New moon shift into harvest season

Happy September!

It's really hard to believe we are in September! This month our family enjoyed gathering with Mother Parvin who lives in Calgary and all three of our sons, two who live from Halifax and one living in Ottawa. We shared relaxing moments, enjoyed plenty of food and were reminded that time with family is sometime challenging and also so precious.

September is magic, it feels like a reset and regroup, almost like the wrap up to the season and beginning of a whole new year on the farm together all at once. As the nights begin to cool, the air feels crisper and after the generous rains of the past few weeks, the landscape is at its most lush. The garden is now offering up the crops we have been patiently waiting for all summer - warm tomatoes, earthy potatoes and plump squash. At the same time, plants begin another part of their life cycle, setting seed and quietly preparing for what comes next. There is beauty in the fullness of the harvest, and also a reminder that seasons evolve and offers a practise in letting go.

Both the last of the harvest and the abundance of seeds need picking at just the right time. For example potatoes will rot if left in the ground too long, then they need to cure in warm, breezy weather to allow their skins to dry and set for best winter storage. That said, harvested potatoes can only be left in the sun for about a week, otherwise they turn green and eventually become toxic. Squashes taste so much sweeter with at least two hits of frost, and are much easier to find and pick once the vine dies back in cold temperatures. So we spend more time watching the garden rows and weather to choose our moments carefully to store the harvest that fuels and delight us throughout the fall and winter months.

The farm work shifts from production and hosting to replenishing soil, preserving produce and preparing for Spring 2027. Time and energy invested now, creates a smooth farm and garden start up in the following Spring. This month we are planting garlic and onions to overwinter in the soil for next year. We are also adding more Saffron corms to new garden rows. Saffron is one of those flavours that soothes and brings back childhood memories of gatherings and connects me to my Persian heritage. It is truly exciting when these fall crocuses start to bloom and offer up their medicinal stamens, with only three to harvest and dry per plant, which clearly means we need more Saffron plants ;)

We have a few remaining tickets for Harvestfest: a delicious multi-Chef collaboration featuring hearty soup, fresh sourdough and creamy butter board stations to visit around the farm with live music and even a pop up Choir to wrap up the event. We are very grateful to the Chefs and incredible local businesses that have helped us realize the dream of hosting an outdoor dinner, made with local produce at it's peak in support of our local community food centre - The Sharing Place Orillia.

I’m really enjoying this rhythm of pausing every new moon to sense into what we want to share.

And this changing of the season from Late Summer into Fall might be my favourite time of year. For as long as I can remember, it has felt like the start of a new year. Maybe it’s because I live in an old schoolhouse...and this year, I’ve actually gone back to school, starting classes at the Buddhist College of Canada and an online Liberation Psychology program.

Yesterday, on 9/9, we were invited by CCFE to the Bioregional Confluence to share our experience creating immersive on-farm experiences that inspire ecological belonging.

It was a privilege to share our fresh farm tea in person and guide an amazing group through a mindfulness tea ritual to experience how we are cultivating Ecological Belonging, a space to connect with ourselves, each other, and the land.

I also saw it as a creative opportunity to share a framework that emerged from my own journey from burn out, overwhelm and being disconnected from my body, community, and the Earth toward finding a deeper sense of belonging.

For me it all began with being open to Receive the kindness of so many living beings and the Earth; Remembering how deeply interconnected we are; cultivating healthy Relations; and pausing before Responding, so that our actions can become more skillful.

Here's a little video clip from the event.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, harvest season marks a transition from Late Summer into Fall. Late Summer is associated with the Spleen and the Earth element which is associated with nourishment, digestion, and our ability to process and transform what we take in. Fall is associated with the Lungs, inviting us to discern what we are ready to let go of and what we want to let in.

Every year around the Autumn Equinox, Steph DeBou and I host a small group here at the schoolhouse for a weekend that weaves together our different modalities: Qi Gong, TRE, yoga, fascia release, meditation, movement, and ecstatic dance. After brunch the next day, we visit Wu Tai Shan Buddhist Garden to explore its 500-acre sacred grounds and end with a sound bath. There are still a few spots left if you’re available next Saturday and Sunday. Register here.

This new moon feels like a good time to reflect on both what we’re releasing and what we’re making space for and here are some prompt questions in case they're helpful.

1. What are you ready to let go of?

2. What is it that you really want?

3. What will the future you, a year from now, be grateful that you dared to desire out loud today?

I'm also excited about collaborating with Anto on our next Courage Incubator for Asian Creatives in October and monthly virtual TRE offerings.

I’ve also been building new ways for people to participate in Hammock Earth, not just by coming to an event, but by becoming part of the ecosystem we’re creating.

You can now create a profile on Hammock Earth and share your own superpowers and offerings and learn about others.

Collaborators and community members can add events to our collective calendar, and I’ve been experimenting with tools like an Embodiment Check, a nervous system regulation tool.

I’ve also been sharing what I'm learning and enabling our community share their offerings, get bookings, create courses thru a mixture of teaching, AI coaching and building together.

I think this is part of what Hammock Earth is becoming for me: a place to experiment with how we might bring our different gifts together and build things that support healthier relationships with ourselves, each other, and the Earth.

So if any of this sparks something in you, if you have an offering you’d like to share, an event you’d like to host, an idea you want help bringing to life, or you simply want to play with some of the tools I’ve been building, I’d love to hear from you.

Please reply to experiment and co-create with us