blackberries, figs, apples and plums in harvest

The third week of the quiet ones in the village have been fruitful…

blackberries, figs, apples and plums in harvest 🙂
Upper hamlet has a good few spots for all the above and picking has happening in small groups – with following storing and jam making.

The biggest harvest is down in Lower Hamlet, the orchard there gives the village it’s name with a good few hundred trees. Each later Summer there’s a few weeks of collecting for jam and prunes. The proceeds have gone into Plum Village projects over the years, currently most into children’s charities in Vietnam where Thich Nhat Hanh grew up.

2 ways to do it I found – stand around with big-bamboo sticks and shake the branches, then collect. The other was have someone in the tree shaking branches and 4 or 5 under with a cloth for catching –
The Village has still been pretty quiet with just a few friends visiting.

There’s been some nice gatherings for fires, guided relaxations (some we’ve recorded – more next time) and a film crew here making a documentary on the Farm project.

I also saw this trailer this week from a friend to give a window on the village. This documentary ‘Walk With Me’ is due out sometime this/next year.

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In the recording room I’ve enjoyed the company of Francois, first around a week ago and again in the last few days. Francois who you may know if you have been here in the Summer – you’d find him usually with a guitar singing with the visiting children or around a campfire in the evenings.

We recorded some songs for the French children who visited this Summer to send out in a Village newsletter – and he came by again to record some more including some of his own in there and we talked about his experiences here – that will come in my next post when I’ve mixed them down.

Here’s Happiness and Breathing In Breathing Out …

Then Gab from Canada. We know one and other from Winter where we shared a room. Gab is here with an interest in the ‘5 year program’ – where you can live as a monastic in the community for the period.

We talked about this, his love for singing and recorded ‘When That Storm Comes’ by American band ‘The Wailin’ Jennys’
a song he knows from the singing of some of his friends in Toronto – Hey Gab…:)

Four songs next from Stuart Watson, Stuart – again some of you will know. He came to the village some years ago and begun the Happy Farm project. It was good to get him just before he heads to London for a few years to study psychotherapy. These four songs are Stuarts from his time here – he sings and plays recorder. Eamon and Scott from the farm on mandolin and guitar.

and sharing a song of mine (with some more fruit in) to round off this post.

I wrote this about a year ago, ‘So Around’ about my Grandmother, Nana Swan and her love for words, gardening(fruit trees) and the people in her life. There’s more about it in the song description below it if you click through.

From sometime using the recording room in quieter hours over the last week or so.