Vacationing at Home: Day 7

Day 7:  Sunday

Today was a perfect day. Woke up and brewed some delicious coffee, sat outside and caught up with some reading I have wanted to do. The screen house is helpful during the day with the amount of insects flying from plant to plant, flower to flower.

The Sunchokes and Marigolds are blooming, much later than last year. Morning Glories and Moon flowers appear and disappear each day. The most prolific flowering plant is the buckwheat we spread around. It attracts the largest variety of insects.

This week off has seemed like a month to me. Paying attention to each day - enough to be sure not to miss it, but not caught up in over planning each moment - has really made each day stretch out and I feel very relaxed. When I return to the work I do at my Mon- Fri job, I have a different perspective now. It's just one of the important things I do and no matter what happens or how long it lasts, I feel really good about my contributions there and in the rest of my life. Keeping a balance is what will keep me from being stressed out again.

During the Permaculture class I took - one of the things said is that we all really need to be able to do at least five things, because the way we work is changing, the way we are employed is changing. It may very well be that many of us will work more than one part time job. Or maybe we'll learn to do what our grandparents did? Grow our own food, spend Sundays with family, babysit for each other and live nearby so we can build a stronger community?

The world is changing and it's an exciting time to live in - we have access to more information than ever before and can learn as much as we choose.  My interests and possible jobs would be: permaculture design, gardening, food security, writing, music, cooking, teaching and advertising as long as I have to.  I have heard figures that say 1 in 3 children in this city, where I live,  are not sure where there next meal will come from. Hundreds in the school system are homeless. That doesn't include the adults or the elderly. This is something I would like to help find a solution for.

So my week off was amazing - a week of great food and friends, relaxation and reflection and a start in a new direction, if only internally right now. Every change starts with a decision and that is made.

What tomorrow brings remains to be seen.

Sunchoke flower (Jerusalem Artichoke)

June Garden and Volunteer Plants

Over the past few weeks we have had much rain, and in between the rain storms we added a few new plants and a few more volunteered in the garden!

New Rhubarb 

New Raspberry

Blueberry from last year has berries! 

Vetch is everywhere

The Paw-Paw is doing nicely - just planted this year!

We planted this 4x8 bed with corn and beans and found that MANY pumpkins came up from last year. As well as an overachieving butternut squash...so we decided that a new bed was needed!

Notice the large volunteer Mammoth Sunflower behind the bed. 

I love these and will find a way to have them all over the garden next year =)

So I took some newspaper and placed it down in the front yard  and wet it with a watering can.

And then I put cardboard over that and wet it down with water.

We filled the circle up with soil...

And moved the many rogue pumpin and butternut squash plants into the new bed...

We watered it in and it looks good as a starting point to replacing the front lawn...

Notice the Sunchokes are about four feet tall in the background!

in the back garden, trees are growing like crazy, grape vines are vining....

In the beds, canning tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and amaranth, carrots, radishes, sea kale,

and eggplant, etc. are all growing. Intermingled hot peppers in each bed as well as 

marigolds, poppies, herbs and flowers all perking up after a week of rain.

And the first of our apple trees is fruiting - I pruned off about 25-30 fruits

and we are letting a few grow near to the trunk where they won't break the branches.

I can't wait to try this fruit!

Herb Spiral, Raised Beds, Flower Pots and More!

Spring is finally here and the work outside has begun!


Over the past week, we have been working on several projects...

• Built up the raised beds 
• planted potatoes
• planted two kinds of carrots
• planted leeks, and two kinds of onions
• 6 planters of flowers, herbs and kale (expanding our planting area to the driveway by using planters - also getting some annuals like Marigolds out into the yard and Poppies to the patio)
• planted two new blueberry and two strawberry plants
• planted 5 new grape vines
• added herbs (basil, lemon thyme, rosemary, dill) to the herb spiral (still waiting for the perennials to come up)

In the warm sun of the past few days we have found that all of our fruit trees and bushes have made it through the winter. The fruit bushes are already getting leaves! The bulb flowers: Daffodils, Crocus, and Tulips came up for the second year and where one Daffodil was, 5 came up. I am so happy they are doing well. Still on a search for a flower to come up after the early bulbs...

There is the ever present working with wood for the wood stove, spring cleaning and learning to cook with new and different ingredients. All fun. Learning how to balance life, writing in the blog, and actually being out of the house and in the yard more is my new quest. 

new strawberry and blueberry plants

working on the herb spiral/ rosemary on the top

working on the herb spiral

new herbs planted - alternating with perennials that are not up yet.

garden beds raised up higher 

Sunday morning visitors outside the front window

view from the house  - Spring 2013

2nd year for bulb flowers - new fence in the distance to keep Pippin out of the Sunchokes on the other side

One of the 6 new flower/herb pots throughout the yard

This time of year, time seems to slow down and a million little things get done.

On days like to day with a chicken slowly roasting in the oven, I put my coffee in a travel mug and work at a nice slow pace...

Everything gets done and there is time to sit and eat with family to rest and enjoy it. 

Yard in Bloom

Amaranth and Cherry Tomatoes growing together in the same bed - support each other and look beautiful together!

Marigolds in the herb spiral

Vetch around the fruit trees

Pumpkins in the Sunflower / Corn bed!

Pumpkin

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Waiting for Sunchokes to bloom!

How does your garden grow?

...at warp speed?

Just a quick update because I am amazed at how quickly things are progressing. We ate some deliciously sweet snap peas in a stir fry yesterday and today the Marigolds and Nasturtiums are starting to open. With the expected weather at 95ish for the next two days, I am hoping the sweet potatoes will get the heat they need. Otherwise...you can see for yourself. Not so bad for a first try at this thing. It makes me so happy to just watch the changes, even from morning to evening the growth can be seen. I have never loved Summer so much!

Delicious sweet Snap peas

Sunflowers, corn, beans and squash - will be taller than me soon!

view of the beds - peas, snap peas and the herb spiral - first Nasturtium flowers!
In the far back near the fence- potatoes.

Blue Poppies 

Cherry Tomatoes and Red Hopi Amaranth

Snap Peas- Sweet and Delicious

Broccoli, onions, and red onions 

Package of mixed lettuce seeds...wow

In case you are wondering...the lettuce is just a package of mixed seeds - literally just scattered in a planter - and I could have many salads.  Tomorrow we are planning a little salad with a radish or two and will be picking the shelling peas to see how that goes.  

We'll be eating/freezing this batch and planting another for seed for next year.

The only thing that has been difficult...the location of the eggplant and watermelon did not work, probably too shady, so I will be starting them again and hoping to have it work in a sunnier spot in the front yard.  The pumpkins, zucchini, and butternut seem to love it - 

so it's worth a try.

All in all, I am enjoying the watering each evening and the obvious growth 

from day to day. 

Promise.

I would spend the entire day sitting and watching things grow

nature does the most amazing magic - flowers appear overnight and seeds germinate in days

and all we can do, really, is promise not to miss it or take it for granted.

The Chive, Marigolds and Blue Poppy seeds are pushing through the soil, 

the peas are growing like crazy and the Clover is sprouting in rings around the fruit trees - 

which are already showing signs of green. 

Like every year since we moved in, the violets take over every space they can. 

They just volunteer to be here and line the driveway and fences and 

pop up randomly in the yard.

In what seems like minutes - all of this happens, and I am changed.

Every time I go away and forget, and then come back and am amazed again. 

If only I could call these miracles to mind when I am in difficult situations, 

so I can hold to my promise...

this is my life's work.

Planted Herb Spiral

On Tuesday I took a day off and planted the herb spiral with a variety of herbs and flowers. It is in the center of the kitchen garden beds to attract predators and beneficial insects, and I think it looks beautiful. The greater the variety of plants in an area, the more confused pests will be and the plants are less likely to be damaged.

Herb Spiral with a Hardy Mum on the top - this will be replaced with a planter of Peppermint for tea. Each of the white labels indicates a different herb or flower.

Planted: (from the lowest point and circling around) Chive, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Cilantro, Chamomile Dill, Marigolds, Parsley, Thyme, Thai Basil, Basil, Sage, edible Nasturtium and Echinacea are planted at the 3 corners.  Peppermint will be the top planter and I am still deciding on a water container for the beginning of the spiral.


I also have several medicinal herbs and lavender to plant - but haven't decided where yet.


Our garden has many different purposes and right now we are focused on restoring the soil and creating the levels needed to sustain the ecosystem in our yard and provide a complete circle of growth,  compost/replenish the soil,  regrowth. If the conditions for growth are in place, plants will grow.  The beds will be annual vegetables and will need to be planted each year, but the bulk of the other fruit and nut trees, and plants that are arriving in May will be perennial. Once they are planted, and the plants that support them (green mulch) are growing, they will need only to be watched for pests and for pruning if they grow too quickly (only because of the size of our yard).  One of the other purposes of the garden is to have a natural place to sit and enjoy, so in each vegetable bed and around trees we have planted flowers and nitrogen fixing plants that will feed the trees and produce flowers and green mulch, as well as shading the ground and capturing moisture and keeping it close to the trees, vines, etc. Also - they will fill in the spaces with color and be beautiful. I have several pieces of decoration that I will be putting out into the garden for people to find and enjoy. Some I bought, some are gifts. These little touches are what makes it fun and whimsical.


The side effect of restoring the soil and creating an ecosystem and completing a full circle of the cycle of plant growth, is food. One of the things we have to accept with these projects is that the food may not happen this year. All of this is an experiment, so we focus on the soil and the correct conditions and pay attention to things, hoping that the food will follow at the end of the Summer, but this is truly a journey experience and not just for the food. 


One of the things we observed today is that it is very dry here right now and the insects and birds are looking for water. We watered the beds early and put water in a small cast iron bird bath. Right away, the fuzzy bumblebees were in the straw - getting out of the sun and getting the moisture, the hornets and other insects were landing on the straw and getting moisture.  The lack of rain will be one of the greatest challenges if it continues on this way.  
We have mulched and prepared as much as we can - we just need a rain to fill the rain barrel again. We will be getting two more rain barrels so we can gather rain for dry and hot times during the summer.  We do all of our watering by hand with watering cans. It is relaxing and keeps us in touch with each of the plants we are growing. 

The bulb flowers continue to grow and bloom in the front garden.