Harvest Finally Done

Though the farmers in my church are still trying to finish their corn and bean harvests, I finished this year's harvest yesterday. I finished drying the sweet basil I had hanging in the garage for the last two weeks. Herbs that I have grown myself, cut, washed, dried and processed are superior in flavor and they last a long time. I dried and processed parsley also this year. The entire harvesting process is very labor intensive and requires personal contact with every branch of leaves. Thus, I have an excellent understanding of everywhere the herbs have been and a sense of the quality of the finished product. This gives me great satisfaction, especially when I gift someone with the finished product and s/he takes a whiff and says, "This smells so good." Most of my home-grown and processed herbs are fresh enough that less is required in recipes. Thus, an additional benefit is that they last for years. I've purchased parsley at a store and discovered that it smelled like hay and added little flavor to foods. Organic foods grown locally by trusted growers should be highly sought after, but all too often I have found suspicion that the product could be good quality. I have even had people suggest that commercial products are safer. I regard this thought pattern as basic ignorance and the result of our great distance from the time when people grew much of their own food. The mainstreaming of organic foods shows promising shifts in perception regarding sustainable living.