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