The Joy of the Harvest Days

A paraphrase from British poet John Keats would say: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; swell the gourd, and plump the nut
shells with sweet kernel and still more… load the vines with fruit and bend cottage-tree branches with apples.

And dear Pope Francis would say, “There is a joy in the gospel and in earth’s abundant harvest.

In these October days of harvest and exquisite beauty, I had a wonderful conversation with Sister Yovina, a sister from Tanzania who lives at the IHM Center. She and her two companions Sisters Consolata and Mediatrix are women who love the earth and know just how to coach and cultivate its fruits with loving hands and bring them proudly to the tables of their sisters. So, what is different between gardening here in Scranton and in Tanzania so near the Equator? I ask. Water! from the abundant rainy season, moist fertile soil that doesn’t need compost, and heat. It produces fruits and vegetables much bigger than here in NEPA where we need to work the soil hard and fertilize for our much smaller produce. We line our plants up in rows in gardens. Sister just plants near to the house in any available space so food is always near and always fresh for the table. Just step outside the door and see for yourself.

What does Jovina plant in her country? Vegetables, she says, lots and lots of vegetables: peppers, okra, kale, tomatoes, eggplant, corn, casaba, spinach, cucumber, beans, onions, millet, jasmine rice; fruits and nuts which are plentiful and delicious;
Bananas, coconuts, cashews, papayas, and sugar cane for eating make great desserts.

We discovered that we eat many of the same vegetables but we cook them so differently. Tanzanians love cooked vegetables boiled and well-seasoned. American eat for advantage (often raw like salads) but, we Tanzanians, we eat for taste, she smiles. Especially, liberally salted and spiced meat and vegetables are mixed for excellent flavor. Bananas are cooked different ways; special, tasty teas can be boiled up from the vegetables; cashews too can be boiled into very strong alcohol! Every plant has its dignity and purpose at the table. These three women plant and harvest close to our IHM home so that we too can experience seeing and enjoying food always near to the house and fresh for the table. Thanks be to God for another harvest of beautiful vegetables and thanks for the women who tend and harvest the crops at our doorstep. Now they will save the seed for another planting in the spring!