Life is a Garden. Let the Growing Begin.

May is here, the sun is shining, the days are mild and everywhere you look, things are growing. I am happily getting back in the routine of early morning watering with my first cup of coffee, and every day I see something new germinating. Potatoes are up, radishes and carrots are emerging and my peas finally made it. It's a smaller scale garden than I have been used to working with the last two years, but I think it will give me the opportunity to focus more intensively. It will be a good learning experience. I'm just happy to have gardening work to do again. It's something I always know I can throw myself into and come out feeling exhausted, soothed and joyful all at the same time. I cannot even count the hours I have spent out there this Spring late into the evening mulching away my worries, tilling away my frustrations, and giving all my dreams a place to grow.

This week I made my last big push to get all the garden beds uncovered and I have to say that the soil just looks rich and luscious. I finally gave some attention to my compost pile, giving it a good turning, layering with cocoa husk and introducing red worms from a friend's pile. It's going to be good stuff.

All my seedling starts are coming up in the greenhouse. Aside from some spotty basil germination, all is going quite well. I'm trying some new exciting things this year like edible chrysanthemum greens and Big Doris pumpkins. I'm going to try and figure out how to maximize space to fit in storage onions and fun things like Gremlin gourds.

The raised bed of greens is just rocking. I'm having some sort of freshly picked, succulent, leafy green with every meal. I packed them in tightly so I can just graze and thin them as I go. I am thinking when these come to their end with the Summer's heat, this is where the peppers and tomatoes will go.

While I'm not always getting as much done as I think I should (we will just not mention the chicken run and quail coop that are coming along very slowly), it's still good to step back and look at all the things that have gotten done in those early morning and late evening hours working the soil, and enjoy all the good things I'm beginning to harvest as a result. It will all get done eventually, and in the meanwhile, the garden and I will keep on growing.

Arugula, Arugula, how do I love Thee?

Let me count the ways...

Nibbled fresh from the greenhouse bed

As a salad

As part of a salad mix

On sandwiches

In burritos

Tossed with pasta

Piled on rice noodle dishes

As part of a finger food plate with cheeses, fruit, etc.

As you can see, I'm really loving the arugula right now.

What are your favorite ways to eat this delightfully succulent, spicy green?

A Merry May Faire

This past weekend, our Waldorf School held the annual May Faire on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Everyone gathered around the maypole in the lower field, creating a bustling circle of community fun. With Spring in full swing, it seemed as though everyone was emerging from social hibernation and coming out of the woodwork to co-create this beautiful, ancient festival together.

This year, my childrens' class were the maypole dancers, so it was an especially exciting occasion for us. Wearing white and adorned in flower crowns they made that morning, they all wove their ribbons in and out around the maypole in traditional dances.

Musicians played, dancers danced, and ribbons wove all together.

At one point, my twin children were dancing together in a pair.

I loved seeing their big smiles and knowing they were having such fun.

Watching the woven patterns atop the pole come together and come apart as the dancers weave in and out and around one another always amazes me. It's not always perfect, but I think quite fitting in its reflection of the intricacies of a community.

I was there for the day in my Mountain Hearth Handcrafts booth, watching the bustle and merry making go on all around. I truly enjoy dispersing my artistic creations for other folks to enjoy. I know that feeling well of taking home a beloved piece of art or handwork.

I was visited by many smiling, wonderful folks, friends, and even a troupe of May Faeries!

I have to say, I am happy that May has finally arrived. It's been a long Winter, with all its own challenges and cold, drizzly days tempered by cozy nights by the woodstove. So right now, seeing all the trees and flowers blooming, the honeybees buzzing, and the gentle Spring sun shining, I am feeling a great renewal of joyful growth. So, without further ado, here we go again, dancing around the circle of the year.

What's New and Exciting in my Bed!

Okay, now that the title has grabbed your attention, I just wanted to share my sheer joy over all the greens coming up in my raised greenhouse bed. Every morning when I go out to water, I see new green leafy things pushing up out of the dark, rich soil and unfolding into luscious salad greens. Lettuces, mustards, kales, arugula, and cilantro are on their way to becoming many delicious, fresh meals. I was excited to find that Territorial Seed Company had some wild green seed mix varieties this year, and I had to try them out. They seem very hardy so far, and I can't wait to eat them.

Here are a few close up shots of what's coming up.

Slo-bolt Lettuce

Wild Garden Mustards

Wild Garden Arugula

Kale

Cilantro

Heirloom Lettuce Mix

Now on to potatoes and seedlings. With a busy life and lots of rain, I'm feeling a little behind in the homesteading area of my life, but little by little it's coming together. This summer I'll sit out on my deck with my banjo and look down upon my garden, chickens clucking and scratching, quail coo-ing, drink some delicious iced herbal nettle tea and just enjoy the life I'm building.

Blog Giveaway at Wooly Moss Roots!

It's Springtime, and the birds are busy building nests in trees, shrubs, barn eaves and marsh grasses all around us. I, too, have been busy building nests in my craft room. I am giving one away over at the Wooly Moss Roots blog this week, so head on over there and put in your entry:

http://woolymossroots.blogspot.com/2012/04/giveaway-from-sponsor-mountain-hearth.html

Entries are open this Saturday through Wednesday, April 25, and the winner will be announced on Thursday. You can also fnd more of these nests, along with needlefelted wool art, seasonal fairy dolls, gemstone bead jewelry, and kitchen items made of recycled wool sweaters in my online shop:

Mountain Hearth Handcrafts.

Folks who visit the Wooly Moss Roots blog can find a coupon code for 10% off in my shop through the week after the giveaway.

I also feel I would be holding you all back from a wealth of inspiration if I didn't encourage you to visit Taryn's blog in general. Wooly Moss Roots , is a delightful account of a family's simple homesteading life in the coastal mountains of Oregon. She shares beautiful photographs, recipes, ideas, and reminders of gratitude for all the things we love in life. She and her husband, Jeff, are amazing handcrafters and artists, and you can find their work at their Mystic Orb booth at the Eugene Saturday Market, as well as on their online shops: Mystic Orb Shop, and Wooly Moss Roots Shop. You can also read more about their homesteading life  and art from Jeff's point of view on his blog: Mystic Orb.

Trillium

"The time when dog-tooth violets

Hold up inverted horns of gold,--

The elvish cups that Spring upsets

With dripping feet, when April wets

The sun-and-shadow-marbled wold,--

Is come. And by each leafing way

The sorrel drops pale blots of pink;

And, like an angled star a fay

Sets on her forehead's pallid day,

The blossoms of the trillium wink.

Within the vale, by rock and stream,--

A fragile, fairy porcelain,--

Blue as a baby's eyes a-dream,

The bluets blow; and gleam in gleam

The sun-shot dog-woods flash with rain.

It is the time to cast off care;

To make glad intimates of these:--

The frank-faced sunbeam laughing there;

The great-heart wind, that bids us share

The optimism of the trees."

~Madison Julius Cawein

Digging In

 

As a new growing season begins, I find myself digging into new soil. Every morning when I wake up and look around, I am happy to be living in the middle of a farm. Granted, I'm not on a farm of my own anymore, but it feels good to get my boots muddy, my fingernails dirty, and create something with the sweat of my brow.  Evenings, early mornings, and snippets of stolen time in my busy days have been spent planting, weeding, mulching, cleaning up and setting up my new homesteading endeavors. I am also enjoying watching the work the farmers are doing here on this land as it progresses. It's a view into the day-to-day of an organic farm I have never had the opportunity to observe, and it puts the planting of my own peas and potatoes into a whole different perspective of scale.

One of the most exciting parts of living on this 20-acre organic farm, is that I was turned loose with my own garden area, greenhouse to use, and materials for a chicken coop and run. I found a free chicken coop on a local permaculture list, and was given an old, funky greenhouse to turn into the frame for a chicken run. I was just thinking how it couldn't get any easier, when a windstorm came along the next day and blew the greenhouse across the garden and up against the side of the carport under my house!

Between the farmer, a good strong friend, and myself, we managed to cut the bent bottom poles off and move it back into place. We took off the plastic covering too, lest it should get windy again. I saved the plastic to cover a small portion for a rain shelter, and collected abundant amounts of free fencing and chicken wire from a friend taking a break from chicken keeping. It's coming along slowly, but I hope to move some of my old flock over here with me soon.

I got a raised bed put in the greenhouse and planted several varieties of greens, including wild arugula, mustard and various lettuces. In the coming weeks I will be starting my seeds for the garden. It's pretty much my dream greenhouse, so I'm very pleased with the whole situation.

I got my quail coop moved over and set in place, along with the chicken run from my friend who gave me all the wire and fencing. I am planning on having plenty of fresh, delicious quail eggs soon.

I transplanted starts from the herbs in my old garden, and put them in various beds and places around my house. Mint, sweet woodruff, lemon balm, calendula, rosemary, lavender, and wild oxeye daisy were just a few, along with some flowers like lamb's ear and wandflower.

My wildcrafted nettle rhizomes are coming up and doing quite well. I expect to have a nice nettle patch for teas and soups by early summer.

All around my house, the fruit trees are coming into flower and it is a beautiful sight to behold. I keep imagining all the fruit laden branches I'm going to look around at in the Fall.

The kids and I have also been enjoying all the wildlife stopping by to visit. This deer often beds down by the gooseberry bushes and I see her getting up in the early morning to head off and graze on soft orchard grass. A nutria frequently wanders around the meadow below the kitchen window, and the birds are everywhere singing their songs, including the low honking tones of Canada geese drifting my way from the pond. Not too bad for living a stone's throw from town.

Looking around me, I know I have transplanted myself to a good location. The more I dig in and stain my pants and fingernails with this soil, the more I feel like I have a place to tend and pour my hard work and heart into. And until the day comes along again that I have a homestead to call my own, this will do just fine.