Variety Show: Feher Ozon Papricka

This would be my second veggie variety post in a row on the Genuine Faux Farm blog.  It's just like old times - except if this were like "old times" on the blog, these posts would be three to seven days apart!  The motivation behind these posts has more to do with the fact that I had some new pictures from this year's harvest that just begged me to write about them.

Shown above is our first harvest of Feher Ozon Papricka peppers in 2023 (August).  I like to harvest them when they have this rusty orange shade to them, but others might prefer that they turn a full red-orange.  We enjoy eating these in nachos and others have told me they like them on pizza.  You can certainly eat them raw as a snack as well.  They tend towards a sweeter papricka tasste rather than hot.

This is another variety that has responded well to high tunnel production for a few reasons.  First, they don't like wet feet and they prefer warmer, drier conditions.  And second, the plants are small in stature, so they lend themselves to places where space is at a premium.  This year's plants did not quite get to two feet tall and we gave them 18 inches of spacing in the row.  Each plant easily produced fifteen or more quality fruit (plus a few off fruit).

This variety holds most of its fruit with the pointy end up, but they can get so loaded with peppers that they'll just point whatever direction has free space.  The carrot-shaped fruit can be as large as five to six inches long. You could, if you wanted, dry these pepper to create a papricka spice, though we have not tried to do this ourselves.

Keep these peppers off the ground if there is moisture for best results.  Harvest typically requires a pruner or knife since the plants do not give up the fruit easily.  If you try to snap or twist them off, you'll end up with a sizable portion of the small plant in your hand as your reward.

Nice Melons

This year, at the Genuine Faux Farm, I decided to experiment a little bit with the melons we decided to grow.  Since we are no longer growing for a CSA Farm Share program, we no longer need to grow as many melons as we had been growing in prior seasons.  But, I like growing them and we both like eating them.  So, what were we to do?

Ever since 2015, we have grown anywhere from five to eight different melon varieties on the farm.  Our field melons are always surrounded by flowers to attract pollinators and we took to growing a row of Minnesota Midgets in Eden (our smaller high tunnel) about 2017.  The general result was that we had plenty of melons for ourselves and our CSA customers each season.  We usually had extra to sell - or if we didn't have time to seek out a market, we gave them to the poultry.  Yes, turkeys LOVE melons.

The 2015 experiment that became the norm at GFF

 I love to tell the success story that was our 2015 melon crop.  But, I love telling it even more because we could replicate it from year to year.  Well, not exactly each season - of course.  Sometimes the flowers were different.  One year one melon variety would do well, and then another the next.  But, our production was good each season and the results were similar every time.  

But, as the need to grow this many melons went away, we found ourselves just trying to figure out how much we should grow.... and how we should grow them.  And the transition has not been as easy as you might think.  It's hard to go back once you've grown as many as a thousand row feet of melons on the farm.

So, in 2023, I actually succeeded in letting go of a few things.  We grew a short row of field melons that had ONLY ONE variety (Pride of Wisconsin).  We have a log history with that cantaloupe and it did well for us again this year.  

And in the high tunnel, we decided to play a little bit, but we only planted a half row in Valhalla (our larger high tunnel).  Minnesota Midget had been our go to for high tunnel growing, but we really wanted some melons that tasted different.  So, we gave three different heirlooms a shot: Eden's Gem, Emerald Gem and Ha'Ogen.

A 2023 Ha'Ogen

I remember that we gave a couple of these a trial in the high tunnel when we first started growing in them and decided, for whatever reason, that they weren't working.  But, they all have a long history with us.  In 2013, we were sold that Ha'Ogen was just too good not to grow it.  And, frankly, I still stand by that statement.  Unfortunately, by 2017, we were realizing that Ha'Ogen was not working for higher production loads on our farm.  A big part of that had to do with Ha'Ogen's unhappiness with very wet soils - and we just couldn't find much dry space on our farm during that time period.

Meanwhile, Eden's Gem became one of our key production melons.  These personal-sized melons have a unique taste (a little bit of nutmeg flavor) and ripen earlier than any of the other varieties we have grown.  Emerald Gem flitted in and out of the picture.  These are orange fleshed and early to ripen as well.  

All of these three have limited vine length - which actually makes them candidates for the high tunnel.  But, we had gone with Minnesota Midget because they faithfully climbed (with some training) the trellis we put next to them each season.

Well, this year, we weren't as worried about space saving and we trialed Ha'Ogen, Emerald Gem and Eden's Gem in Valhalla this year.  Let's just say our taste buds were not disappointed.

We did not attempt to trellis any of these vines (we ran out of time), but they did not get so long as to intrude too much on their neighbors.  It was tolerable - but might have been a little less wonderful if we were trying for higher production numbers inside Valhalla.  Emerald Gem did not do particularly well, but Eden's Gem and Ha'Ogen produced several high-quality fruit.

In fact, they both did well enough that I could almost consider scaling them up in the high tunnel if I thought I had a market for them.  That, and if I wanted to pursue a market for them.

I was most pleased that Ha'Ogen did well.  We stopped growing them altogether in 2020 and I missed having Ha'Ogen or two for breakfast in the 2020-2022 seasons. This melon has green flesh with a gold edge around the seed cavity.  They smell a little bit like a ripe banana when they are first opened and have a smooth texture.  In fact, the first taste you get reminds you a little of a banana until.... it changes.  Let's just say you want to leave this melon in your mouth for a second so you can experience the full range of its flavor.

We know by now that every growing season is different, but maybe we discovered something in 2023?  Either way, I suspect we'll be growing Eden's Gem and Ha'Ogen in a high tunnel again next year.

Realm of Peace and Content

The vegetable plots on our farm have not qualified as 'gardens' for a very long time.  We crossed the border between gardener and grower or farmer once we got to a point where we could honestly (and accurately) tell ourselves that we had "cut back" and will only harvest nine hundred or so onions this year.

Even so, I will proudly wear the name of 'farmer' or 'gardener' if others feel it is appropriate as long as both those labels are equated with being a steward of the land.  The responsibility of actively caring for the land and the things that grow and live on it (and in it) is difficult, rewarding, tiring, fulfilling, frustrating, interesting, and, above all, diverse.

If I were asked to differentiate between a farmer and gardener, I might be tempted to point to the words that carry a negative connotation (difficult, tiring, frustrating).  The act of growing for others on a larger scale than a garden entails a certain undertone of worry/concern/stress that pervades every moment on the farm.  

Perhaps the key descriptor that comes to mind when I think about being a professional grower is the word "relentless."  Once you start down the path of growing on a diverse farm like ours, you don't have the option of delaying things until you feel like doing it.  Don't take this wrong.  There are always choices to be made and there is always some level of flexibility.  In fact, it is valid to make the choice to NOT do something as long as you know that the consequence is the potential loss of a crop (for example).  But, the work that needs to be done on a farm like ours is relentless.  It doesn't have an end if you intend to be a grower and land steward and it doesn't look at your schedule to determine when it might give you a bit of a break.

Now, there were also the positive descriptors (rewarding, fulfilling, interesting, diverse) that come along for the ride too.  If they weren't part of the equation, the unrelenting nature of farming/growing would drive practically everyone out of the profession.

I've been a fan of Tolkien Lord of the Rings for a very long time and I have read the books more times than I can remember.  The wonderful thing about the books is that I can re-read them and find something new that speaks to me in a way it hasn't before.  Perhaps that says more about me than it does about Tolkien, but that isn't what matters here.

"Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardeners be in high honour."

 J.R.R. Tolkien in The Two Towers

And, this is why I want to make sure I never completely shed the label "gardener."  

What are some of the things that drew us to this vocation in the first place?  Do we not still enjoy hearing the birds sing and feeling the breeze on our faces while we do some task in the fields that requires the use of our bodies and hands? We still take moments to view a flower or two and acknowledge the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds that move among them.  Isn't there still a sense of satisfaction when we harvest some beautiful apples or we smell the basil as we walk next to it?

Yes.  There is still a sense of peace and contentment on the farm.  It's there for the taking.  We just need to allow ourselves to recognize and accept it.

 

"The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm;

 his own hands to use..."  

J.R.R. Tolkien about Samwise Gamgee in Return of the King

There is a sense of place and belonging that comes with the farm (or garden).  Perhaps this is not true for everyone since I am aware of many people who have declared to me and others that gardening is something they NEVER want to do.  But, for someone like me, the garden helps me to find my place again.  

It may not be the small garden alluded to for Mr. Gamgee, but it is always a good reminder that there is reward in working with what you have in the best ways you know how.  It is also a good thing to reflect on what we do on our farm frequently so we can see the positive things that happen and accept what we have as what is good enough for us.  Of course, this does not mean that we won't look at opportunities and assess them as we always have.  But, there is a difference between looking carefully at opportunity versus belittling that which is in front of you because you think you want something else.

Pardon me, but I need to go out and survey my realm of peace and content now.

Those Who Hesitate

 

I have a storehouse full of sayings and proverbs in my head, as I am sure many of you do.  And, it is ever so tempting to pull out one of those gems when we want to feel that we are being wise.  After all, sayings and proverbs have become what they are because they are (often) beautiful ways to encapsulate truths that many recognize.

But, have you noticed that proverbs don't always fully agree with each other?  Well, okay.  Have you noticed that if you take them at face value, they might disagree?  After all, these are proverbs and sayings.  The whole point of them is that you probably shouldn't just take them at face value.  If I told you that you could lead a horse to water, but you couldn't make it drink and you took that at face value, you would wonder when it was I was leading said horse to a stream.

And after all of this introduction, you might wonder if I was hesitant to get to the point of today's blog.

Speaking of hesitation

We are raising broiler chickens on pasture again this year.  Not as many as we have in the past, but there are a little over one hundred birds in the flock.  We have a building they shelter in at night or if the weather is inclement and we move that building every couple of days.  We let the birds out every morning and close them up at night. And, to further protect them from predators, we surround the pasture area we give them access to each day with electric fencing.

This year, we put the birds into the northwest pasture.  Unlike the east, there are more obstacles to move the building and fencing around.  And, I was telling Tammy that I get into trouble when I hesitate or don't fully commit to a decision about which direction I am planning to move the building and its fencing next.

That, of course, led me to this:   He who hesitates is lost.

And to a very real extent, this can be very true on our farm.  But it is especially true when it comes to making a decision that will impact activities for several days to follow.  For example, I had to decide if I was going to try to go around a tree while avoiding a low area in the pasture OR if I was going to pull forward into a corner and plan on cutting back at an angle going the other direction.

First, I had to make this decision a move or two BEFORE I actually had to execute whichever maneuver I was going to take.  If I was ambivalent and hesitant to embrace one over the other, I might find myself in a no man's land where I couldn't succeed with either plan.  And second, once the decision was made, my efforts for several of the coming moves were clearly dictated.  

If I chose poorly, I could be just as lost if I did not choose at all.  In other words, I could be lost whether I hesitated or not.

Look before you.... well, you know.

There are many proverbs that actually extol the value of hesitation - sort of.  I guess it depends on how you define hesitation.  Everyone who finished the saying above, probably understands what it is trying to tell us.

Look before you leap.  Or, maybe you prefer "look for thorns before you grab the stem of a rose?"  Whatever.  It's your brain, so you can play with the idioms that reside there all you would like.

Assess your surroundings, think about the possible future outcomes, before you find that you've put yourself into a very bad situation.  It actually doesn't sound all that different from what I was saying before when I suggested that I would be lost if I hesitated.  But, in my case, I was talking about hesitating to think about the situation and make a decision.

And we've got a whole host of sayings along these lines.  Measure twice, cut once. Think before you act and think twice before you speak.  But if we hesitate, we are lost.

Perhaps that is for people like me who prefer to think TEN times before they act?  I know that people who like to get the show on the road a bit faster probably feel pretty strongly that I AM lost.

Then, there is this proverb that appears to be from South Africa, if the internet sources can be believed:

The impatient person eats goat; the one who hesitates eats beef.

Now, if you like goat meat better than beef, this one may not get the point across to you.  However, beef is typically considered a higher quality meat than goat.  Once again we have a proverb telling us we should stop, take a look around, and consider things before we move forward.

I guess it all hinges on what you think "hesitation" means.  There's a big difference between being lost and eating beef, as far as I am concerned - so I want to get this hesitation thing right!

Looking Up

This past weekend, Tammy and I did our best to do "all the things" that we could not do during our work weeks.  There was laundry, dishes, harvesting, poultry work, processing and... well, there was lots going on.

I will also admit that because both of us have had a lot on our "work plates," we've both been keeping our heads down as we each pull on our respective plows.  Sometimes that's the way it needs to be.  But, it also means that when we look up from the work plow, everything else looks like a plow too.  Have farm stuff to do?  Put your head down and pull.  Household things?  Put your head down and get it done.

We needed to pick the apples on the Cortland tree on Sunday.  Put your head down and...

Hey, wait!  I have to look UP to pick apples.

Ooooooh!  Those clouds are really neat!  And the sky is so blue.  And, there's still some nice green in the trees.  And the temperature's really nice.  And, there isn't a lot of smoke from Canada wildfires.  And, there aren't a lot of gnats.  And, it's not too wet.  And, it actually rained a little, so it's not (quite) as dry.

And the apples taste good.

And I got to spend some time harvesting those apples with my best friend.

And, I need to remind myself that I can unhitch myself from any plow I hook myself onto.

Have a good day everyone!  And I hope you give yourself a chance to look up.

Not How We Planned It

We do have some apple trees at the Genuine Faux Farm.  When we first moved to the farm, we made sure to put in some apple trees and added to their numbers over the next several years.  Some years, we have had apples.  Other years, we have not.

A whole host of things can push our apples towards good or bad harvests.  But, it rarely seems that we get an "in-between" year.  We've also lost some apple trees over the years.  We were very sad a few years ago when one of our Fireside apple trees succumbed to a couple of windstorms.  The first came from one direction and the other finished it off by coming from another direction.

But, there is one apple tree that has continued to thrive - and this is after we feared it wasn't going to get past its first year on the farm.

Several years back we picked up a few bare-root trees, and among them was this little Cortland apple tree.  We put it into the ground on the west side of one of our orchard areas.  We call it an orchard, but there has never been more than five fruit trees in this area at any one time.

We planted it, we watered it and it seemed like it was going to do ok.  Until we got a windstorm that snapped our little tree off at about one foot above the ground.

Now here's where the story gets interesting.  There had been a sucker (a branch growing out of the lower trunk area) that I was meaning to prune, but I hadn't got around to doing it.  Now this sucker was above the grafted area of the tree and below where the trunk snapped.  The sucker had a few leaves.  So, I decided I would just leave the tree there and see what happened the next year.

Why not?  It wasn't going to hurt anything and I could take it out the next Spring.

To make a long story less long, this is that very same Cortland apple tree.  It's our healthiest and our strongest apple tree on the farm.  And yesterday, we harvested several bushels of apples off of this tree.

It's not how we planned it, but the results are what we dreamed.  I think we can live with that. 

Letters Between Switzerland and France - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to this week's edition of Postal History Sunday!  Before you sit down to read, bury those troubles in the back yard for a time and grab a favorite beverage or snack.  If you have some fluffy slippers and you like to wear them, go right ahead, I won't judge if those same slippers have bunny ears attached to them.  Let's see if we can learn something new today.

This week, I am actually responding to a question - sort of.  I was asked about some of my strategies for learning about the postal history of letter mail between two countries.  It turns out I have five such strategies to share:

1. Find examples of typical/common mail items between the two countries (scans or the actual items).
2. Find resources that describe postal rates, routes and other specifics about the mail for those two countries (both internal and between nations).
3. Learn a little bit about the history of that area during that time period.
   
4. Ask questions. 
5. Try to explain what you think you know to yourself and to a willing audience.
   

To illustrate, I thought I would show the results of a project I started in 2018.  I was attempting to understand how mail between Switzerland and France worked in the 1860s.

Shown above is a folded letter that was sent from Basel, Switzerland, to Paris, France, on May 29, 1860.  There are two postage stamps totaling 80 rappen in postage.  There is a "P.D." marking that was an indicator by the Swiss postal clerks to the French clerks that this letter's postage was fully paid.  The red marking tells us the letter entered the French mails at St Louis on May 30 or 31 (I am not certain which).  A postmark on the back of this letter tells us it arrived in Paris on May 31.

When I first noticed this item, it was clear to me that this letter was an overweight letter, weighing more than 7.5 grams.  This is indicated both by the amount of postage and the red "2" just under the postage stamps.  But the only reason this was perfectly clear was because I had taken time to learn what simple letters from Switzerland to France looked like during that time period.  Once I knew what the most common letter mail of the period looked like, I could begin to recognize things that were a bit different too.

Postal agreements between Switzerland and France

I admit that I usually prefer to find a couple of inexpensive examples of the area I want to study because it gives me extra motivation to do the research.  But that usually happens after I've learned enough to know what is likely to be a typical simple letter (a simple letter is one that only cost a single rate of postage) from one country to another.  Once I have a couple of items in hand, I usually have enough desire to hunt down resources that can tell me more.

Prior to the General Postal Union (which became the Universal Postal Union) in 1875, the mail exchange between two nations was often determined by a postal treaty or agreement between them.  I found two such agreements for Switzerland and France that applied during the period I was researching (the 1860s).

Before I get in too deep, I should point out that Switzerland, as we know it now, was actually several independent cantons until the Swiss Confederation came into being in 1848.  It took some time to develop new postal arrangements with other nations that would apply to all parts of the new confederation, so mail was exchanged with each canton using the agreements they had used before the new agreements were activated.

Postal Convention of November 25, 1849

This convention was completed in November, but it was not until April of the following year that the convention was ratified by both parties.  On first glance, reading the treaty (page 638) in the convention, I find no specific mention of an active date.  It may be there, but I have not found it yet.  Other literature suggests a July 1, 1850 date.

To give you an idea of the flavor of these documents, I grabbed a couple of sections.  Let me first tell you that the plot is a little dry and the authors often take the round-about way to get to the point.  Oh, and they are in French.  That's why I included some interpretation below their text.

Convention of 1849

Article III	Article V
Article III setting the weight of simple letters (7.5 grams)	First part of Article V setting the postage rate at 40 centimes.

Click on the text image to see a larger version.

Postal Convention of March 22, 1865

This new treaty was ratified in Paris on August 14 of the same year.  If a person reads the first convention and then immediately reads the second convention (page 207), it becomes clear how much more comfortable nations were in developing postal agreements. 

Well, it becomes clear if you can read some French.  Again, this stuff is not light "bed-time" reading.  It really helps to have some goal in mind when you start looking.  It also helps to find people who have already figured these things out so you can get a boost for your learning.

Article III fixing the new rate of postage and weights.

Prepaid Letter Rates from Switzerland to France

I will admit that I don't REALLY enjoy reading postal conventions just for the fun of it.  What I enjoy is getting the information I need so I can understand how the mail got from here to there.  That's why I try to simplify the information so I can more quickly figure a new cover out when I see it.

What follows below is a table that summarizes the postal rates effective during these two postal conventions.

Prepaid Letter Rates - Switzerland to France

Effective Date	Treaty Rate	Unit	Rate Range	Border Rate
see * about prior rates
Jul 1, 1850 First Period	40 rappen/centimes	7.5 grams	(a)	10 rappen
Jan 1, 1852 Second Period	40 rappen/centimes	7.5 grams	(b)	15 rappen
Sep 14, 1854 Third Period	40 rappen/centimes	7.5 grams	(c)	15 rappen
Aug 15, 1859 Fourth Period	40 rappen/centimes	7.5 grams		20 rappen
Oct 1, 1865	30 centimes	10 grams		20 centimes
Jan 1, 1876 (GPU)	30 centimes	15 grams		20 centimes
May 1, 1878 (UPU)	25 centimes	15 grams
Oct 1, 1907 (UPU)	25 ctm / 15 ctm	15 g / add'l 15 g

* Switzerland was "unified" in 1848.  The 1849 convention is the first such between France and the new government.  Prior to this, postal agreements depended on the canton.

• (a) certain rayon combinations qualified for a rate lower than treaty allowed amounts **requires more research**   
• (b) as above
• (c) as above

For my purposes, we can ignore all of the stuff that lands prior to August 15, 1859.  During that period, the cost of mail from Switzerland to France varied depending on the distance the letter had to travel in Switzerland before it got to the French border.  Maybe some day, we'll explore that.  But, today is not that day.

40 centimes per 7.5 grams - Aug 15, 1959 - Sep 30, 1865

So, here we are.  A typical simple letter mailed in Switzerland to France.  There is a green 40 rappen stamp that pays the postage for a letter to France that weighed no more than 7.5 grams.  There is a postmark in black ink that tells us where the letter originated (Fluerier, Switzerland).   There is a red postmark that tells us where it entered the French mails (Pontarlier).  And, there is a marking that tells postal clerks down the line that the postage is fully paid (P.D.).

I also am guessing that a few of you are staying "Wait a minute there Rob!  You tell us the postage rate is 40 centimes per 7.5 grams and then you tell us they used a 40 rappen stamp to pay for it?"

Yeah.  I guess I glossed over that, didn't I?  

First, take a look at the stamp itself.

If you look at the bottom, it reads "40 rappen."  If you look at the left, it reads "40 centimes," and at the right it says "40 centesimi."  So, I could have selected any of these and been correct.  

One of the neat things about Switzerland is that they have multiple official languages, including German, French, Italian and Romansh.  Swiss money was based on the Swiss franc, which was divided into 100.  The German speakers would refer to these as rappen, the French speakers as centimes, the Italians speakers as centesimi and the Romansh speakers as rap.

Since we are talking about mail between Switzerland and France, it actually makes more sense to discuss all of the postal rates in centimes.  And, another neat thing?  The next issue of Swiss postage stamps solved the problem of multiple names for their coinage by simply displaying the number "40."  Each person could fill in the blank for themselves!

The back of this folded letter includes a Swiss railroad transit marking (Neuchatel to Pontarlier) and a receiving postmark for Paris.

And that is the anatomy of a simple letter in the 1860s (this one is 1862) from Switzerland to France.  So, let's look again at our first example.

Things are actually pretty similar.  The most notable differences are - two postage stamps instead of one, and the number "2" just under those stamps. 

Then we see something like this one!

Basel Oct 31, 1864  (Bad Bahnpost) Suisse St Louis Nov 1, 1864 Lyon Nov 2, 1864 7 A-E-D (see below)

This letter was mailed in 1864 from Basel, Switzerland to Lyon, France.  Our other examples both went to Paris.  So, unlike them, this item would likely have headed by rail to Dijon and then south to Lyon after it got to St Louis.

There are also a couple of different markings here that, because they are a bit different, might tell us some different stories!

The Bad Bahnpost marking reveals an interesting historical aspect.  Baden and Switzlerland entered a treaty agreement on July 27, 1852.  This allowed for the development of a railway station that would be run by the Baden rail on Swiss soil in Basel.  A simple history exists on wikipedia that can serve as a starting point for those who have interest.  So, this letter was either posted at the Baden station or on the train itself.  Our other letter from Basel read "Basel Briefexpedition."  This would have been a Swiss post office marking.

The 7 A-E-D marking found on the front of this cover seems to be an artifact from earlier postal procedures in France.  

• AED = Affranchi a l'Etranger jusqu'a Destination (Foreign mail paid to destination)  
• The numeral ('7') indicated the exchange office.  

It seems odd that this particular item has a plethora of paid markings.  There are two differnt "P.D." markings applied.  It seems fairly obvious by inking and placement that the boxed PD was applied on the mobile post office on the Baden Bahnpost train.  The 7 AED marking looks like the same ink as the St Louis exchange marking, so I would not be surprised to learn that "7" stands for St Louis.  The final P.D. marking could have been applied in Lyon or on the train from St Louis to Lyon.  Regardless, it seems the agents felt a great need to indicate this item was paid more than once.  Sometimes it's good to be thorough, I guess.

30 centimes per 10 grams - Oct 1, 1865 - Dec 31, 1875

Once we get to 1865, things get a bit more interesting from the perspective of routes because both France and Switzerland continued to add new railway lines.  Suddenly, the shortest route wasn't always the best route.  For example, if the shortest route only had one train a day, but a slightly longer route had four trains a day, it was possible that the second route would get the mail to its destination faster!

I have found that the period from 1865 to 1868 is best for studying these different routes.  As we go into 1869 and the 1870s, the French and Swiss postal services spend less time putting postmarks on their mail.  For example, France stopped worrying so much about putting a marking on each letter indicating where it crossed the border.  Instead, Paris used a marking with the word "Etranger" to indicate a letter had originated outside of France.  

Here is an example of a letter that left Switzerland at Geneva and crossed the border at Bellegarde.

Zurich Jun 13, 1866 Geneve Jun 14 66 (verso) Geneve - Sion - Geneve Jun 14 66 (verso) Suisse Amb Marseilles Jun 14 66 Marseilles Jun 15 66 (verso)

These postal conventions helped to define which exchange offices in Switzerland could process mail with certain exchange offices in France.  In this case, the Swiss exchange office would be represented by the "Geneve-Sion-Geneve" postmark or the "Geneve" postmark on the back of this folded letter.  The first was a railroad marking for the Geneva - Lausanne traveling post office and the second was a post office marking in Geneva.  Both were authorized to exchange mail with the ambulant (traveling) post office to Marseilles.

I was able to find some old rail schedules and found that there was only one French mail train departure a day for this particular exchange of mail at 4:30 PM.  The Geneva marking gives us a time with "3S" (3 PM).  Which would be about right to catch the French train.  This train was scheduled to arrive at Lyon at 10:27 AM the next day and should have had no trouble getting to Marseilles later that day.

Marseilles was to the South and West, but our next letter went to the South and East.

Nyon Mar 5, 1868 Geneve A Mar 5 68 (verso)  Geneve - Sion Mar 5 68 (verso) Suisse Amb M Cenis Mar 6 Grenoble Mar 6 68 (verso)

This letter also went through Geneva, but it crossed into France at St Julien.  The French exchange office was another traveling or ambulant post office on the Mt Cenis train.  I suppose I could spend some time trying to find and dig out rail schedules for this one as well.  But, sometimes proof of concept is all I need.

Look.  If you want to spend YOUR time figuring out the train schedules for each of the rest of these letters, go right ahead!  If you're feeling charitable, you can send them my way.  If you're not, you can smugly hold on to that information for your own nefarious devices.

And the only reason I wrote that last paragraph is because someone challenged me to get the word "nefarious" into my next Postal History Sunday. Who said Postal History Sunday had to be perfectly serious?

So, shall we move on to one of my favorite covers from Switzerland to France?

Zurich May 7, 1868 Basel May 8 68 (verso) Suisse Mulhouse May 8 68

The simple letter shown above would have taken the same rail line from Basel as the other items with the Saint Louis exchange marking.  However, because the letter was addressed to Mulhouse and because Mulhouse was fairly close to the border - it served as the French exchange office with Basel. It is likely Mulhouse only processed mail destined for its surrounding area.  I would be very surprised to see a Mulhouse exchange for a letter destined for Paris, or Marseilles... or most anywhere else for that matter.

According to the regulations for the 1865 convention, the Mulhouse exchange office would correspond with three Swiss exchange offices, the Basel main office, the Basel branch office (succursale) and the Olten-Basel traveling office.  Zurich was an exchange office only with Paris, so Zurich had to send the letter to the main Basel office to be processed there.

The letter left Basel on the second mail train to Mulhouse the following day.  There were five opportunities for mail to travel from Basel to Mulhouse each day.  The first chance for the letter to leave Basel on the 8th, left at about 5:10 AM and was scheduled to arrive at Mulhouse at 6:22AM.  The Basel marking includes a "9" after the date, which seems to indicate the 9 AM train departure (the second of the day taking Mulhouse mails) which was scheduled to arrive 54 minutes later.  The other three departures were scheduled for 10:15 AM, 2 PM and 5:05PM.  Scheduled travel times ranged from 54 minutes to 75 minutes.

Border Crossings and Exchange Offices

Article I of the 1849 Convention

Shown above is the part of the 1849 postal agreement that set the pairings of offices to exchange the mail.  The list here is fairly short (9 pairs).  However, the convention language leavds it open for the creation of new exchange office locations when it was judged to be "necessary."  This gave the postal administrations the power to figure out new pairings (and new exchange offices) as transportation opportunities presented themselves over time.

The 1865 postal convention does not include a similar list.  However, the post office instructions include a very substantial listing of exchange office pairings and routes - sometimes providing expected rail schedules.  

The 1849 convention list of exchange offices were as follows from North to South (French location - Swiss location):

1. Saint-Louis - Basel
2. Delle - Porentruy (local mail - SE of Montbeliard)
3. Miache - Seignelegier (local mail - E of Besancon)
4. Morteau - les Brenets (local mail - N of Verrieres)
5. Pontarlier - les Verrieres
6. Pontarlier - Sainte Croix (local mail - S of les Verrieres)
7. Jougne - Ballaigue (local mail - half way between Verrieres and Geneve)
8. les Rousses - Saint Cergue (local mail - N of Geneve)
9. Ferney - Geneva (west of Geneve)

The Instructions for the 1865 Convention give a much more complex picture with a full schedule for departures and arrivals.  Postal History Sunday is NOT the place for such a list.  But, you should note that there is definitely a difference between exchange offices for local mail and exchange offices that would handle mail for larger portions of each country.

Basel-St Louis border crossing

The Paris to Basel rail lines carried a significant amount of correspondence.   The Paris to Basel (Bale) provided fast service between the two cities and this mail train carried foreign mails from England (and points beyond) which were funneled through Paris and on to Calais.

Bradshaw's Monthly Guide May 1866 (click for larger version)

Mulhouse was the location for the rail line split either towards Strasbourg or Dijon.  According to Bradshaw's Handbooks, trains to Basel (Bale) would have either gone through Strasbourg or via Troyes and coming in just North of Montbeliard on its way to Mulhouse.

Verrieres de Suisse crossing

Pontarlier on the French side of the border is clearly the largest settlement in the area.  Neuchatel or La Chaux-de-Fonds are relatively close on the Swiss side.    Significant mail volumes, including foreign mails frequently took this crossing.

Geneva crossings

The Bellegarde crossing from Geneva would seem to be the favored routing for mails in the Southern France from Marseilles westward.  And, mail to western and northern France may also have taken this route.  The Annemasse crossing was used for northern Savoy, while St Julien appears to have connected with the Mt Cenis railway - so mail to southeastern France would have gone this way most of the time.

The Big Finish

What you got in today's Postal History Sunday is a brief view into all of the things that a postal historian might consider as they try to figure out how mail traveled from here to there in any period of time.  You can either view it all as daunting or wonderfully interesting - and I will readily admit that there have been times when I waver between the two.

To understand postal history in a certain location for a given time period you have to get some idea of each of the following:

• The area's general history.

For example, it was helpful to know a bit about Switzerland's unification in 1848.  And, it is good to know that some of the social history of that confederation includes peoples who speak four different official languages.

• Geography

At the very least, being able to picture the shared borders of France and Switzerland play a big role in figuring out the challenges and opportunities for exchanging mail.  But, this only helps if you learn the borders for the time period you are studying.  In the 1850s and 1860s, some of these borders changed - and that can be important to know because these big events can provide us with some of the best stories!

• The state of transportation

In the late 1840s, much of the mail shared between France and Switzerland crossed the borders on horse-drawn mail coaches.  By the mid-1860s, mail cars on trains handled most of the mail traffic.

• Money systems

If you don't know the basics of the money used to pay for postage, you're going to have a pretty rough time understanding the postal rates!

• Postal regulations, procedures and rates

And then there's this.  This is often the crux of what postal historians claim to study.  The cool part of this is that we can study actual artifacts - honest to goodness letters - that traveled in these mail systems during the time periods in the locations we hope to study.

Remember, each of these items were about 160 years old.  And we can hold or view them today.  Using them as a window, we can transport ourselves back in time to another place.  And maybe we can understand some things about people who live there in that time.

Resources

1.  De Clercq, M, "Recueil des Traites de la France,"  p 638 holds the 1849 postal convention.
2.  page 207 of Volume 20 has the 1865 treaty. 
3.  Les Tarifs Postaux Francais: Entre 1848 et 1916 by Jean-Louis Bourgouin    
4. Bradshaw's Monthly Continental Railway, Steam Transit and General Guide for Travelers Through Europe, May 1866. 
5. Mitchell, Allan, the Great Train Race: Railways and the Franco-German Rivalary, 1815-1914, Berghan Books, 2000. 
6. Richardson, Derek J, "Tables of French Postal Rates 1849-2011," 4th ed, France and Colonies Philatelic Society of Great Britain, 2011.    Only useful for foreign rates from France once the General Postal Union is formed in 1875.

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Thank you for joining me today!  Have a fine remainder of your day and an excellent week to come.

Postal History Sunday is published each week at both the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you are interested in prior entries, you can view them, starting with the most recent, at this location.

September Playlist

This seems like a good Saturday in the month of September to share a music playlist.  This time around, I'm just going to share a few tunes that are some all-time favorites of mine.  It doesn't matter if I've shared these specific songs before.  It doesn't matter if I share more than one song by the same artist.  It doesn't really matter what anyone who reads this might think.  

It's my list, and I'm sharing the music I like.  That's all there is to it, so there!

Ok.  I hope you like some of these selections too.  It's not required that you do, of course.  So, if you're left wanting after this, put in some of your own favorites, or go listen to the wind in the trees or in the dry, fall grasses, or the voice of someone you love.

And now, for our list, which goes to eleven.

Smokescreen - Lost Dogs

Great lyrics, of course.  But the thing that sticks out is the atmosphere that comes with this song.  You can almost feel the wind creeping in through the cracks of an old shack on a cold winter day, especially at the end of this track.

Restore My Soul - the Choir

This one has been a favorite for a very long time.  All of the images of being "almost there, but not quite" are relatable for all of us.  "A bridge away from justified, a step away from whole."  The song has a mesmerizing beat and I always find myself stopping to listen to the instrumentation at the end.

Give Me Strength - Over the Rhine

Apparently there are a couple of things developing here.  I like songs that use the instrumentation and sound to build a a bit of a mood for the lyrics that go with them.  "Give me time to heal and build myself a dream...Give me strength to be only me."

Echo Wars - Peter Case

I will freely admit that I would not usually pick Peter Case in an "all-time favorites" list if I were asked to select off the top of my head.  And yet, every time I'm perusing the music in our library and I see this Peter Case album, I can immediately hear the tunes in my head.

Low - Violet Burning

It's a big, grand tune.  And, to listen to it requires an investment of a sort.  But a worthwhile one.  

We could lie here together
Pulling the stars from the sky
Maybe things will get better
Maybe not, I don't know why

Forum - Undercover

Another tune that has a beat that make you bob your head or tap your feet, even when you tell yourself not to. 

 

Faust, Midas, and Myself - Switchfoot

Life begins at the intersection.  Great story-telling and lyrics in this one.

I Need Love - Sam Phillips

I have a hard time picking a particular song by Sam Phillips.  She writes in a way that makes me feel like a song is comfortable even on the first listen, but still fresh after several listens.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Yeah.  I know.  Lots of people like this song.  Fine with me.

War - Lifesavers Underground (LSU)

And here's a tune not very many people have likely heard - as compared to the previous entry.  It's different.  I like it.  And that's why it's in the list.

And now, so this list properly goes to eleven....

Homeward - Future of Forestry

I'll just leave you with this one.  Enjoy!

More Than One Way to a Pollinator Paradise

 

One of the things we hope to achieve during our time as stewards of the land that we call the Genuine Faux Farm, is to work with nature and provide habitat for pollinators.  We do all sorts of things - some of them might seem strange to other growers - to support a wide range of pollinators.  We let patches of clover and daisies grow in our "lawn" areas and we try to manage when we mow to promote new blooms, while still allowing these non-lawn plants a chance to thrive.  We plant a range of annual flowering plants with our vegetables and I have been known to let broccoli bloom because I know our little friends like them.

I am sure I have a long list of ideas for others who might like to create their own pollinator paradises.  But, one thing is certain, I won't pretend that my way is the best or only way.  It's what works for us, on our farm, with our tools, our available time, and our land - most of the time.

In July, we took a trip to the Scattergood Friends School farm.  Scattergood is one of the farms we have traditionally visited to do some work and share some food each year.  Our friends there have a bit more land to work with than we do and they also have a very different landscape to work with too.

Certainly they use flowers in their vegetable planting.  And, yes, they have pasture area, trees, bushes and other spaces that provide a long range of bloom period to feel the wildlife and the pollinators.  They also worked with Xerces to establish a perennial pollinator habitat.  

While I was there, I took out the camera and took a few pictures, focusing on some of the flowers that were blooming at the time.  There were only a few of these Butterfly Milkweed plants near the edge of the planting, but I was able to get close enough without tromping through the plot.

Then, just this last weekend, we visited Blue Gate Farm.  Our friends there are also part of our peer mentorship group.  Again, there are similarities to what we do and what Scattergood does.  And, of course, there are differences.

While Tammy and I both work off the farm now, this is not true for our friends at Blue Gate.  The farm produces their income, so they need to be aware of money-making opportunities, while also working to provide pollinator habitat.  

What it looks like when a larger bumblebee flies right in front of the camera!

Of course, our friends at Blue Gate recognize that a healthy pollinator population is a key for the production of many of the crops they hope to sell.  But they also look to the beautiful flowers as a source of income, selecting a wide range of blooms that they can harvest and sell as flower arrangements.  So they select many of their annuals based on blooming habits that provide excellent cut flowers over a longer season of production.

While Blue Gate might not use borage or marigolds as much as we do (because neither provide excellent cut flowers for sales), they are also intent on providing habitat.  They're just hoping that their efforts can be repaid both by flower sales and by pollinator services.

In all three examples, the Genuine Faux Farm, Blue Gate Farm, and Scattergood, diversity is a central theme.  That diversity provides a longer bloom time and provides different flower types that appeal to a wider range of pollinators.  Also, in all three cases, there is wild space, there are perennial and annual plantings, and a desire to avoid insecticides that will kill the pollinators.

Yet the biggest similarity might be the hearts of the farmers that want to build these Pollinator Paradises - even if the ways they go about it are different.

Three Weeks

This Thursday, I was considering the migration of the swallows from our farm (and elsewhere).  Already, we have had multiple visits from swallows who are from regions to our north.  I was trying to remember how far they flew each day (55 miles) and knew I had that factoid here.  So, I will share this as a Throwback Thursday post because it's a good one.

Enjoy!

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It was just three weeks ago that we entered the month of September, and I've only just gotten used to the idea that we are actually residing in that month.  I am still startled to notice that schools are in session and that Tammy is now fully into the semester at the college.  I am both dismayed and a bit alarmed that the sun comes up later each day and goes down sooner.  There are tasks that I told myself should be easy to get done during the month that I have not even started and there are changes I promised I would make that are still promises - but not reality.

Three weeks.  It doesn't seem like much time at all - yet it can be all the time in the world.

The first days of April this year brought snowfall to the Genuine Faux Farm.  The big, fluffy flakes floated down from above and drew me outside with the camera to see if I could capture a pleasing image or two.  Even if they weren't the nicest pictures in the world, they served as an excellent reminder of what was at that time.  

There was a moment, as I stood outside and the flakes landed on my hands and head (well, hat actually), that time felt like it stopped.  There was silence - except for the sound a snowflake makes when it lands.

But, then I blinked.

And three weeks had passed.  There was no snow.  The grass had greened.  Some of the earliest plants were starting to show interest in waking and displaying their greenery.

The sun woke us up earlier each and every day - unless it was shy and hid behind the clouds.  And, that same sun found more to see in our landscape, so it stuck around a bit longer into the evening - painting the sky as it finally admitted it had seen enough this time around.

Three weeks and the world had changed enough that a stranger might not recognize that they were in the same place that had existed just twenty-one days ago.

Three weeks is about how long it takes for a Barn Swallow chick to hatch and grow big enough for it to take its first flight.  In three days more, it has likely left the nest for good.  In three weeks, we can see the first German-bearded Iris bloom and, sometimes the last for the season.  It's a special bloom season when we see them for four weeks.  We often transplant lettuce seedlings we started in trays after a little more than three weeks.  

Going back to our Barn Swallow friends, they are currently migrating, typically leaving our farm in September (we usually see the last of them on September 15, but many leave September 1st).  They travel an average of 55 miles a day, so in three weeks they will have covered approximately 1,155 miles.  That is approximately the distance from our farm to Galveston, Texas. 

Three weeks.  So little time - and so much.  I can either allow myself to be upset that so much has changed, but I have not accomplished what I wanted OR I can be encouraged and I can think about what I will be able to do in the next three weeks.

Because a lot can change over that period of time.

Zealot or Zealous?

 

If a person were motivated enough to dig up my views and how they have changed (and not changed) over the years they might find that I am no different than anyone else.  There will be themes and topics where my thoughts and opinions have morphed and adjusted as my experiences taught me.  But there will also be numerous guiding principles that have been relatively consistent.  They too, have changed, as I learn and grow.  Yet they have been refined because I have always sought to be better and do better - as much as I possibly can.

You could say that I have exercised a great deal of zeal in my effort to learn throughout my life.  But, would you say that I am a zealot?  And, if you did, would that be a good thing?

Historically, a Zealot was a member of a Jewish sect in the first century AD that put themselves against Rome and polytheism (the Romans recognized a pantheon of gods).  They were aggressive in their opposition and uncompromising in their opinions and beliefs.  The term "zealot" now refers to any person who is fanatical and uncompromising as they pursue their beliefs and ideals.  

That leaves me with a question.  I have been told that I was zealous in my pursuit of learning and that I show zeal when I promote intercropping or pollinator planting.  I take that as a compliment.  But, is it a compliment if someone tells you that you are a zealot?  

The first-century Zealots were so committed to their points of view that they came to despise fellow Jews who sought peace and conciliation with the Romans.  Some even resorted to terrorism and assassination, killing those they felt were friendly to Rome (it didn't matter if the "target" was a Jew).  One issue here is that some Zealots became so set in their views that they no longer considered persons who did not wholly agree with them to be worthwhile humans.

I wonder sometimes how those people found themselves going down that path.  And then I realize that people in every age of the world have taken that same journey.  It's a journey that starts with an ideal that seems right and appears to have real value.  Over time, that ideal gets jeopardized by alternative viewpoints that may or may not fully agree with a person's perception of that ideal.  Some people take the time to learn and re-assess what they know - hopefully coming out on the other side with a more complex and complete understanding of the world around them.

Others militantly reject anything that doesn't appear to line-up without further consideration.  Eventually, they begin to devalue anything who doesn't agree.  And once you don't think another idea has any value, it doesn't take much more to decide the person who has that idea also has no value.

That's when we have a problem - in my opinion.

In the end, I decided that I was ok with someone telling me I was zealous in my pursuit of learning.  Or that I have shown zeal over time in my efforts to encourage people to support a wide range of pollinators.  But, the word "zealot" bears with it the possible implication that a person is, in my opinion, no longer an effective advocate for the things that person has zeal for.

For example, I presented at an event where I was talking about pesticide drift.  It can be a difficult, and often polarizing, topic.  And, one person could not contain themselves, aggressively and uncompromisingly expressing an opinion that clearly set boundaries of good and evil, acceptable and unacceptable, decent human-being and something unworthy of mention.

Eventually, they were asked to allow the panel - who had worked hard to prepare for this event - the opportunity to share their information with the audience, some of whom were getting a bit impatient with this person.  Even if some of them - and some of me - agreed with some of this person's sentiment.

So what was the problem?  If we had some point of agreement, why was it that many of us grew tired of what they were saying?

Well, I don't know about the other people in the room, but my problem was that they were actually eroding the credibility of what actually could be a pretty good argument.  The result of being this kind of zealot is that you push others who might actually agree with you AWAY and you harm the ultimate cause.

I know this is not how that person saw it.  In fact, I am certain they now feel that my opinion no longer has value because I did not stand beside them and denounce that which is evil with the same zeal (and agenda and language) that they had.  They let me know that I had sullied myself by my very presence with people who were clearly "them."

There was more to it than that as well.  But this is not the time to cover it.  Instead, I'll leave you with this.  It is one thing to be zealous, to have energy for sharing the good agendas in your life.  It is quite another to force that agenda on others.  The life of a zealot is not for me.