Experiential Learning
We here at The Riven Word find all aspects of traditional labor to be endlessly fascinating and worthy of close examination, experimentation, and documentation. Often “the doing” is, in itself, a form of research.
Caught up in that spirit of discovery, we wondered: What is the caloric intake necessary to fuel the human body for a day of harvesting thatch? Would the manner of food eaten at lunch affect the day’s labor?
The marsh was hot and still, the sun merciless, and our sickles were sharp as we went into the marsh for another day of gathering cattails. At approximately 1:05pm, we exited the marsh for our lunchtime experiment:
Ploughman’s Lunches
Exhibit A:
Free Range Cauliflower: Win valuable prizes!!
This sublime fare consisted of grilled free-range chicken, lovingly cradled by a locally harvested 50/50 spring mix (organic, mais oui!) avec roasted and blanched cauliflower, and seasoned ever so delicately with parmesan cheese and garlic vinaigrette.
Exhibit B:
Yes. This IS as good as it looks.
This whimsical creation was a mash up of several seemingly disparate elements: A soft, gas-station-purchased Nissan hot dog roll, a careful sprinkling of ShurFine Fiesta Mix (artificially flavored to enhance the experience), and bringing all the parts together in heavenly harmony, A-1 Steak Sauce.
Conclusion:
Both caloric experiments were performed under the shade of several white pines while the subjects sat comfortably at a gently-used picnic table. Several curious ants were in attendance. The Riven Word will publish its findings more fully in a future issue of Puritan Science Monthly. For now, suffice it to say that we are confident that our experiments will withstand even the most strenuous peer review. We have concluded the following: Both lunches hit the proverbial “spot” for our laboring fellows, and contributed toward a day’s harvest of 182 bundles of thatch, for a two-day total of 394 bundles.
Cooking instructions: pre-heat parking lot to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, let dry for aprox. 2 weeks, turning several times.
Thank you roasted cauliflower, and thank you Fiesta Mix. Who knows what gustatory wonders tomorrow will bring?
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Nice experiment
We are driven by objective science, France. That and FiestaMix.
Does foodways know about your lunch choices??????
shhhhhh, Vickie. We need to keep that on the QT.
But how much did you all eat when you got home?
It depends on how much FiestaMix was left, silly!
Yikes! Sad to see the parking lot so empty that you can do that there!
It’s all good, Rick. That’s the very end of the lot which is only filled around Thanksgiving and on Free Fun Friday
( http://www.highlandstreet.org/special-programs/free-fun-fridays.html ). We use it as an interpretive space, talking up the thatch and what we’re doing knee deep in cattail.