As September rolls around most people think of leaves falling and school starting, but the Kingsolver family thinks about the harvest that is quickly approaching. Harvest day rolls around, and at first this was hard for the family. Most Americans think of animals as pets but the Kingsolver's had to find a way to distance themselves. But, they chose not to distance themselves the same way that the food industry does. Instead, their animals live on the open range, not in a coup or in a factory. Harvest time is an exciting time of year. It has become a celebration.One year they invited another family to join in the activities. This family had just lost a son so to Barbara it was a tough situation to surround this family with death. She realized that the only time they think of death is waking up each morning without their son or brother. The killing of chickens is completely different. While the guests our there, they all help in the harvesting process. The process of killing a chicken is vividly described: catch it, hang it upside down to lull it to sleep, then cut its head off, put it in the boiler so the feathers come off easily, but then pluck each and every feather. Some farms have machines to do this but for now the Kingsolvers do it by hand. Everyone has a little fun with it, cracking jokes and rounding up the chickens. It is a fun day that ends in a celebration as the adults sit down to a few beers and the kids play together in the yard. The harvest is exciting for all the attend.
After the harvest in September, Barbara and her husband decide to take a trip to Italy. After 10 years of marriage, this trip is timely. For Barbara, it is hard for her to leave her garden. Two hours before her flight she is ready to plant some new seeds she just received in the mail. Her husband stops her as the harvest is over and it is time to relax. After finding arrangements for the kids, they leave for Italy for TWO WEEKS. This is a long time away from home for them. They made the pledge to not in genetically modified foods so as they arrive they are trying to find somewhere to eat. They find a wedding reception and crash it in the back, eating the food prepared for th employees. This is just some American crap, the left overs, this is the minimum three course meal, standard in Italy. You might think this is just for dinner, but it is not. It is for lunch and dinner. And, it is considered rude to refuse a course. The cook will think something is wrong with the cooking. But, surprisingly, Italians are not fat. Why? Because all of the products are locally grown, not made in factories like our food. The neighboring towns have competitions. Each say that their olive oil is the best, but all our the best of the best. Italy vacations are a little different than American vacations. In Italy, guests stay in agriturismos. These are family run farms that house tourists. It is a lucrative business but all profits go back in to farming. While driving a rental car, Barbara and her husband stop by a local farmer's market and fall in love with a pumpkin. Speaking no English, the grower convinces them to buy the pumpkin and take it back to their agriturismo. He says to take it in the kitchen and request that the cook cooks it. They do just that. But, they keep the seeds to take back to the U.S. The rest of their trip revolves around drying out these seeds. At the conclusion of their trip, they see a sign in all Italian that translates to, "You can taste our dirt" and they did just that (Kingsolver, 258).
After September, naturally October comes along. They return from their trip and observe all of the fall and Halloween decorations. Pumpkins galore! Random fact: "A pumpkin is the largest vegetable we consume" (Kingsolver, 264). After the pumpkin experience in Italy, Barbara decides to experiment with pumpkins in her cooking. As she pulls out a recipe, it calls for canned pumpkins. She realizes that Americans do not even know how to cook a real pumpkin. So she is on a mission. Though things do not quite turn out the way she planned, the food does taste delicious (though it looked a little rough). Also, in October the freeze came that knocks out the crops. This is always sad for the family even though they know it is coming each year. It is a shock! Barbara speaks of the vivid memories she recalls from growing up on a farm and hopes when her kids think of family they have some of the same thoughts.
November and December are the "Celebration Days" with All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. All great reasons to gather together with friends and family and have a feast. Contrary to SnackGirl, Barbara enjoys the holidays as a way to bake good food, not the junk that is typically acquainted with the holiday. After many years of all local foods, buying cranberries for Thanksgiving was uncomfortable. In these cold months, the family does fine lots to eat especially from crops that grow underground. And waitng for the frosts to hit in order to make the apples sweeter is worth the wait. In the mean time, Barbara's daughter decides to create a business. She is going to raise chickens and sell their eggs in colored containers. Her mother teaches her the dynamics of a business with expenses so they work together; Barbara gets free eggs and her daughter gets room and board for the chickens. Who knew such valuable life lessons could be taught to a nine year old on a farm?
-Sarah Ouderkirk
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