I'm away from home and planning to harvest some early hazelnuts from my meadow, before they fall and are lost to me (but not to the birds & small mammals, who always get the lions share). Hoping my blackberries haven't shrivelled while I was away. Also planning to raid my absent neighbour's neglected orchard. These things have to be done because they root you in the land you live on.
This is such a needed perspective, Hadden. It reminds me of the Wendell concept (I believe introduced in The Unsettling of America but one he talks about frequently) of “carrying capacity.” I believe he’s primarily talking about the capacity of a field to produce sustainably, working with natural cycles and limitations, but I’ve been asking myself lately - what is MY carrying capacity? This isn’t a popular perspective in modern culture but I have a limit to which I can healthily produce or consume, too... food, technology, and more. I need to do a lot more considering of not just what our “carrying capacity” is in nature and society but maybe more importantly, in my own life.
This is excellent Caitie, I fully believe the concept of a carrying capacity had relevance for individuals - it ties in to the concept of one's ecological footprint. If everyone consumed at the level, and crucially, rate that the average westerner does we would be in even graver trouble than we currently are. Plus, we are, as you say, fundamentally limited and were never made to live extravagant lives - doing so will lead to waste - physical waste as well as wasted mental capacities and wasted opportunities for community and relationships.
This was an interesting read… I have found myself really overwhelmed by my small garden this year. I know I’m not using it to its fullest potential - there are probably a few things going to waste, and that makes me feel guilty, so I want to avoid the whole thing. My solution has been to delay going to the grocery store so I’m forced to go out and find what I can to use. But it’s interesting that given abundance and fresh vegetables, sometimes it seems easier to get the kind that are less messy because it requires less of me. When we were living in a house with an apple tree we had a huge bumper crop of apples and I felt that same push pull of abhorring waste but resenting the extra work and my limited knowledge of preserving. I’m working on the knowledge part. I feel the same way about meat processing - my husband hunts and we process our own. It’s so satisfying to have done it, but there’s no waiting around for when you feel like processing meat. There’s an immediacy that I resent, which is silly because uh, that’s been people’s life for almost all of history. I do think the lack of skills and the knowledge gap in having to figure it out ourself bc it’s no longer passed down is a huge factor, as well as the fact that many folks just don’t have schedules that can be altered enough to spend half a day canning or cutting up meat.
I can relate to a lot of this Annelise, I was a bit overwhelmed by my small garden too. My plethora of tomatoes (my wife always says I try and grow way too many) really didn't do well this year, and I wasted a lot (leaving them too long on the vine, careless cutting etc).
The need for 'immediacy' is a really interesting point that I would love to explore further as to how this interacts with wider sustainability and virtues. Patience is a virtue but immediacy can also be virtuous when it is called for.
Finally, this is such a key point: "as well as the fact that many folks just don’t have schedules that can be altered enough to spend half a day canning or cutting up meat." Which is where Hannah Anderson's article I put in the footnotes was such a helpful corrective to some of my idealistic thinking.
"It is vital, then, that we learn to distinguish between abundance and extravagance: to learn when enough truly is enough and thus not tempted by siren calls of extravagance. "
Learning to truly love and steward what we are given, rather than seeking extravagance of what we don't need is something I know I need to pray for and put into action.
And learning how to can and preserves is on my list of things to learn to do this fall/ winter. It's a skill I've never been taught but I've decided it's time to learn myself or find a friend to teach me.
Also, this image of picking blackberries within a cemetry is really standing out to me. I love the thought of grasping an abundance of life, hands covered in the blood of your toil, in a space dedicated to life everafter.... mmm... just lovely.
"I love the thought of grasping an abundance of life, hands covered in the blood of your toil, in a space dedicated to life everafter.... mmm... just lovely." - that is a beautiful sentence Derek!
A beautiful piece of thought provoking writing in a world driven by excessive consumption. When I go to the city on occasion I am always shocked at what we call "rubbish throwouts" - verge collections of furniture, whitegoods, bicycles, toys, clothing, kitchenware and every thing you can imagine that goes with life in a relatively affluent society. One could easily fully furnish and decorate a home. People do drive around, rummaging and recycling but the sheer volume and waste is mind-boggling. It is truly a throw away society, with relationships, values and community following suit.
I get shocked by this too Willy. We live in such a wasteful society (you would think having an extravagance of goods would lead to less waste - as surely we are content! But the opposite is too often the case.
Essential distinction and wonderfully written! Our teenage son spent several weeks in early summer working on a strawberry farm, gathering flats in the early morning hours, getting his hands and knees thoroughly worked. At the end of the season the farmer invited us the glean what was left over and we ended up canning 18 jars of jam (still learning how to do this more perfectly). My mother-in-law has been teaching me how to process tomatoes for the winter and our pantry is fully stocked. Engaging in food gathering and preserving has a very satisfying feel, and really helps bring to the foreground our dependence on nature. Thanks for adding further reflections with this piece.
Thought provoking as usual. I agree there is so much “ free food” we overlook. I am glad they have seen the sense of selling “ wonky veg” instead of composting them. Carry on writing please.
I think one vital difference is also the investment it requires from us. The abundance of fruit on the bushes and trees require me to invest my time to pick and preserve them. I need to be willing to not have much spare time in times of harvest and enjoy the responsibility of looking after the abundance. In contrast the extravagance of things are most often looked upon in a way of entitlement with little to no investment or responsibility on my side.
I thought about another difference: the „natural“ (putting it in quotes as I don’t just mean nature provisions such as fruits) abundance is fundamentally based on seasons. There is the season of harvest, but you can’t have the harvest without the season of dormancy (I think you have an essay on winter which touches on this) and season of expectations. This is true for natural abundance but just as much for seasons of joy and blessing in our life’s or the abundant harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In contrast the extravagance is always expected to be always available. There is no waiting, there is no living in expectation - and thus we loose the ability to understand and enjoy the different seasons knowing that they do follow each other it just might not be according to our timelines.
Indeed, the seasonality of abundance is crucial in fostering good use of it - abundance may not always be with us so we need to use it well while it is here. Extravagance though we expect to be always there - hence we misuse it and lack patience when it is deprived from us
I much prefer this idea of abundance. It seems that common thought says that we live in an age of overabundance, though I think that is unrealistic and untrue to the current state of affairs. Extravagance is a much better term; it describes the proliferation of food and goods without denying the reality of the growing scarcity of those who can bring food to the market.
Excellent. My husband and I have realized with this first garden of ours that never learned those skills from our own families... and thus are scrambling a bit and learning as we go how to best use & save the abundance! You describe perfectly the temptation of buying a perfectly proportioned version of what is readily available.
*Hannah Anderson is always worth reading, so I'll have to check out that CT essay.
*While not in the exact vein of the essay, two themes you touch on reminded me of two books I absolutely loved in recent years: Ross Douthat's "The Decadent Society" (on extravagance broadly defined in modern society) and Pete Davis' "Dedicated" (on choosing limiting commitment in an age of infinite browsing & the paradox of choice).
I'm away from home and planning to harvest some early hazelnuts from my meadow, before they fall and are lost to me (but not to the birds & small mammals, who always get the lions share). Hoping my blackberries haven't shrivelled while I was away. Also planning to raid my absent neighbour's neglected orchard. These things have to be done because they root you in the land you live on.
This is such a needed perspective, Hadden. It reminds me of the Wendell concept (I believe introduced in The Unsettling of America but one he talks about frequently) of “carrying capacity.” I believe he’s primarily talking about the capacity of a field to produce sustainably, working with natural cycles and limitations, but I’ve been asking myself lately - what is MY carrying capacity? This isn’t a popular perspective in modern culture but I have a limit to which I can healthily produce or consume, too... food, technology, and more. I need to do a lot more considering of not just what our “carrying capacity” is in nature and society but maybe more importantly, in my own life.
This is excellent Caitie, I fully believe the concept of a carrying capacity had relevance for individuals - it ties in to the concept of one's ecological footprint. If everyone consumed at the level, and crucially, rate that the average westerner does we would be in even graver trouble than we currently are. Plus, we are, as you say, fundamentally limited and were never made to live extravagant lives - doing so will lead to waste - physical waste as well as wasted mental capacities and wasted opportunities for community and relationships.
This was an interesting read… I have found myself really overwhelmed by my small garden this year. I know I’m not using it to its fullest potential - there are probably a few things going to waste, and that makes me feel guilty, so I want to avoid the whole thing. My solution has been to delay going to the grocery store so I’m forced to go out and find what I can to use. But it’s interesting that given abundance and fresh vegetables, sometimes it seems easier to get the kind that are less messy because it requires less of me. When we were living in a house with an apple tree we had a huge bumper crop of apples and I felt that same push pull of abhorring waste but resenting the extra work and my limited knowledge of preserving. I’m working on the knowledge part. I feel the same way about meat processing - my husband hunts and we process our own. It’s so satisfying to have done it, but there’s no waiting around for when you feel like processing meat. There’s an immediacy that I resent, which is silly because uh, that’s been people’s life for almost all of history. I do think the lack of skills and the knowledge gap in having to figure it out ourself bc it’s no longer passed down is a huge factor, as well as the fact that many folks just don’t have schedules that can be altered enough to spend half a day canning or cutting up meat.
I actually wrote about it here last year - this tension of feast or famine that we don’t seem to know what to do with: https://open.substack.com/pub/anneliseroberts/p/abundant-life?r=17ws3w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I can relate to a lot of this Annelise, I was a bit overwhelmed by my small garden too. My plethora of tomatoes (my wife always says I try and grow way too many) really didn't do well this year, and I wasted a lot (leaving them too long on the vine, careless cutting etc).
The need for 'immediacy' is a really interesting point that I would love to explore further as to how this interacts with wider sustainability and virtues. Patience is a virtue but immediacy can also be virtuous when it is called for.
Finally, this is such a key point: "as well as the fact that many folks just don’t have schedules that can be altered enough to spend half a day canning or cutting up meat." Which is where Hannah Anderson's article I put in the footnotes was such a helpful corrective to some of my idealistic thinking.
"It is vital, then, that we learn to distinguish between abundance and extravagance: to learn when enough truly is enough and thus not tempted by siren calls of extravagance. "
Learning to truly love and steward what we are given, rather than seeking extravagance of what we don't need is something I know I need to pray for and put into action.
And learning how to can and preserves is on my list of things to learn to do this fall/ winter. It's a skill I've never been taught but I've decided it's time to learn myself or find a friend to teach me.
Also, this image of picking blackberries within a cemetry is really standing out to me. I love the thought of grasping an abundance of life, hands covered in the blood of your toil, in a space dedicated to life everafter.... mmm... just lovely.
"I love the thought of grasping an abundance of life, hands covered in the blood of your toil, in a space dedicated to life everafter.... mmm... just lovely." - that is a beautiful sentence Derek!
Thanks Hadden!
A beautiful piece of thought provoking writing in a world driven by excessive consumption. When I go to the city on occasion I am always shocked at what we call "rubbish throwouts" - verge collections of furniture, whitegoods, bicycles, toys, clothing, kitchenware and every thing you can imagine that goes with life in a relatively affluent society. One could easily fully furnish and decorate a home. People do drive around, rummaging and recycling but the sheer volume and waste is mind-boggling. It is truly a throw away society, with relationships, values and community following suit.
I get shocked by this too Willy. We live in such a wasteful society (you would think having an extravagance of goods would lead to less waste - as surely we are content! But the opposite is too often the case.
I wrote an essay on this https://overthefield.substack.com/p/wasteful-efficiency
Essential distinction and wonderfully written! Our teenage son spent several weeks in early summer working on a strawberry farm, gathering flats in the early morning hours, getting his hands and knees thoroughly worked. At the end of the season the farmer invited us the glean what was left over and we ended up canning 18 jars of jam (still learning how to do this more perfectly). My mother-in-law has been teaching me how to process tomatoes for the winter and our pantry is fully stocked. Engaging in food gathering and preserving has a very satisfying feel, and really helps bring to the foreground our dependence on nature. Thanks for adding further reflections with this piece.
Thought provoking as usual. I agree there is so much “ free food” we overlook. I am glad they have seen the sense of selling “ wonky veg” instead of composting them. Carry on writing please.
Great essay… in the words of Jimmy Page ‘bramble on…’
Loved this take on abundance vs extravagance, and the paralysis that comes with having too many choices. Thanks for sharing.
I think one vital difference is also the investment it requires from us. The abundance of fruit on the bushes and trees require me to invest my time to pick and preserve them. I need to be willing to not have much spare time in times of harvest and enjoy the responsibility of looking after the abundance. In contrast the extravagance of things are most often looked upon in a way of entitlement with little to no investment or responsibility on my side.
I thought about another difference: the „natural“ (putting it in quotes as I don’t just mean nature provisions such as fruits) abundance is fundamentally based on seasons. There is the season of harvest, but you can’t have the harvest without the season of dormancy (I think you have an essay on winter which touches on this) and season of expectations. This is true for natural abundance but just as much for seasons of joy and blessing in our life’s or the abundant harvest of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In contrast the extravagance is always expected to be always available. There is no waiting, there is no living in expectation - and thus we loose the ability to understand and enjoy the different seasons knowing that they do follow each other it just might not be according to our timelines.
Indeed, the seasonality of abundance is crucial in fostering good use of it - abundance may not always be with us so we need to use it well while it is here. Extravagance though we expect to be always there - hence we misuse it and lack patience when it is deprived from us
I much prefer this idea of abundance. It seems that common thought says that we live in an age of overabundance, though I think that is unrealistic and untrue to the current state of affairs. Extravagance is a much better term; it describes the proliferation of food and goods without denying the reality of the growing scarcity of those who can bring food to the market.
Excellent. My husband and I have realized with this first garden of ours that never learned those skills from our own families... and thus are scrambling a bit and learning as we go how to best use & save the abundance! You describe perfectly the temptation of buying a perfectly proportioned version of what is readily available.
*Hannah Anderson is always worth reading, so I'll have to check out that CT essay.
*While not in the exact vein of the essay, two themes you touch on reminded me of two books I absolutely loved in recent years: Ross Douthat's "The Decadent Society" (on extravagance broadly defined in modern society) and Pete Davis' "Dedicated" (on choosing limiting commitment in an age of infinite browsing & the paradox of choice).
Indeed, this is a pertinent problem and you are wise in your approach Zach. I too only pick from wild areas that i know will be free from pesticides.