stereoman's Blog

My juicer is here! My juicer is here!
Jun 25, 2008 | 10:31 AM PST

Way back in the early eighties, when I was working in the very last corporate job I had, I used to take a lunch hour every day. Often I'd take my company car, a Subaru Brat, over the big bridge to the old Westgate Mall, where there was a tiny little juice bar run by a vegan couple with three small children. Back then, vegan couples were rare, and juice bars even rarer! But we had one in little old Asheville, and I went there at least once a week, in search of the elusive carrot juice.

I remember sitting at the counter gleefully watching as a fresh two-pound bag of organic carrots was opened, trimmed, and fed into the chute of the magical, mysterious Champion juicer. My eyes would brim with delight as the freshly mashed carrot pulp oozed from the front of the juicer, and the bright orange liquid poured out of the bottom. Two pounds of carrots, one pint of juice. I'd take the glass and gulp that juice down in seconds. I could feel the vitality coursing through my body while that fabulous flavor still lingered on my tongue.

Two pounds of carrots, one pint of juice, ten seconds, three dollars. That was a lot of money to pay for a drink in those days, especially one with no alcohol! But at least once a week, I paid it, drank it, and wished for the day that I could grow carrots in my own garden, and juice them with my own Champion juicer. In those days, I was gardening in Georgia clay. You know what carrots do in Georgia clay? They suffer, that's what they do. They suffer, they split, they stunt, they rot, they dry out. One thing carrots do not do in Georgia clay: they do not make good carrot juice.

After the first few years of utter failure growing carrots in Georgia clay, I didn't even bother planting them any more. But I never let go of my dream.

Now I live in this incredible place, this tiny plot of Eden with deep, rich, loose, loamy topsoil teeming with happy, industrious microbes. Last year, my old carrot juice dream came bubbling to the surface, and I sowed a small patch of carrots to see what would happen. Ten pounds later, I was resolved! Next year, I decided, I would grow carrots in earnest, and when they started coming in, I would buy myself a Champion juicer and live my dream.

And so I have.

Much to my surprise, I got just shy of a pint of juice out of only 20 oz. of carrots! Maybe it's because the juicer has been improved over the past 25 years. Maybe because the carrots were so fresh, they were still vibrating. Or maybe because my carrots are the happiest carrots in the world, because I tell them every day that I love them.

Whatever the reason, those 20 oz. of carrots made the best glass of carrot juice I've had in many a year. I can feel the vitality coursing through my body, even as the fabulous flavor still lingers on my tongue. Looking at my two carrot patches in the back garden, I can't even see a dent where I pulled those dozen carrots out of the ground. And just last week, I sowed a third carrot patch.

My juicer is here! Life is good.

First Day of Summer
Jun 21, 2008 | 12:22 PM PST

It's a sign I tell you! First day of summer dawned cool and breezy, heated up to a swelter only briefly, then succumbed to a refreshing shower. I had intended to spend the entire day working outside, but I welcome the break. First, though, I had to get a photo of my newly installed front pond, bedecked with a profusion of Esculentas, and sporting a brand new trio of pachyderms squirting from their probosci, with the indispensable aid of my new pond pump.

Yes, I broke down and bought a pump and filter for Felix the Catfish's solitary lair. I grew tired of toting the pump from our indoor aquarium outside every day for a few hours of pond duty. The elephants were an impulse purchase. With the strong support, I might add, of my Beloved - as in, pecuniary.

Water is a beautiful thing. This year, I am resolved that growing a successful vegetable garden uses less water than buying produce at the grocery, so I am entitled to use as much water as necessary to that end. I have no excuse whatsoever to offer for watering my elephant ears. As Kermit says, it's not easy being green. 

My life is so good right now I have to be extra careful not to pinch myself lest I wake up. The wedding ceremony definitely had a positive impact on our domestic bliss. My work is going well - though not without challenges. And my garden is so happy!!! Here it is the first day of summer, and I'm still harvesting kale from a planting I made in October of 2007.

That's collards in the foreground. I harvested last week. Eight plants, five pounds ten ounces. I pulled up all my remaining bok choi to keep it from going to seed. I ended up with ten pounds.

I planted some mesclun and some more carrots in its place. Can't have too many carrots! I ordered a Champion juicer the other day. I can almost taste that fresh carrot juice!

Now it's sunny again, and steam is rising from the street. I've been improving my irrigation system this year, adding more soakers and control valves. I especially want my special babies to get plenty to drink. You know which ones I mean.

This year I have the most beautiful zucchini I have ever grown. I've harvested about a dozen fruits so far. We like them best when they're still holding onto their flower. Six to eight ounces. I intend to get many more.

Beans have been coming in as well. There's a pound and a half in the fridge right now. And I'll be harvesting my first two eggplants in just a few days.

It's been a while since I've written in my blog, but as you can see my time has been well spent. In addition to gardening though, and getting married, and going on a honeymoon, there was the four-day annual Gathering of Quakers from our region, stretching from Memphis TN to Berea KY to Columbia SC. As Site Coordinator, I was responsible for the logistics. But much more exciting than arranging room assignments or finding an electric piano at the last minute was the work I was doing to help the Gathering unite on a statement opposing the use of torture. Quaker business tends to move very slowly, but in this case there was a great sense of urgency and alacrity, and those present very quickly found a "sense of the Meeting". Here is the statement we agreed upon:

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) believes there is “that of God in every person.” This divine light, a universal principle of goodness and love, exists in all people, regardless of religion or geography.

Torture – in wars, in prisons, and in homes – diminishes this divine light in the victim and the perpetrator, and those who have knowledge of it. In situations where torture is used, one individual has power and the other is powerless. The misuse of this power against a defenseless person to cause pain, humiliation, fear and suffering is the ultimate denial of our common humanity, degrading and dehumanizing both the tortured and the torturer.

We Quakers of the Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association join with our fellow citizens who are taking action to bring the practice of torture to an end. Our condemnation of torture is not based on any political opinion or on the laws or treaties of any nations, but on the Golden Rule, the standard for moral behavior established by religious and secular communities across history and around the world.