This Week in the Garden - Pulling weeds, Cleaning out Beds and Planting Potatoes

Yay!  It's spring and I'm eagerly spending time out doors.  I have so much to do to get ready for gardening, that I could feel overwhelmed if I weren't so happy to just be outside!  I'm pacing myself though, working at it each day, and I've made some progress this week.  I've been weeding and getting the raised beds ready.

I had some company.

The asparagus is coming up.  Oh my!

A week or so ago, I cut the seed potatoes and got them ready for planting.  We'll have yukon golds, kennebec, and pontiac reds.

According to the farmer's almanac, this was a good week to plant food that grows under the ground.  This is the first time I've followed the moon cycles for planting and I'm anxious to see if it will make any difference.  I planted two rows of onions (one red and one yellow) and twelve rows of potatoes.  We had a nice steady rain a few days later that surely made my little spuds happy.

The rhubarb is coming up nicely.

Dad Wray helped me clean out the strawberry bed.

I had the grape vines pulled up and planted more raspberries in their place.  The grapes didn't produce well and I like raspberries so much better.  The blueberry bushes are covered with little buds and I need to do a lot of, you guessed it, weeding around them too.

We've had a problem with moles all around the garden area and I'm nervous about them eating my food.  We're trying these sonic spikes by Sweeney's, which are supposed to drive them away.  They come highly recommended, so I hope they work! 

Thanks to my sweet husband for helping prune back and replant some of the berries.  I hope we have a great crop this year. 

* Take the time goal #52- Grow lots of wonderful veggies in the garden.   

Let's Walk Through the Garden

I've been so busy working in the garden, that I  haven't had time to blog about working in the garden.  At the beginning of the season, I made a commitment to myself that I would spend a little time in the garden every day.  Maybe I would only have time to take a walk through and pull a weed or two (or a hundred!), but I wanted to show up.

Here's the thing.  I love having fresh, organic, food grown on my own property.  I mean, nothing makes me as happy as picking food from my garden and then taking it to my kitchen and creating something yummy with it.  I feel sooooo, Ma Ingalls at that moment.  But, I don't really love the, get down and dirty, sweat dripping in my eyes part of growing food.  And because I don't really love all the physical, manual labor part of it, in the past years I've approached my gardening like a weekend warrior.  I would spend all day, a few days a week working like a crazy person, and then I'd take days off and recover. This is a bad way to tend a garden, I'm here to tell you.

If you work so much in the garden today, that you don't want to step foot in it tomorrow, you're working too hard. This I believe and so this year my approach has been completely different.  As I mentioned earlier, I'm spending some time in the garden every day. Once all the seeds and plants were in the ground, the time has been spent weeding.  There is no end to the weeds, especially in a garden this size.  I've given up hope of ever having a weed free day, but with a little help, I'm staying on top of the worst of them.

Another benefit of being in the garden every day, is that I can see right away if I have a bug problem or need to water or fertilize.  I can catch the squash and zucchini before they become the size of footballs.  I feel more connected and in control (as much as that's possible).  I'm actually enjoying the entire process so much more.

Let me take you on a little tour of what's going on right now.  I planted this lettuce back in the spring and we're still enjoying it.  Usually by now, it has bolted, and I expect that will happen very soon.  I'm cutting and eating it as fast as I can.  Lettuce wraps for dinner tonight!  I've planted beets three times this year and they just can't seem to make it.  First I thought it was bad seeds and I bought new ones.  The last time I planted around this lettuce and the plants were coming up nicely.  Now they are all gone.  I think a rabbit had a meal off my beet greens.  I am defeated.

I have four raised beds in the fenced in area, where I'm growing carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, basil, radish, garlic (a whole bed!), peppers, dill and summer and winter squash.

On the other side of the raised beds, I have some large tilled areas and a few more raised beds.  I'm growing red potatoes, yukon golds and white potatoes.  This may not have been a good year for beets, but man, my potatoes are rocking!

Sweet potatoes

and okra

One bed for cucumbers, another for strawberries.

Beans

A few more squash- well, I had the room...

For the first time ever, I set aside an area to grow cutting flowers.  Dahlia, zinnia, gladioli, and sunflowers.  I know.  You can't eat them.  But, I love having flowers to cut and bring into the house.

We're enjoying raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

I have two peach trees and they are loaded!  This will be the first year we've had peaches.  I'm so excited about this.

We planted apple, pear, and cherry trees about five years ago and haven't really had a harvest to date.  But this year, we have some fruit on a few of the trees.  If the deer don't eat them first...

It's a blessing to have land on which to garden and time to put into the endeavor.  I'm grateful for the good food we enjoy, and while I'm on my knees, digging in the dirt, I make sure and thank the Lord for it.  Every year I learn something new.  It's one big tasty science experiment.  

Tucking Away Hope.. and Waiting

Each fall I buy bulbs to plant, envisioning lots of daffodils and tulips abloom the next spring, and then October and November come and go, while my bags of bulbs sit untouched.  I attribute my procrastination to the fact that I'm worn out from summer gardening.  It really doesn't take very long to plant bulbs.  I know this, and once I finally have them in the ground, I wonder why I have put off the task.

Well, this year I've followed my same pattern and it's the first week of December.  My bulbs were still sitting in the garage.  We've had a couple of beautiful, sunny, warm days and feeling a little rested from my garden chores, I actually had the desire to get outside and work in the dirt. There are some real advantages to living in the south.  I feel fairly certain that I would never have flowers in the spring if I lived further north.   I had good company as I worked.

It occurred to me while I was tucking those bulbs in the ground that maybe it's ok that I procrastinated after all, because this is the perfect Advent activity. Preparing, nurturing and waiting expectantly with hope are the steps for planting fall bulbs.  A lovely and intentional Advent involves the same things.   I've been preparing for this season by unpacking the Advent wreath with it's candles of purple, pink and white.  I've pulled my favorite reading material from the bookshelves.  I've clicked over to my Advent file on iTunes and have been listening to sacred music.  I've labored over the squares on my calendar, trying to decide which activities will help me "stay in the Christmas story".  Lots of preparing.

Each year I pray that Christmas will be different for me and those I love.  I pull ever so gently back from the frantic pace that seems to be the norm and try to move more intentionally through this wonderful season.  How can I nurture the feelings of good will to everyone that I feel right now?  Who needs a visit?  Who would benefit from an unexpected gift?  Who needs a phone call or card?  Who needs a hug or a plate of cookies, or both?  Who needs to be reminded that God loves them?  I have to remember as I seek to serve others, that taking care of myself is important too.  A walk through the woods, sitting quietly with a cup of cocoa, writing notes to friends, knitting by the fire, baking festive foods. These are the things that nurture my spirit and slow me down.

This first week of Advent has been full of beautiful and happy moments.  I delivered Advent calendars to some children I love, watching their eyes light up as I explained the process of reading a scripture each day and doing an activity to think about Jesus.  I've filled our house with the smell of spices, while baking tons of molasses cookies for sharing ( I exaggerate only slightly.), I spent a morning worshipping in the temple and some time visiting friends who were ill. I attended a concert where I heard Bach's Christmas oratorio performed, complete with harpsichord!  I listened to a book (thumbs up for Audible) about Saint Nicholas, planned some surprise gifting in his honor, and I planted fall bulbs.

The only decoration that I have pulled out so far, is my Advent wreath.  I've enjoyed looking at it every day and pondering.  Next week, I will add to this, perhaps unpacking fewer items than I have in Christmas' past.  Each year, it seems I need to do a little less.  Slowing down, enjoying the process and not just the end results, and pacing myself, are what I love most about observing Advent.  Baking, decorating, gift giving and celebrating doesn't have to be done in a hurried and rushed way, trying to quickly move to the next thing on the "to do" list.  I'm slowly learning this.  Real progress for this type A, sometimes overzealous girl.

Hopeful and expectant waiting, this is Advent.  A celebration that isn't just for remembering the Savior's birth, but also for celebrating his presence in my life now, while also looking forward to His glorious return.  This kind of waiting isn't passive.  It's actively engaging in the best that this season has to offer, while gently declining those things that pull me away from the true meaning of Christmas.

It's amazing the things you think about while on your knees, digging in the dirt, tucking away hope.

"Jesus stands at the door knocking.  In total reality, he comes in the form of the beggar,

of the dissolute human child in ragged clothes, asking for help.  He confronts you in

every person that you meet.  As long as there are people, Christ will walk the earth as

your neighbor, as the one through whom God calls you, speaks to you, makes

demands on you. That is the great seriousness and great blessedness of the Advent

message.  Christ is standing at the door; he lives in the form of a human being

among us.  Do you want to close the door or open it?"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

To Slow Down and Notice is to Worship

First Monday counting... 
                                    when I share entries from my Gratitude Journal.

323- hair cut day

324- digging garlic

325- five weed free rows

326-being an American

327- sleeping with the windows open on a breezy night

328- peace and quiet

329- breakfast on the deck

330- hiking beside a river

331- stretched out on John Rock, face to the sun,  the wind blowing across my body

332- a Christmas in July, breakfast for dinner meal

333- a husband's support

334- wooden name tags

335- dirt in a new raised bed

336- the smell of freshly cut grass

337- crispy fried squash

338- CC, the cat

339- being able to repent

340- teaching at Patriot Camp

341- sharing food from the garden

342- an afternoon nap

343- a sweet note of encouragement from Mark

344- granola and blueberries

345- lunch visit with Cindy

346- the picking of beans

347- admiring an "I grew my dinner" plate

348- a nice evening with Mark

349- a cold snap in July

350- fruit smoothies

351- watching brides try on dresses

352- the hiss of the pressure cooker

353- garden goodness preserved in jars for the winter

354- being Travis' guest at a new restaurant

355- a night out for the boys

356- hotdogs cooked over a fire

357- a day of rest

358- fried green tomatoes

359- talking wedding plans around the dinner table

360- spending time with Dad and Yvonne

361- picking peaches with Tara

362- tomato sandwiches and corn on the cob

363- the kitchen counter overflowing with good food from the garden

364- making travel plans

365- being reminded of the important things

366- clearing out clutter

367- cutting corn off the cob and thinking of Grandma

368- attending a planning meeting while little boys play around us,

memories of days gone by

369- peaches ripening in brown paper bags

370- the hum of the dehydrator as background noise

371- receiving an "I passed my test!" text from a hard working student

372- cold water to quench my thirst

373- garlic braids

374- watching the dogs run through the pasture

375- mixing up a bowl of Nana's pimento cheese

376- feeling content with the given good

377- drying, freezing and canning my summer's work

378- feeling God's presence

379- date night with my husband

380- making Christmas presents in July

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory"

Isaiah 6:3