30 | OCTOBER 27 • 2022 

T

ishrei is the first month of the 
calendar year, which coincides 
with the peak of Michigan’s 
agricultural harvest,” Alex Rosenberg 
says, standing in front of the small 
blue sign that marked the 
beginning of the year.
Alex is the farm manager 
at the nearly 1-acre Farber 
Farm on the Tamarack 
Camps campus in Ortonville. 
We walk toward the next 
sign, while she tells me more 
about the farm’s Calendar Garden. 
The Calendar Garden is a wheel-
shaped garden exhibition of the Hebrew 
year, with different sections representing 
months of the Hebrew calendar. Each 

spoke grows crops that symbolize its 
unique holidays, the change of season 
and the emotions surrounding those 
times. Tishrei, which runs throughout 
October, is a time for harvest, reflection 
and repentance. Today, our attention is 
on the harvest.
Alex welcomes garden volunteers 
every Tuesday and Thursday to assist 
with farm labor. The compensation is 
taking home some of the most gorgeous 
flowers and produce you’ve ever seen. 
It’s such a joy to work on a farm with a 
talented farmer. As a chef, farm produce 
sparks my creativity and makes cooking 
exciting. There’s nothing better than 
vegetables picked at the peak of ripeness, 
still warm with sun.

The Farber Farm grows an array of 
fruits, herbs and vegetables during 
summer, including peppers, tomatoes, 
beans, corn, melons and zucchini, 
eggplant, fennel and more. During 
sessions, campers visit to learn about 
their Jewish roots and agriculture. The 
curriculum connects them to the land 
and their Jewish ancestors, thought to be 
the first shepherds. Working in groups 
with hands in dirt, campers enjoy the 
bounty together later in the cafeteria. A 
truly virtuous circle.

THE FARM IN FALL
Volunteers are especially valuable for 
the farm in fall, as the regular chores 
also include closing down the past 
growing season. Cool-weather crops, 
like kale, kohlrabi, broccoli, cauliflower 
and cabbages are still growing, but most 
summer plants are no longer producing. 
We start early in the day to help Alex 
with closing down the spent beds for the 
year. 
“We tie Tishrei to our own 
agricultural season, by collecting any 
of the ripe vegetables, taking out the 
finished plants and laying mulch over 
it,” Alex explains. We break off in groups 
to tackle different areas. 
Once our crates are full, we bring 
them back to the table for Alex. We’ve 
made considerable progress, judging by 
the huge vegetable piles. I stare at the 
hills of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, 
beets, carrots, cabbage, eggplants and 
fennel. Observing the abundance, 
I recognize the predicament of our 
shepherd ancestors. How can you 
preserve all this perishable food without 
modern technology? These harvests 
need to last all winter. 
Their answer lies in ancient food 
preservation techniques like drying, 
smoking, curing, sugaring, fermenting, 
canning and pickling. Still being used 
today, these methods keep foods 
safe, extend shelf life and create the 
advantage of making them portable. 

THE HISTORY OF PICKLING
People around the world have been 
pickling foods for thousands of years. 
Archaeologists from the New York Food 

PHOTOS BY MICHELLE KOBERNICK 

Autumn’s bounty can be preserved for months.
Pickle
The
Quite

MICHELLE KOBERNICK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Alex 
Rosenberg

FOOD

