Inspiration

Posted on by

0

It’s in the up side down world in the droplets of water

It is hard to say where inspiration comes from…Sometimes you wait, pray, beg for it and it won’t show for weeks, months, even years, and then sometimes, there it is, all around you, in everything, everywhere.  Ideas, visions, dreams piling high at your doorstep, so many so much how could this be?

It’s in the first light on fresh blooms outside my door

How and why and when it comes, is a mystery to me, but I will say this year has been full of it.  Maybe it is entering into the deeply creative process of giving birth, maybe it is truly the birth of a new time, it is 2012 after all, maybe I am just in the right place in the right way, still enough to see it all.

It’s in the light from the sun & shadows form the moon through the leaves of a big grandma tree

I have had more ideas, plans, plots and dreams this year than ever….not much free time, money or energy to create them all, but honestly feeling super grateful to be in the creative flow.  It is like sitting in the middle of the river and just marveling at the sparkling, constant wellspring of water moving all around you, never wavering in it’s generous flow.

It’s in the infinite all around us

Just giving thanks to the glory and mystery of inspiration and the every day miracles in which it is constantly revealing itself to me.

It’s in these openings that we are guided and must go

Solar Eclipse

Posted on by

3

Just wanted to share this picture—- The big tree in our backyard filtered the light during the Solar Eclipse so that you can actually see the eclipse in the shadows on the house. Amazing!!

 

Transplanting Tomatoes- breaking all the rules

Posted on by

2

I just posted all about the does and don’t of transplanting, but I want to add something about tomatoes, they defy our rules!!   Most Santa Fe gardeners as far as I know, grow or buy tomato starts, (planting them from seed in the garden after May 15th rarely yields fruit).  They take a long time to really get going and love hot days and cool nights, so greenhouse grown starts are really the way to go.  If you have tomatoes that are tall, leggy and spindly, they may have not been getting enough light in your window sill.  But not all hope is lost, as tomatoes are incredibly adaptable and can be brought to life in the field in a magical way.

Strength is at the top, bottom leaves don’t look so good.

Tomatoes are what is called adventitious rooters, meaning they will sprout roots from leaf nodes if they are exposed to soil.  This is due to a hormone called Auxin in the stem.  Light kills Auxin, but when it is buried under ground it works to stimulate root growth, which means…you can break off the bottom leaves of the tomatoes, leaving just a few a the top

Pinch off lower leaves with clean fingers nails, or very sharp scissors, gentle now, don’t just pull leaving open tears in the stem!

Now make a nice deep hole,

Place it in there gently by the roots, I am holding the stem to show where the ground is level to, I would never carry a plant by the stem!! And neither should you!

and bury the tomato all the way up to the top leaves

Now it is nice and strong and won’t be toppled by the wind

out of where you pulled those leaves off, roots will grow!

Don’t forget to make a moat around it to catch water.

Nice moat for catching water

Also you may have noticed in the pictures that this little guy had developed a flower in the greenhouse

Clean pinch, goodbye flower

So I just pinched it off before transplanting.  A plant needs to get good and strong before thinking about reproducing.  More flowers will come when this guy is big a strong and can support fruit.  So there you have it.  Tricky little tomatoes, but oh so wonderful.

I had big plans of planting all 70 of mine Sunday, but the blessing of rain slowed me down, not only is it wet work to plant in the rain, but mucking around in the garden in the rain creates a mess and can compact the soil badly.  Better to wait a couple of days to let things dry out and get back to that ‘moist as a rung out sponge’ feel.  Works for me, I will harden them off and plant them this Friday or Saturday– both are fruit days FYI!!

P.S. After I wrote my whole post on transplanting, I came  across a similar article in Organic Gardening, so if you still need some guidance, they mention a few things I left out, they are the pros after all! Happy Planting!

Becoming your whole self is your work as a mother/teacher

Posted on by

0

Ahhhhh, a quiet,rainy, peaceful Mother’s Day, just what this mama needed.  I even got a chance to read this sweet article about Waldorf teaching which really relates to all parenting as far as I see it.  As Rudolf Steiner is quoted in this article

“You will not be good teachers if you focus only upon what you do and not upon what you are”

So mama’s, let’s all enjoy what we are today more than what we do.

Sit back, grab a cup of tea, and read this whole article here this whole family.

And enjoy a wonderful Mother’s Day.

Blooming hearts

Ten Transplanting Tips

Posted on by

1

Little guys ready to go outside

So when I started gardening in Santa Fe the last frost date was May 15th….this year however it was more like April 15th!! Crazy….But I am still cautious of putting my little starts outside and if you too have waited, dotting over those tiny creatures in your window sill as I have, or worked hard to make money to buy those babies….you want to make sure they have a good strong transition into the great wide open wilderness of your garden from the climate controlled nest from which they are pushed.  So as you prepare for the final transplant, here are a few tips to help those babies along.

Just right

#1-SIZE DOES MATTER– Though it may be transplanting time, are your plants ready to transplant is a really good question to ask – Plants do have an optimum size for transplanting– if it is too big the root to shoot ratio will be way out of proportion and the roots will be circling in the bottom of the pot or the top growth toppling over, many more times higher than the depth of the pot.  In this case plant ASAP and you can also do a little root stimulation to break those pot bound roots out of their tangle, even trimming roots if necessary and prune back the top foliage.  If you haven’t purchased plants yet– please don’t buy things that seem top heavy, and though is pretty, NEVER buy something in flower or fruit stage.  If it is flowering in a pot it is probably stressed and will continue to be in your garden.  Most thing will tolerate a little pruning back, if it is an annual crop and few clean pinches with clean finger nails should do the trick.

Now If a plant is too small–If a plant is too small for transplanting it will not yet have it’s second set of true leaves and seem very tender.

This Basil is too small…It only has it’s Cotyledons (first growth) and one set of true leaves. Better to wait until it looks more like ….

These Basils are getting second sets of true leaves, much better time to transplant, the one my finger is on is too small, see the difference

Adequate ‘root knit’ is also a sign your plant is ready, meaning the roots hold the soil(at appropriate moisture, see below) when removed from the pot. Root to Shoot ratio means that the plants has equal root and vegetation growth.

This guy has good root knit- the roots hold in the soil when the soil is moist to the touch

Here is it’s foliage, in balance with the root growth inside the pot

#2-HARDENING OFF- is a process of transitioning your plants from inside to outside taking anywhere from 3-25 days.  You can begin bringing the plants out for a couple of hours each day in a nice shady, cool spot.  Then maybe a few more hours adding direct sunlight, even placing them where you might plant them.  Remember, plants in pots dry out quicker than those in the ground, so keep an eye on them so they don’t dry out.  Little by little, lengthen the days and then add few nights.  Once they have spent a few night outside their cell walls should be acclimated, and hardened enough to be planted in your garden. If you don’t have time to harden things off, see below for ways to protect them in harsh conditions after planting in TAKE COVER.

#3-MOISTURE LEVEL– You don’t want the soil in you pots to be dry and crumbly, nor just watered and thus muddy,  moist to the touch, but not wet.  The best bet is water well in the morning and plant in the evening.  Your roots should hold the soil together enough so that you are planting a soil mass and not bare roots.

Hard to tell moisture form a picture, but about like this

#4-SPACING-You will have in mind how far apart you plants should, be but sometimes you are so eager to get them in the ground you end up with a mess.  I like to mark out my rows with string, that way as I am planting I just plant along the string and measure with my trowel according the to space I want.

Strings strung to keep a straight line when digging trench and planting potatoes

You can also, as a school garden teacher passed on, measure and mark every spot with a popsicle stick, before you plant, that way you get to plant twice!  Exciting if you are a kid gardener.  You can of course plant here and there and everywhere, but keep in mind how big your plants will get when planting, they look little now but just wait till September!! Also irrigation lines, if you are adding them, are linear and can only bend so much, so laying the lines and then planting where the water drips out is a perfect way to get it right.

#5- TIME OF DAY-Think cool and crisp.  I like to transplant in the evening, so peaceful and lovely….some prefer early morning..Or during the day when the shade hits your garden..When ever you choose, try to make sure it is Cool, crisp and the plants will not be in direct sunlight very long.  These days we have had some clouds rolling in and that is perfect for transplanting.

#6- WIND PROTECTION– Spring winds can be fierce and take a toll on young plants, especially those that have never experienced it before inside.  You can’t always predict or work around the winds in spring, but you can protect your plants in a few ways.

Glass Cloche for sale in Italy

Homemade Cloches (glass covers for plants) work well.  Just cut a plastic bottles bottom off and place over the plant after transplanting.  You can leave it on for a week or so until you notice the plant has really taken hold and is showing new growth.

Bottle over a transplant creates a mini greenhouse

You can also add floating row cover for protection from wind, bird, bug, etc…This is basically making a mini hoop house over your bed with wire hoops and woven fabric.  I believe the Row cover is sold by the yard at Plants of the Southwest and the wire is 19 gauge wire you buy in rolls at the hardware store, I found mine at Lowe’s in the back of the garden section with the fencing supplies.  I fasten the cover to the hoops with clothes pins and pile dirt or rocks where it meets the ground.  If the wind gets underneath it, it will take off like a sail. Here is a video on Using Row Covers from Johnny’s Seed Co to get the full idea.

#7- WATER-Water well, really well- The soil into which you plant should be pre-moisten, not a mud hole, but moist.  I like to water the morning before transplanting, so the soil has a bit of time to absorb the water.  If you can’t do that go ahead and water first, then plant.  Once your plant is in the ground, water the plant daily, or twice daily, for about a week until you see it thriving, then you can taper off down your irrigation schedule.  If you are using a cloche, it does create a mini greenhouse so make sure the plant stays moist in there.

#8- DEPTH-Pretty intuitive, but do make sure you plant your plant at the same soil level as it was in the pot.  You can make a little moat around your plant too so that the water will pool around it and not runoff, but seep in slowly around the roots.

Little moat helps catch water

#9- FERTIGATE– Meaning add liquid fertilizer to a watering can, and give a little to each transplant.  This vitamin boost will help them along in the transition.  I use Super thrive and liquid seaweed or Kelp Extract.  Remember a little goes and long way!! (dilution recommendations are on the bottles)

ORGANIC Liquid fertilizers

#10-WHO TO TRANSPLANT— Every seed packet comes with a recommendation for your plants, but in the case that you inherited all home saved seed and don’t know where to begin.

GENERALLY (there are always exceptions)

I like to transplant ( Heat loving Crops)

Tomatoes, Basil, Peppers, Eggplant, Cabbage, Broccoli,

I like to direct seed ( Large Seeded Crops & Roots)

Large Seeded Crops:  Corn,Beans,Squash

Root Crops: Carrots, Beets, Parsnips, Turnips, Rutabega, Kolrabi, Potato, Radish,

Hearty Crops: Dill, Kale, Chard, Arugula, Leeks

Things that don’t transplant well: Spinach, Cilantro, Peas

Exceptions: Onions (though onion sets are transplanted and do wonderfully here) Lettuce does well direct seeded, though I do transplant lettuce for early crops,

Summer Squash, Melons, and Cucumber are traditionally planted direct seed, but I have had great luck transplanting them.

One year

Posted on by

8

Today we celebrate one year since I gave birth to my little baby boy.  I was over 40 weeks pregnant, eager to leave behind the outer world, ready to plant the garden, clean the house and have me a baby.  And have me a baby I did, right here in our little house on a sunny Sunday afternoon, Mother’s Day in fact.  All the transformation that experience would bring me, I did not know, but a year later I can truly say I am humbled, deeply grateful and totally in love with our little guy and the life he brought us.

Day one

It also celebrates the day I was born as a stay at home mother, withdrawing from the American work force, giving up the pay check, and started working on the foundation of family and home.  It was a natural step, and at the time seemed not only easy but a huge blessing so many mothers do not get.   I am a home body and take easily to householding, children and homesteading.  I was happy to finally have the chance to devote my energies here, where the heart is, without distraction and was ready to give up the income in exchange for having less and being more of what I knew I was always meant to be.

Sharing what I love

Yes, one year since I stopped working for money, but truth be told, that is actually when I really started working.  I started being on duty full-time, round the clock, non-stop tending to the needs of my family and home while still remaining a part of a greater community and whole.  Not only did I really start working, but it is also when I really started getting WORKED ON, the soul transformation motherhood had in store for me was beyond anything I could have imagined, and still can’t.  Not only was I being transformed from the inside out, but my identity, my understanding of my place in the world, my interpretation of my work as my relationship to society…all started to shift, causing way more confusion and strife than I had ever anticipated.

With me always

Many times over the course of this year I have thought of going back to work, though heart wrenching as it would be, sometimes I wonder if having my work validated from society, paychecks clear-cut and schedules set would give me a clearer understanding of where I stand now.  Sometimes I wonder if it would actually be easier, I mean I did spend 30 some years getting to know myself, honing my skills, figuring out my contributions and career.   This year has been so totally full of growth for me it is almost a second adolescence and some days lately I wonder if going back would be easier, but then I remember, there is no going back.  Going back to work, maybe, but going back to who I once was and how things once were, never, and if there was a way, you couldn’t drag me.

Embrace

Giving birth was probably the biggest gift the universe has given me, being a mother as well.  The joy, the growth, the love, so completely life changing, such pure, total gifts.  I choose every day to be here, to be pushed and pulled by the transformative process of parenthood, identity crisis, budget living, gender roles, or whatever a day may bring.  And when I am keep up at night wondering what my contributions, my role, my purpose is here on this earth is,  well let’s just say bearing life was a pretty awesome miracle to put things in perspective.

Holding life in our hands

I am sure I will go back to work someday,  or build up my business to thrive without even leaving home… But for now I am here, moving forward, being born every day, as are all parents, whether they are at work outside the home or not.  This becoming is an inevitable part of the human soul, though I think somehow the rawness of the first year of parenthood just pushes you into seeing it all just a little more clearly.  Though change is hard, it is the growth, the challenges, the becoming, I am always seeking to bring me closer to my true self  and what I truly am here to be.

Born together

So in celebration of my son’s birth, my own birth and the birth of my family I give great thanks for all that this year has brought us and hope that we continue to keep being born every day, every spring, every year into our new true selves, together.

Elm seeds and mallow leaves

Posted on by

1

I know you all have been muchin’ salad lately.  The fresh greens of spring are something we look forward to all year. Baby lettuce, spinach, arugula….and what of the wild greens?  My lettuce is there but often hidden under handfuls of french sorrel, dandelion greens, chervil, arugula (leaves and flowers), rocket, mint leaves…all of which I wrote about last spring here.

Arugula Flowers are Edible, a spicy delight

Arugula is in the Cruciferae family ( as in cross, see the flowers, they are all like that) though now the family is called Brassicaceae after it’s most popular member, broccoli. Arugula flowers, as well all the other Cruciferae cousins flowers are edible, just look here.  This season I have added Siberian Elm seeds and Mallow Leaves to the mix.

Young Siberian Elm Seeds

I know the Siberian Elm can seem a great nuance, and that it is when those seeds go flying and take root just about everywhere…but if you pick the seeds before they fly, when bright green and brand new, they are sweet and delicious.  I have heard they can be eaten later too, cooked with the papery seed hulls rubbed off according to eattheweeds.com

Mallow Leaves -Malva

My newest friend, ground cover, medicine, and munchy is Malva.  It has been used for everything from headaches, to poultices to post- partum cleanses.  The leaves can be eaten young and are medicinal.  This sweet little blog tells you even more.

So as your greens come up, don’t forget to eat those weeds!!

Growing it with Greywater

Posted on by

1

A friend came over recently and was astounded by my front garden.  “You must water like crazy!!”  That I do NOT, but there are a few elements that help this garden abound in the spring time.

Lush spring garden green

First I credit the Plants; Edible, Medicinal and Beautiful…This garden is mainly self-sown  (plants that like it here, drop their seed every season, spread and thrive) like Catnip, Clary Sage, Columbine, Lamb’s Quarters, and planted ones like Tarragon, Horse Radish, Yarrow, Mint, Jupiter’s Beard, Loveage, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Day lily, Comfrey, Iris, Bleeding hearts, Hummingbird Sage, Bee Balm, Garlic Chives, Chervil, Ground Geranium and Tulips, Daffodils, Snapdragons, Clover, Poppies, & Rue, to name a few.  The annuals are put in other spots around the yard.

Shady now most of the day

The Sunlight….The garden is in full sun in the spring, until about May 1st, when the trees above it leaf out and create a very shady garden, cooling it in the summer months.

The Time….garden is old, about 10 years of adding compost & mulch makes a big difference in getting it established, enriching the soil and covering up any bare ground, and of course keeping that moisture in!!

And of course the Dishwater.  Yep– year round, every day, sometimes twice a day this garden gets oh,  maybe 4 gallons of dishwater dumped here and there.  I let the days dishes gather, neatly by the sink, organize from cleanest to dirtiest.  When the time comes, either in the quiet of evening or along with morning coffee, but strictly ONCE a day, (who wants to do dishes more than once a day?) I fill up my bins, squirt a little sodium free soap in and wash.  When complete, I dump the bins out the front door and begin the dish gather again.

The basins in the sink get filled once a day and dumped in the garden

The garden soaks it up like sponge and come spring just booms with delight.  I do water it with the hose too, but not very much.  In the hottest days of summer maybe once a week, and from November to April, not at all.  I won’t claim to be a radical water saver myself, but let’s face it, the stuff is sacred, the bearer and giver of all life on the planet, it is not to be wasted, and we each must do more to honor the water we have.

Every Drop a Miracle

A friend of mine, Amanda, is in fact totally radical water keeper, using and reusing only rainwater for herself and her family to drink, bathe, cook, wash, live in the high dry desert.  Totally an inspiration when it comes to, well everything, but we do what we can, as we can…….so little by little I am trying to reuse, conserve, respect and honor our sacred water by dumping it in the garden and watching it grow, and who knows, maybe someday it will turn into, more water!!

Catch every drop

The Swing is now a Flying High Chair!!

Posted on by

2

So you saw the swing and seemed to love it as much as we do. THANKS, I was astounded at how many of you cheered us on!!  Jangy also loved it , so much in fact he didn’t want to get down for meal times, which we are enjoying outside on the porch just about every meal now…So daddy came up with this cool tray that comes on and off for meals.

Swinging through lunchtime

Now we sit across from him and all share our meals right here.  And the best part is, no more sweeping the floor!! Anything that falls the birds, ants and who knows else will get later.

Removable Feeding tray

Joel took some cherry he had from left over flooring in Jangy’s room and made the sides.  Drilled holes and cut out notches for the dowels to fit in.

Pine tray with little indentation so food won’t get away

The tray top is pine which he used a scorp on, (a tool that cuts in a U shape) to make the indentation so the food would roll off.)

Pictures of Scorps from
“A Musuem of Early American Tools” by Eric Sloane

Drilled the pieces together, made a little wooden lock so it would stay put.

Wooden lock

Sanded it then rubbed the whole thing with Walnut oil and Tada…so cool.

And there you have it, a flying high chair.  Then we gave him Kimchi I made from Carrots, Turnips, and Cabbage we grew and he gobbled it up…..Oh a parents pride!!

Jangy is munching on a Kimchied Turnip slice!! That’s our boy!!

Making a Baby Swing- DIT

Posted on by

5

My husband and I do lots of things together well, but making things together is a kind of newly found joy.  I guess it started with our home, our garden and our baby of course, but actually designing & crafting something together is not something we have really done yet.  Saturday morning we spent nap time together drinking coffee and searching for images of baby swings.  There were lots, mostly plastic, some beautiful wood, some cloth and all kind of shockingly expensive.

We could have probably got one used, but it spurred a fun conversation about design and technique, craftsmanship & quality and of course our shared love of homemade.  I truly admire my husband’s fearless DIY attitude.  He can look at things and understand how they are made, alter them in his mind and tada!! he has made it with his own two hands and more likely than not with things he had stashed away in his shed, salvaged, saved for a rainy day.  For this project we put both our design minds together, rummaged around in our stashes and here is how we spent our Saturday DITing (Doing it Together).

It started with an old pair of Mountain Kakai’s, really nice sturdy work pants, worn, loved and finally ripped above the knee.  I stashed them in the sewing box to fix or transform someday and that day was today.

I basically looked at the swing I most admired and realized it was a basic cross of fabric.

This awesome swing I found on Pinterest from an Australian company called Swingz

I turned the pants into shorts and proceeded to line up, pin and cut the legs of the pants.  I got kind of engrossed so it didn’t photograph this part of the process but I tried to cut as little as possible and use those strong triple seams whenever I could so this swing wouldn’t make me nervous as my little baby swung around 4 feet above our brick porch.  It was a basic bucket seat with sleeves for dowels to slip into so the swing would have a skeleton to hang from.  That is where my husband came.  He drilled the oak dowels, cut and sanded them so they stuck out a bit from the sleeves.  Then he got an old climbing rope slipped it through the sleeves as well, made a few knots, and hung it from a carabiner and big eye bolt in the viga on the porch.  And just like that–there it was……smiles for all!!

We all love the swing and have spent hours playing with it already.  But more than the actual thing, we love being together; envisioning, creating, recycling, using our hands & stashes of saved goods, staying home and enjoying the sunshine……and as we like to say around here ‘Why DIY when you can DIT’?