What a sobering reality. Another neighbor, Sandy Peterson, told me that they sometimes get a soybean harvest in a drought if enough dew lands on the leaves. We began filling 50-gallon barrels with cool well water to warm it in the sun. We misted our crops close to sunset. We watered tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers by hand.

We began adding “Charlie’s water” about a month ago. My friend, Charlie, had bought a machine that adds oxygen to water and removed toxins—he calls it “light water.” (johnelliswater.com.) The water has improved his health and the health of his plants and animals. Our plants seemed to green in front of our eyes as we misted them. They kept living, but did not produce fruit.

We still had no rain; though the weatherman repeatedly predicted showers. None had come. Our sky was dense and hazy-white with pollution; our air humid. I pulled out A Biodynamic Farm by Hugh Lovel. He attributes some lack of rain to stagnant atmospheric conditions. One summer, he experienced four weeks of stifling hot weather, brown and hazy sky and high humidity, but rain clouds did not form.

In the book, he outlines a regimen of spraying biodynamic preparations starting one evening and continuing morning and evening for four applications.  The regime, he says, helps rain clouds form: it also takes 3 hours of extra work a day. We stirred preparations morning and evening for an hour and then sprayed them onto the fields.

The morning after our last spray, rain began falling. Would it have rained anyway? I cannot know, but I suspect that just as the machine that makes Charlie’s water actively works to clear pollutants, we will need to learn to work more actively with the atmosphere to clear pollutants there too.

It rained--blessed rain—and the air cleared. Now we are planting our fall crops furiously: beets, carrots, turnips, kohlrabi, lettuce, radish and chard. Alleluia!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4 to 6

Equipment:

8-quart pot

Colander

(2) Medium-sized mixing bowl

Cutting board

Your favorite Knife

Cast-iron skillet

Ingredients:

* 8 oz Fresh shelled red beans*

* 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

* 2 cayenne pepper seeds removed chopped

* 2 tsp cayenne pepper

* 12 okra pods chopped into 1/2” pieces

* 6 tablespoons olive oil

* 3 ears corn boiled

* 2 sweet bell peppers

* 2 Sweet Anaheim

* 4 squash: zucchini, golden zucchini, (2) pattypan--chop into bite-sized pieces

* 4 garlic cloves, chopped

* 2 Creole tomatoes quartered

* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

* 2 bay leaves

*1 sweet onion chopped

* Few dashes of your favorite hot sauce

* Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation

Beans:

Soak your fresh-shelled red beans anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight (if your planning for the next day). *Rule of thumb for fresh beans it is perfectly okay to soak for a small amount of time because beans produce what is called an enzyme: ‘lectin’ which has been known to cause gastrointestinal distress – soaking helps to neutralize the enzyme.

Cooking time for fresh beans: 5-10 minutes depending on freshness. Once beans are cooked strain in colander. Don’t forget the 2 bay leaves!

Corn:

Grab your 8-quart pot. Add a little salt. Once it comes to a boil throw in your 3 ears of corn.

Kernels should be tender in 3-7 minutes depending on freshness.

Strain in colander.

Okra:

In a medium sized mixing bowl toss in cornmeal, cayenne pepper (ground) salt & pepper. Toss okra with 2 tbsp olive oil & then coat with cornmeal mixture.

Once corn has cooled a bit. Shave kernels off cob.

Add 2 tbsp olive oil to skillet. Fold okra into mix while stirring occasionally until brown about 4 minutes. Remove okra to drain on paper towels.

Over medium heat add chopped onion & garlic let sweat about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Throw in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, bell pepper, and sweet Anaheim peppers. Let sweat for 5 minutes.

Add okra, fresh red beans, corn, squash, and sauté 2 minutes season with your favorite hot sauce, salt & pepper to taste.

Add tomatoes & squashes.

Cover and cook until squash is crisp-tender over medium-high heat about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Allow to rest for a few minutes.

Serve alone or over rice.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 60 minutes

Serves: 4-6 servings

Equipment:

Large baking sheet or glass 9”x 13” baking dish

Medium mixing bowl

Cutting Board

Your favorite knife

Ingredients:

* 2 lb New Potatoes halved and sliced lengthwise

* 2 yellow squash sliced

* 8 oz baby shiitake mushroom stems removed

* 2 Sweet Anaheim peppers seeded and cut into 1/2” strips

* 2 Creole Tomatoes sliced in half

* 1 Sweet onions thinly slice

* 1- 3/4 lb bag okra

* 3 rosemary sprigs 1-stem removed and chopped

* 2 tarragon sprigs, stems removed (if needed) & chopped

* 2 spearmint sprigs, stems removed & chopped

* 3 cloves garlic minced

* 1 tbsp thyme

* White cooking wine

* Olive oil

* Balsamic vinegar

* 1 lemon juiced

* Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation

Roasting Potatoes & Veggies:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss new potatoes with sweet onion, 2 rosemary sprigs, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper in a large mixing bowl.

Spread potato mixture out on baking sheet or glass baking dish and roast for about 20 minutes.

Remove roasted potatoes from the oven to add Okra, Anaheim peppers & Creole tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil, white wine, & balsamic vinegar. Toss to coat.  Roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes add yellow squash and shiitake mushrooms—roast for 10 minutes more.

Remove from oven discard rosemary sprigs. Allow cool, about 5 minutes—toss with dressing and finish with fresh lemon juice drizzled on top.

The Dressing:

Whisk together chopped rosemary, tarragon, spearmint, thyme, garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt, & pepper in a bowl until well combined. Serve at room temperature.

1 onion, sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. On a sheet tray spread out tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Spread onions and garlic slices on top of tomatoes.
4. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20-30 minutes until tomatoes are almost dry.
5. Refrigerate for up to two weeks. Serve in pasta dishes, on sandwiches, mix into mayo or in salads.