a beginner with no seeds to swap, learn more about it and start saving for next year!



Participants and sponsors include the Peconic Land Trust, LI Native Plant Initiative, Salt of the Earth Seed Co, North Fork Seeds, Invincible Summer Farms, Sacred Gardens, the LI Horticultural Society, and more. For details, please visit LIRSC.org.







About Quail Hill Farm:



Celebrating its 28th season, Quail Hill Farm is a stewardship project of the Peconic Land Trust. Among the original CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) in the nation, Quail Hill Farm brings together growers and community members on fertile soil in a relationship of mutual support.



Published monthly. Contributions-- recipes, news and events, poems, photographs and drawings-- are welcomed. Send them to: QHF@PeconicLandTrust.org 
 
Producing over 500 varieties of organically grown vegetables, flowers, fruit and herbs,
Quail Hill Farm is located on 220 acres of land donated by Deborah Ann Light to
the Peconic Land Trust. Quail Hill Farm is located on Deep Lane in Amagansett, NY.


Summer harvest days are Saturday and Tuesday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.  
Winter harvest days are every other Friday and Saturday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. 
 
Quail Hill Farm is a stewardship project of the Peconic Land Trust.  
For information concerning Quail Hill Farm, please contact:

Robin Harris at 631-283-3195  |  RHarris@PeconicLandTrust.org 
    
The Peconic Land Trust conserves Long Island's working farms, natural lands,
and heritage for our communities, now and in the future.
 
For more information concerning the Trust, call us at 631.283.3195

or visit us online at www.PeconicLandTrust.org
 
STAY CONNECTED:

Financial Disclosure Statement: A copy of the last financial report filed with the New York State Attorney General may be obtained in writing to: New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, Attn: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 or Peconic Land Trust, PO Box 1776, Southampton, NY 11969.



Peconic Land Trust | 296 Hampton Road | PO Box 1776 | Southampton | NY | 11969