To make a deep mental path....

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, 

so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. 

To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. 

To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over 

the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."
~Thoreau

It's 85 degrees outside and this taste of Summer is intoxicating. It's what I needed to spur on the personal projects I have been thinking about. The garden is always there with its list of things that need to be done - at least for this first year or so, but after that, it won't require as much structural work...so what will I spend my time on then? I cannot put aside life to become identified with the garden, I am gardening to become more in touch with this life. This is so much more for me than planting a garden. It is a process of discovering what I value, what my beliefs are, what inspires me, who is on this journey with me in a positive way, and who is not. It's about investing my efforts where I work - to the end of being able to be at home more and enjoy this space that is being created in me and around me.

At any given moment - when inspiration hits - I have a few projects that I am working on. Guitar lessons, writing songs, making jewelry, downsizing and de-cluttering my home (and myself), continuing to develop the story I am writing, the garden plans, cooking and being creative with the wood cookstove, and this blog to document the trip.

I have some short term projects - putting together a 6 x 3 freestanding greenhouse to start seeds. Sawing up the remainder of sticks into kindling sized pieces to dry out - weeding out clothes, etc. to bring to consignment, etc. etc.

What has changed is my approach. I work on something, take a rest, move to something else, take a rest. Resting involves music, gaming, writing, sitting outside in the garden, spending time with family and friends. This pace allows me enough time to get to everything that *needs* to be done (clean clothes, dishes, and so on) and it allows enough time to get to the *wants* (spending time with people, different projects, etc.) but the resting also creates this space that has become miraculous for me. Space enough to just be and I find that when there is room in my day to sit and be still  - the ideas come fast and furious - such as outlining a complete story - designing a front garden - figuring a creative way to spend time with family and friends - or something as simple as an answer to "what are we going to do with that pile of logs near the fence?".

The logs became something useful - a garden border to keep the dog out (at least until things grow in) and a place where we (and others) can sit and rest - as well as defining the area where we generally work on wood, chopping, kindling, mulching, etc.

Log pile near the fence and mulch pile in the driveway.
All that is left of the Catalpa and Mulberry that we took down...

The log border (seats) and mulched path 

Mulched path (cardboard and straw) and the beds of peas.
Bark paths between the beds and the herb spiral.

There is also this realization - this craving of community that exists inside of me, and of everyone, I would imagine. We are so disconnected in this world and lonely in large groups of people who are in constant contact with us through technology. I imagine that we all need each other in a greater way than we even realize. It brings me great joy to know that there are people who understand the happiness of putting your hands in the soil and waiting until that first green appears, or that moment when the perfect phrase in a song or story comes together or the moment when you see your child or family member succeed or overcome in life. The benefit of technology is that we have access to people we may not have ever met in the past and the whole world has the potential to become part of our personal community. We also have the opportunity in a greater way to share ideas and information...as long as we remember to share our personal stories and make connections that are real.  I am finding that my physical neighbors have so much to teach me - about life - about myself.  It seems there is always something to learn...today I am grateful for each of the people who have been part of my life, for however long,  and make it such a rich and amazing story...

I love the view from my window...it changes every day!

A tale of two Potato beds...

The seed potatoes arrived and we decided to try two different methods of growing.

last october we put down newspaper, cardboard and straw to prepare the bed.

the newspaper and cardboard were broken down over the Winter

we added topsoil over the newspaper/cardboard mush

5 lbs of potatoes from Johnny's Selected Seeds

The first method is to move aside the mulch and add soil.  Plant 12 inches apart and cover with soil and straw mulch. We were working around stumps and roots of the trees that were removed. They should feed the garden as they break down.

planted 12 inches apart

covered with soil and replaced the straw - added extra straw
and watered in

bed as it was

Seed potatoes - same 12 inches apart and covered with thick layer of mulch.

Around the potato beds, I planted African Marigolds from Seeds of Change.  They are tall bushy Marigolds that grow 3-4 ft. high and are great at attracting insects that are beneficial as well as distracting harmful pests from plants they would damage.

The second method is to just place the seed potatoes on the newspaper/ cardboard straw and cover with another thick layer of mulch.  So we have the two types of beds and an experiment to see which will grow first - if there is any difference between the two, etc. 

 One thing I have already observed is that the thick layer of mulch does retain a lot of moisture and will provide what the potatoes need to grow. 

Next the sweet potatoes should be arriving!

We don't grow food

We did dig the hole, and build the Hugekultur bed, and put the peas into the ground...but we did not grow the plants.  I think this is one of the most important things about Permaculture and the thinking around restoring the soil...food will grow, and we have to understand our place in this. We aren't supposed to mono crop fields, strip the already deficient soil of nutrients and replace them with chemicals. Plants already want to grow and just need the right set of conditions to do so. It does take some work in the beginning, but plants want to grow, and we want to eat. It is really a very simple equation that gets way too complicated.

Peas planted in March - frost resistant and restore nitrogen to the soil for the
lettuces that will grow in this bed in a few weeks.

We planted four different types of peas - four different beds. Two Hugelkultur and two regular raised beds. All mulched with straw or bark mulch and they are all growing just fine with frosts and not much rain. We water them when we need to and it's good to know that their little roots are restoring the nitrogen in the soil. Again, we don't know where this will lead - or what will happen over the next few weeks, but as long as the soil is ready for the kitchen garden (tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, etc) that is all we need. We could just add nitrogen to the soil, but isn't this way is much more interesting? Letting the plants do what they are meant to do...