#I am growing pumpkins; watermelons; and corn

[itsumoegao]

That's it. That's what I have to say about you & the portrayal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Can't wait to get our fantasy plant bois doing plant shit.

How is Rok handling Izuku?

@eraserisms

[[ That gif is perfect.

Heck yes plat stuff !!! I am SO DOWN for writing fantasy bois and doing plants centered things !!!

Here are some of my babies !!!

[obsessivevoidkitten]

These are all the things I want to grow and have the seeds for this year, though some things are missing from this list. I still need more soil, most of the produce goes to the senior center so if anyone wants to throw me 3 dollars for a bag of dirt it goes to a good cause, I also save seeds and distribute them to neighbors and some of the people at the senior center. This blog is my only income source as I am an unpaid live-in aide for an elderly woman. No pressure though. Also if anyone just wants to put gardening discussions in my inbox I am totally up for that!

Supernova sunchokes

Red pontiac potatoes, kennebec potatoes, lehigh potatoes, purple viking potatoes, red norland potatoes, also sweet potatoes

Brown sugar tomatoes, amish paste tomatoes, orange hat tomatoes, yellow stuffer tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, bosque blue bumblebee tomatoes, bonny best tomatoes, orange icicle tomatoes, sart roloise tomatoes, sweetheart cherry tomatoes, honeycomb tomatoes, barry's crazy cherry tomatoes, kentucky beefsteak tomatoes, and of course PRAIRIE FIRE TOMATOES

Corbaci peppers, ajvarski peppers, sugar rush peach peppers, albino bullnose peppers, binquinho peppers, lemon spice jalapeno peppers

Armenian yard long cucumbers, sumter cucumbers, bushcrop cucumbers, spacemaster 80 cucumbers, green apple cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, dragon's egg cucumbers, poona kheera cucumbers, pick a bushel cucumbers

Rosita eggplants, listda de gandia eggplants, shikou eggplants, casper eggplants

White soul alpine strawberries, seascape strawberries

Strawberry spinach, malabar spinach, thousand head kale, scarlet kale, blooming kale, orach, slobolt lettuce, merlot lettuce, bronze lettuce, buttercrunch lettuce, bibb lettuce, aqua large leaf watercress, swiss chard five color silverbeet

Moonshine sweet corn, glass gem corn, fiesta corn, Incredible R/M sweet corn

Great northern beans, dwarf taylor horticulture beans, jade II beans

Red burgundy okra, jing orange okra

Autumn buckskin pumpkins, long island cheese pumpkins, flat white boer pumpkins, seminole pumpkins, rouge vif d' etampes pumpkins

Gumball mix radishes, china rose radishes, de 18 jours radishes, golden helios radishes, purple plum radishes, diana hybrid radishes, pink dawn radishes

Chocolate cherry sunflowers, autumn beauty sunflowers, evening sunflowers, russian mammoth sunflowers, florenza sunflowers, lemon queen sunflowers

Peach melba nasturtiums, whirlybird nasturtiums, orchid flame nasturtiums, tip top alaska salmon nasturtiums, tip top rose nasturtiums

Gill's golden pippin squash, honeynut squash, candy roaster squash, delicata squash, early prolific straightneck squash

Jolly jester marigolds, mexican mint marigolds, safari scarlet marigolds, orange flame marigolds, colossus bicolor red gold marigolds

Purple coneflowers, black eyed susans, moss roses, coleus pinto mix

Double tall mix strawflowers, copper red strawflowers, king size orange strawflowers

Pampas plume celosias, eternity mix celosias

Desert king watermelons, lemon drop watermelons, royal golden watermelons, tigger melons, kajari melons, golden crispy melons, golden jenny melons

Purple dragon carrots, melbec carrots, uzbek gold carrots, koral carrots

[earth2exoplanet]

Thanks to my ADHD medication, I have been gardening at PEAK PERFORMANCE people! The best in my entire life. I am actually completing tasks and somehow staying on track!!! I might have gotten carried away with the amount I'm growing, but... it's fine... 👀 it's fine... *deep breath* carrots, potatoes, beets, cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, watermelon, multiple types of beans, onions, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, peppers, strawberries, etc. Pretty much every herb you can think of... a huge pollinator flower bed... a few different strains of cannabis, sunflowers EVERYWHERE, haskap berries, raspberries, clematis vines, way too many flowers to list... etc, etc, etc. Somehow I'm actually tending to all of these plants and managing them, and somehow I've started my own compost setup, I'm succession planting, and I'm actively targeting other projects in an organized fashion. 🥲 This makes me so proud that I had to share.

[thestudentfarmer]

Feb 27, 2023

Hello hello, posting a bit late tonight. But a little late is better than never in the garden!

Today and the last few days I've been working on garden planning and some clean up. If your getting started into gardening, farming and homesteding i do not suggest doing "everything" in short order or have an extra hand or two for heavy work. If not, always work smarter rather than harder~

I pulled the pumpkins and did some light prep work on this row. I plan to put corn and beans here, as well as probably some kale or chard to fill in space.

Funny enough I see a lil pumpkin sprout in there and a lettuce, I'm going to let them grow a bit and then pull the pumpkin and feed it to the chickens.

So why did I have to pull the pumpkins you may ask? While they were looking sad and not well, there was one pumpkin ripening on the vines left. Found out

It's gallow on the inside :( the other big one, it had gone soft as it had been sitting on a lil spot that collected water. The next pumpkins I'll need to keep a closer eye on it seems.

The carrots I've left to go to seed, there's some chard popping up in the row too, I'm going to let them grow for now till the new stuff comes in.

Close up of the future seeder. I'm so glad the purple red ones have grown so big. The white ones didn't seem to do as well sadly. But they were neat in salads and omolettes or to add mashed into white/cream based sauces for sweetness.

I'll need to trim the Nasturtium down a bit. I'm going to try and make a few salads and some pesto from the leaves and share with the girls most likely. I've bot had the leaves before so I am very excited to give it a try 😀

The first pea harvest :) they went to a shared salad.

As well, one of the carrots I harvested~ this was from seed I saved last year to grow again. carrot was used in salad. (The greens too!)

And the lentils! I'm going to be tilling over half this area after my seed starts are ready to go in. I'm planning on pepper plants and armenian cucumbers or watermelons/cantaloupes.

Today as well was egg wash day. I like to wash a flat or eggs at a time as I use about that in a week. Chicken eggs as long as they aren't fertilized can be left ont he counter unwashed for a time, this is because "bloom" helps give eggs a protective cover. They will last far longer unwashed refrigerated but we tend to eat eggs very quickly here. Washed eggs get used within a week if not refridgerated. ⚠️ALWAYS Wash your eggs before using for cooking!⚠️

And I got some seeds going for starting, I'm planning to do a lil secondary post to share what I'll be growing and a lil informations on each one soon.

Aside from the garden I'm going to try and make bagels this week! If they go well I plan to make a few batches and store some in the freezer for a later day and meal prep :)

I also tried a new way to cook rice that uses the oven! Measure your rice into a glass cassarole, wash rice. Fill with water or broth to proper line, cover and baked in the oven @ 475* around 45 minutes, though I think my oven Temps off as it's longer. Makes nice fluffy rice without watching the stove top.

What's everyone up to this week in their gardens and sufficient or sustainable journey?

🌱🥕 Happy Gardening and Homesteading 🥕🌱

[nightbloomsky]

Doraemon SoS : Friends of the Great Kingdom [COOKING] #1

I'm going to list some cooking recipes I own here. But idk, whatever you cook, it won't be noted on the recipe in game tho...have to buy, I guess? But idk...I forgor. But that aside, this is the list I own. Gonna add from time to time.

You can get a kitchen after the first house upgrade. After that, go buy the utensils in the restaurant. Then you can cook~.

Apple Pie [OVEN] : Apple + Flour + Honey.

Butter Butter [WHISK] : Milk

Pudding [WHISK] : Milk + Egg

Baked Yam [OVEN] : Yam

Puffy Egg Soup [FRYING PAN] : Horsetail + Egg + Royal Fern

Roasted Chery Salmon [OVEN] : Chery Salmon + Shimeji

Pasta [STEW SET] : Flour + Oil

Ketchup [STEW SET] : Tomato + Onion

Chery Pie [FRYING PAN] : Chery + Flour + Butter

Lemon Tart [OVEN] : Lemon + Flour

Chocolate Recipe [FRYING PAN] : Chocolate Bean

Strawberry Milk [WHISK] : Strawberry + Milk

Sweet & Sour Carp [STEW SET] : Carp + Bamboo Shoot + Ginger + Honey

Grilled Conger Eel [FRYING PAN] : Conger Eel + Oil

Grilled Clam [OVEN] : Clam

Apple from Apple tree, I think you can grow one by buying the sapling. Autumn tree sapling.

Cherry is from Cherry tree, it is a Spring sapling.

Strawberry, Turnip, Cucumber, Pea are Spring plants.

Lemon and Chocolate are from Summer sapling.

Tomato, Onion, Pumpkin, Melon, Watermelon, Bellpepper/paprika (?), Pineaple, Corn, are Summer plants.

Flour, can be bought from store, or mill it your own once you got the device from Prince Lumis.

Oil, Yogurt, spices, red beans etc can be bought from the store/restaurant. I think mayo also available there in summer.

Honey got it from the honey bee after you build the...the farm. I forgot. gonna edit once i remember HAHAHHA.

Milk and Egg, got it after you buy Chiken and Cow, obviously.

Horsetail, Bamboo Shoot, Mugwort, Shitake, and Royal Fern are Spring forageable vegies.

Chery Salmon, I got them on Spring. Fishing them around the river area.

Ginger can be found in summer.

Shimenji (or is it Shimeji) is Autumn mushroom, forageable in the mountain.

PS: GINGER AND MUGWORT ARE RARE THINGS. YOUR RNG LUCK IS NEEDED TO GET THEM.

(I still know about 2 of them since I am still in summer 1st year. I shall update more in the future.)

[andmaybegayer]

I posted 5,660 times in 2022

1,186 posts created (21%)

4,474 posts reblogged (79%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@andmaybegayer

@seat-safety-switch

@official-kircheis

@girlfriendsofthegalaxy

@triviallytrue

I tagged 3,299 of my posts in 2022

Only 42% of my posts had no tags

#furry bullshit - 180 posts

#video games - 173 posts

#ask - 164 posts

#computer stuff - 159 posts

#tumblr meta - 139 posts

#insects - 116 posts

#birds - 113 posts

#anonymous - 109 posts

#bugs - 104 posts

#my photography - 91 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#my beloved everyone hates you because you are so loud and annoying but i like you even though you broke into my house and broke my candles

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

blorbonic plague (when you start watching Shows because your mutuals post a lot about their blorbo.)

32,549 notes - Posted April 26, 2022

#4

Shout out to the guy at the municipal waste dump who tried to sell me weed but used slang that I am so incredibly unfamiliar with that he had to keep simplifying his sell until he literally settled on "I am selling weed, do you want to buy some."

37,549 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#3

I think so much about the food people ate pre-Columbian exchange. Huge parts of cuisine extremely important on both sides of the pond just didn't exist.

You've probably heard a little about what was brought over from the New World, corn, potatoes, cocoa, cassava, peanuts, chili peppers, avocadoes, cranberries, pumpkins, and the like. Imagine cooking without chili! Without potatoes! Modern Indian cuisine contains enormous amounts of potatoes and we just didn't have those for the vast majority of history. The best of the nightshades all on one contiguous hunk of land. Hell, tomatoes! Almost forgot about those.

But we don't often look at what the Old World had. Wheat! Barley! Rice! A profusion of incredible grains, really, the finest poaceae has to offer. Carrots! Tons of rosaceous plants like apples and cherries and pears and peaches and apricots! Grapes! Soy and Bamboo! Okra and watermelon! All these things were simply never found in the Americas. The grains one is the wildest for me, the variety of grains available across Eurasia and Africa was truly astounding.

You know what binds together the food of all cultures across the world? Onions. Onions are fucking everywhere. There's probably onions growing near you right now. Allium Gang Unite.

39,921 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

#2

I think an important instinct you have to build up when you read/watch sci-fi is discerning which things are givens. If Arrival tells you that the alien language is atemporal, it is, that's not a puzzle for you to pick apart, it's a prerequisite to getting the rest of the story. When I talk sci-fi with people who don't consume a lot of it this seems to be a thing they get hung up on.

44,050 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

shout out to the guy helping me at the sports equipment store who was like "yeah these come in pink or blue or black but they're all transgender- I mean they're all unisex."

45,332 notes - Posted March 20, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[bukatra]

DO. NOT. FEED. DUCKS. BREAD.

Guys, I know everyone of us has done it. We go up to the edge of the water with a loaf of bread and toss chunks to the ducks and laugh as they fight over each other to get a piece. Most likely, your parents or other adult figure taught you, as did their parents.

BUT YOU NEED TO STOP.

I dont mean stop feeding ducks, thats awesome. Feed the ducks. But dont feed them bread.

Bread is bad for birds.

1. It had hardly any nutrition. Its like twinkies. all simple sugars that offer no nutritional value.

2. like twinkies and junk food, it can be addicting. The ducks will pass up good, wholesome food if they think they will get yummy bread instead.

3. Worst of all, it can lead to Angel Wing, a very serious disease that makes them grow up unable to fly. One of the leading causes is a high-calorie, low-nutrient diet while still growing. Bread is about the highest calorie-lowest nutrient food you can give a bird!!!!

4. It can destroy the ecosystem. Bread that falls into the water and isnt eaten can mildew and mold. This can kill fish and destroy the entire lake/river/etc.

Instead, feed the ducks other stuff.

1. Did you know ducks love melon rinds? yeah. they go nuts for watermelon and cantaloupe rinds. So this summer, save the inedible rinds of your picnic melons and bring them to ducks. YUM.

2. Berries too. if you have frozen fruit thats freezer burned, take it to the lake!!!! they dont care if the blueberries are wrinkles and soggy!!!

3. Old veggies are YUMMY to birds and give them good nutrients!! Im talking cucumbers, peas, squash, zucchini, corn, kale, or broccoli… its all so good for them. so dont toss the soggy veggeis, give them to the ducklings.

4. CORN!!!!! For f***s sake. give the bird some corn. They LOVE it and its very very good for them.

5. Pumpkin seeds help them get ready for moltings and for the winter months.

These arent bread, but dont feed them these either:

1. Citrus. NOOOO. Dont feed them citrus fruit. no oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit. no. dont. the citric acid will make them have weak egg shells.

2. NEVER FEED A DUCK OR ANY OTHER BIRD ANY PORTION OF AN AVOCADO. Its TOXIC. please dont do it. Im talking, skin, flesh, pit, Dont do it. It can cause heart attacks. The duck may be fine for an hour but it will die.

3. Onions can cause diarrhea and if you give it a lot, it can cause blood poisoning.

4. potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants are related to the nightshade. they contain small amounts of poisons. baby or young ducks can get sick.

5. Spinach is fine, but only a little bit. It can make their eggs weaker if the mom eats a lot. so maybe only a few leaves every so often.

I am NOT A BIRD EXPERT, so here are my references.

https://morningchores.com/feeding-ducks/

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/why-you-shouldnt-feed-ducks-bread

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements.242460/

Be good to ducks. They are nice and make good quacking sound.

Also, stop feeding them as soon as they grow uninterested. Leaving extra food to sink to the bottom of the water and rot is bad.

[earthenfay]

Gardening Schedule (Zone 3b)

If anyone is curious, this is the general gardening schedule set for zone 3b (H index 39). I live in a cooler climate with short summer cycles, so this won’t work for everyone but it’s a starting point if you live in (Northern) North America.

This is the schedule I am following this year - personal opinion + public record

March 29 - 30: Start celery indoor April 4 - 5: Start leeks indoor April 6: Start peppers indoor April 11 - 12: Start cabbage indoor April 13: Start tomatoes indoor April 25 - 26: Start broccoli & cauliflower indoor April 27: Start brussel sprouts indoor April 28 - 30: Start kale & lettuce indoor May 9: Start cantaloupe indoor May 10: Start cucumber indoor May 13 - 14: Start pumpkin* & squash indoor May 15: Start sweet potatoes indoor May 16 - 17: Start watermelon & carrots indoor May 28 - 29: Plant celery outdoor May 30: Plant turnips outdoor June 1: Plant leeks, kale, cauliflower, peas**, cabbage outdoor June 2 - 3: Plant brussel sprouts & onions outdoor June 6: Plant broccoli outdoor June 10: Plant beets outdoor June 18 - 19: Plant potatoes & corn*** outdoor June 20: Plant lettuce outdoor June 25 - 26: Plant celery outdoor June 28 - 30: Plant cucumbers & peppers outdoor July 3 - 4: Plant beans & tomatoes outdoor July 6: Plant sweet potatoes outdoor July 8 - 11: Plant pumpkins*, squash, watermelon, peppers outdoor July 12: Plant cantaloupe outdoor

* In my experience planting pumpkins, it is generally unnecessary to first plant indoors, but I suppose it depends on the size of pumpkin desired. My pumpkins can generally fit in the palm of my hand around September, or slightly larger.

** You will see there are a few items with no “indoor” start, like peas. They grow very well outside in the garden without starting indoors. Usually can be picked and eaten by late July to mid August. Yum!]

*** I have never, ever had luck with corn. I think these need lots of hot sun and a longer growing period, which I believe is prevalent more on the prairies in the middle of the country. I will try again this year, but I won’t be disappointed if it fails.

If you are also interested in gardening his year - don’t feel like you have to start indoors! You can grow many wonderful vegetables if you plant them after last frost, directly into the garden. 

[nastymeowmeow]

If I had HALF the drive to garden in real life like I do in minecraft, my house would look amazing. I have been going bonkers on my little mini farm though. I dug up a little 13x7' area for my plants this year and I've been growing like 5 different chilies, a couple types of tomatoes, spaghetti squash, zucchini, watermelon, pumpkins, sweet peas, strawberries, green onions, cilantro, onions, corn, lemon cucumbers, some type of bean, maybe beets? I honestly can't remember everything. Every time I get my hands on a plant it goes in my chaotic little farm and it is doing really good. Every day for the last week Ruby comes out with me to pick a few peas from the garden and it makes my heart happy.

My parents are coming to visit in two days and me and my sister have been cleaning like crazy so they don't yell at us for living like total psychos. We both skipped work on Monday so we could stay home and organize our video games, books, movies, board and card games, and random collectibles. Our house is nerd central, let me tell you. If someone were to break into our house to rob us (if they knew what they were doing) they'd probably be able to pay their rent for a year with the amount of nerdy shit we have here.

Something funny was while we were organizing we both have the same taste in quite a few things so we found lots of duplicates. Like the entire LOTR trilogy. I have the long versions though, so mine is superior. We also had a race to see who could collect all the Harry Potter movies from secondhand stores. I won. We also both raced for the entire Divergent book collection. Neither of us won, but both of us combined made the full set plus Four. We also had duplicates of board games like The House of Danger and Sushi Go! This house is pure Heaven for anyone who matters. Pft.

I'm exhausted from all this cleaning and organizing but it has been a really fun week nerding out with my sister.

Yesterday we got distracted and started playing Guess Who but we weren't allowed to ask questions based on physical attributes. Only on assumed personalities or lifestyles.

For example:

Does your person have an onlyfans?

Does your person benefit from white male privilege?

Would your person say "bAcK iN mY dAy?"

Does your person have strict foreign parents?

Does your person invest in Bitcoin?

We had way too much fun and I was the undefeated champion of every match. It was hilarious.

Also I am the disappointed owner of the world's worst couch and I finally kicked that couch to the curb (literally) and bought myself a fancy super cushy super soft sectional couch with one of those long pieces you can lay down on. The level of excitement I have about it is almost too extra. I don't truly hate many things in this world but that couch was definitely one of the them.

I bought my cat a Catnip plant and he fucking loves it and he's been spazzing out around the house and I love that for him. Life has been kind of stressful lately but I've definitely been having a good time. Except for the morning I had the world's worst hangover, and when creepy speed kisser partially assaulted me, and when that lesbian chick basically chewed on my lady bits. How on earth does a lesbian suck at eating out?

Anyways. I'm excited to see my parents this weekend!

OH AND I HIRED SOMEONE TO SELL MY ART FOR ME. I hate posting things to Etsy and all the other sites. It takes forever and it's boring. So I hired a nerd to do it for me and for everything I sell, he gets 15% until I start making a lot of money. He will also handle my NFT's when the market gets back up.

Doing lots of good things. Yah.

[wickedangelblog]

I’ve been a bit slow at getting the veggie garden planted this year. It was warmer earlier last year, so I got an earlier start. I’m still trying to get it finished and it’s the 3rd week in May!

I have a lot of it done, but still have a hot pepper garden, the rest of the lettuce and onion garden (planting extra cauliflower in that garden), watermelon, pie pumpkins, corn. 

I haven’t been going to counseling. My last appointment, I called to reschedule. They rescheduled it, then cancelled it, sent me a letter (postmarked the same day as my appointment....) telling me I have an appointment with someone else. It’s something they do to basically punish you for either missing appointments or calling in to cancel the day of the appointment. You can’t pick the day or time, THEY choose when you come in and if you are busy and unable to make it you’re not allowed to reschedule, if you can’t make it you’re kicked out of receiving services. I don’t know if i’ll do that and continue there or not. I felt like I was doing well with that counselor, but I am undecided. 

Still stressing over not knowing whether we will have to move soon. I wish our landlord would decide not to sell the house. It’s better for her to have the monthly income from rent, anyway. At this point, I don’t know if we’ll be here through the Summer, or just how long. 

Great, the lights are flickering. I hope we don’t lose power. It’s not even that bad of a storm yet. 

I’m going to make a list of the varieties of plants i’ve planted and plan to plant, and keep it as a list to check back on later in the Summer, so I know which varieties did well. Wish I had thought to do that last Summer.

Anyway, so I remember, this is what i’ve planted...

Lettuce....can’t remember the variety. Green and red leaf.

Green onion - evergreen long white

Cabbage - copenhagen market early

Zuchinni - fordhook

Squash - yellow summer crookneck

Tomato seed - super sweet 100 hybrid

Cucumber - double yield and muncher

Beans - blue lake 274 (bush)

Tomatoes.....I can’t remember all of them. I think supersweet 100, golden jubilee, celebrity, a couple other varieties.

Carrots......not remembering the variety, they are short and thick carrots

Planning to plant.....

Sweet corn - burpees triple crown bicolor hybrid, early sunglow hybrid X 2

Watermelon - crimson sweet

Pumpkin - early sweet sugar pie

Hot peppers... I have seed for Rellenos best hybrid (Mark’s favorite Mexican food is chili rellenos, thought i’d try to grow them/make it), have seed for serrano peppers but I later found the plants, so I may not use the seed. Also have jalapenos and a thai pepper. 

I have a kentucky wonder pole bean I might try planting along part of the fence. And large red cherry tomatoes. 

So far, the beans are growing super fast. Everything that’s been planted a few days is doing well. I think the super sweet 100 tomatoes are the ones with a leaf disease that I plan to plant in a separate garden. I didn’t notice it, until I quickly bought them and looked at the in the sunlight. It only effects the leaves, not the fruit. But I don’t want all my plants losing leaves. 

I still have seeds from last year, left over. I wonder if they would still grow. I know they have a best by date on all seeds, and the best by date is 12/17. I’ve never tried expired seed, may try some and see. 

I have a couple new flower seeds I bought this year that i’m really looking forward to trying out. One is an unusual morning glory, called sunrise serenade. It’s very unique! Another is larkspur. Hoping to plant it on the sunny side of the house. It’s really pretty, in the picture on the packet. I’d also like to plant sunflowers on that side of the house. Shade loving impatiens on the other side. And the other is a pretty zinnia, actually 2 similar varieties. Peppermint stick and Candy cane. Very pretty, multi color. Going to plant some in the planters out back. Zinnia did well there last year. 

My roses are going well. My scentimental rose has bushed out, a lot! One of my knockout roses needed pruned, and it’s now pruned in the shape of a small tree. Unintentional, but I kinda like the way it looks! lol 

I need to plant the planters out back, including the one next to the door and the planters along the steps. Either doing small zinnia or marigolds along the steps and undecided as far as what to plant in the littler planter next to the door. Did a couple petunias and sweet potato vine last year. Wasn’t as pretty as I had envisioned. Maybe morning glories? I did get some colorful ones this year, carnivale di venezia mix.....very pretty. That would probably look nice. Also thinking about planting some morning glory next to the back porch, on the side with the lattice. I wish I had moonflowers, i’ve always wanted to try to plant those. 

The entire backyard smells like honeysuckle, I love it! I wish we owned our home or at least knew we’d be here several years. I could plant more perennials. A lot of the better smelling flowers are perennial. I miss being a home owner, and I miss some things about living in Swords Creek.....mainly the fact that I lived in the country with woods all around me. But I hated living so far from everything. I would often go to Bristol and Johnson city to get away from the tiny town living. lol It was a long drive. I’d rather live somewhere around Bristol. It has to be in Virginia, or i’ll lose my insurance. Really, i’d rather just be here. I don’t want to have to move. This place isn’t perfect, but i’m happy here. 

[emikomay]

Healing Chakra Imbalances

First, if you don’t know whether your chakras are balanced or not, take this test!

ROOT CHAKRA (Muladhara) - The chakra of being physically present. Located at the base of your spine, and associated with the color red.

Open/Balanced: You feel grounded, stable, secure. You are present and connected to your physical body. You feel comfortable and “at home” no matter where you are. Underactive: You feel fearful, nervous, and easily feel unwelcome. Overactive: You are materialistic, greedy, obsessed with being secure, and resistant to change.

How to balance: FOOD: Eat root vegetables & healthy proteins (eggs, meat, beans) EXERCISE: Meditate to feel grounded.  Practice yoga (tree pose). Take a mindful walk, concentrating on your foot leaving the ground and connecting back to the earth, for every step. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color red. Wear red clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color red so that you see it often. Meditate on the color red to heal and activate the root chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Patchouli, Ginger, Cypress, Gingerwood. Apply to base of spine or pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I am deeply connected to the Earth.” “I am well-grounded and balanced.” “I am enough.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Ginseng, Clover, Ginger Root, Echinacea, Cayenne Pepper, Dong Quai, Damiana, Yucca. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Bloodstone, Ruby, Red Tiger’s Eye, Garnet, Pyrite, Red Hematite, Black Tourmaline, Onyx. Place crystals on the body over the root chakra area (base of the spine), or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them.

***

SACRAL CHAKRA (Svadhishthana) - The chakra of feeling and sexuality. Located at the base of your pubis, and associated with the color orange.

Open/Balanced: Your feelings flow freely without being over-emotional. You are passionate, lively, and open to intimacy. You are comfortable with your sexuality. Underactive: You are stiff, cold, unemotional, and closed off. Overactive: You are always emotional, and are emotionally attached to people. You may be very sexual.

How to balance: FOOD: Healthy fats, such as fish, nuts, seeds, and avocado. EXERCISE: Dance to get your body’s energy flowing. Practice yoga (Open angle pose, Cow face pose, One-legged king pigeon pose, Reclining bound angle pose, Half frog pose, Fire log pose) COLOR: Surround yourself with the color orange. Wear orange clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color orange so that you see it often. Meditate on the color orange to heal and activate the sacral chakra, and to improve your focus and concentration. AROMATHERAPY: Sandalwood, Clary Sage, Rosewood, Patchouli. Apply above your belly button or pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I want to experience joy in my life.” “I feel comfortable with my sexuality.” “I feel content and satisfied.” “I feel creative.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Calendula, Grapeseed, Papaya. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Copper, Carnelian, Vanadinite, Tiger’s Eye, Tiger Iron, Turquoise, Fluorite. Place crystals on the body over the sacral chakra area (base of pubis), or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them.

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SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA (Manipura) - The chakra of confidence, energy, and asserting oneself in a group. Located between the navel and sternum, and associated with the color yellow.

Open/Balanced: You feel in control, and have sufficient self-esteem. Underactive: You are passive, indecisive, and timid. You don’t get what you want. Overactive: You are domineering and aggressive.

How to balance: FOOD: Eat squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, lentils, yellow and orange peppers, lemons, corn, yellow pears, golden apples, brown rice, and oats. EXERCISE: Meditate and visualize a bright yellow flower, golden ball of light, or a flame over your navel.  Practice yoga (Warrior Pose, Boat Pose, and Sun Salutation). Spend time outside on sunny days. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color yellow. Wear yellow clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color yellow so that you see it often. Meditate on the color yellow to heal and activate the solar plexus chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Lemon, Fennel, Juniper. Apply between ribcage and belly button, or on your pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I do have the power to manifest what I want in my life.” “I do feel self-confident.” “I can manifest my desires.” “I can do anything.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Milk thistle, Parsley, Dandelion, Ginger, Lemonbalm, Yarrow, Mettle. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Citrine, Gold, Amber, Calcite, Yellow Jasper, Yellow Jade. Place crystals on the body over the solar plexus area (between navel and sternum), or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them.

***

HEART CHAKRA (Anahata) - The chakra of love, kindness, and affection. Located in the chest, and associated with the color green.

Open/Balanced: You are compassionate, friendly, and you work at harmonious relationships. Underactive: You are cold and distant. Overactive: You suffocate people with your love, and your love probably has selfish reasons.

How to balance: FOOD: Green vegetables (spinach, zucchini, kale, broccoli, beans, peas), green fruits (kiwi, green apples, cucumbers, avocado, limes), superfoods (spirulina, matcha, green tea). EXERCISE: Practice yoga, especially poses that expand the chest/heart region (Cobra pose, Wheel pose, Camel pose). Spend time in nature, feeling the grass between your toes. Exercise your pectoral area, by doing push-ups or swimming. Meditate on the beating of your heart. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color green. Wear green clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color green so that you see it often. Meditate on the color green to heal and activate the heart chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Pine, Ylang Ylang, Rose, Jasmine. Apply onto heart region or your pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I love myself.” “I love my family.” “I love my life.” “I love the blessings I receive.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Rose Hips, Sage, Echinacea, Pine, Hawthorn. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Peridot, Malachite, Emerald, Aventurine, Jade, Watermelon Tourmaline, Unakite, Ruby, Rose Quartz, Chrysocolla, Chrysoprase. Place crystals on the body over the heart area, or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them.

***

THROAT CHAKRA (Vishudda) - The chakra of self-expression and talking. Located in the throat, and associated with the color blue.

Open/Balanced: You have no problem expressing yourself, perhaps through artistic methods. Underactive: You don’t speak much. You are shy and have trouble speaking the truth. Overactive: You speak too much, to domineer and keep people at a distance. You are probably a bad listener.

How to balance: FOOD: Eat blueberries, blackberries, fruits that grow on trees (apples, pears, oranges, peaches, apricots, and plums), root soups, and hot drinks. EXERCISE: Practice yoga (Fish pose, Camel pose, Plow pose). Deep belly breathing provides energy flow into your body. Write in a journal, play music, sing, speak, use your mouth & expressive abilities as much as possible. Alternatively, have a silence retreat by stepping away from your phone for a few hours or a day. Spend some time alone, hiking, gardening or camping. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color blue. Wear blue clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color blue so that you see it often. Meditate on the color blue to heal and activate the throat chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Lavender, Geranium, Chamomile, Bergamot. Apply to throat area or on your pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I express myself easily.” “I speak with honesty.” “I express myself with eloquence.” “I speak what is in my heart.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Chamomile, Eucalyptus, Thyme, Primrose Oil, Fennel, Hyssops, Witch Hazel. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Blue Agate, Sodalite, Angelite, Lapis Lazuli, Sapphire, Amazonite, Topaz, Blue Kyanite, Turquoise, Blue Calcite. Place crystals on the body over the throat area or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them (on necklaces/chokers if possible).

***

THIRD EYE CHAKRA (Ajna) - The chakra of insight and visualization. Located at the center of the forehead between your eyebrows, and associated with the color indigo.

Open/Balanced: You have good intuition. You tend to fantasize and visualize what you want to do with your life. Underactive: You are not good at thinking for yourself, you tend to rely on authorities. You may be rigid in your thinking, relying on your beliefs too much. You may get easily confused. Overactive: You live in the world of fantasy too much. In extreme cases, you may hallucinate.

How to balance: FOOD: Eat plums, eggplant, blueberries, and purple cabbage. Eat foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. EXERCISE: Practice yoga (Downward-facing dog, Child’s pose, Standing half forward bend, Supported shoulder stand, Hero pose). Practice seeing auras. Meditate with a piece of amethyst set on your third eye. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color indigo. Wear indigo clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with the color indigo so that you see it often. Meditate on the color indigo to heal and activate the third eye chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Frankincense, Cedarwood, Patchouli. Apply to middle of forehead or on your pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I know without knowing.” “I know that I know nothing.” “I think clearly.” “I think with organized thoughts.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: White Willow Bark, Passionflower, Bilberry, Vervain. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Quartz, Crystal Tanzanite, Sugilite, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Azurite, Amethyst. Place crystals on the body over the third eye area or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them (on necklaces/chokers if possible).

***

CROWN CHAKRA (Sahasrara) - The chakra of wisdom and being one with the world. Located on the top of the head, and associated with the color white or violet.

Open/Balanced: You feel as though you are one with the universe. You are open-minded and aware of the world and yourself. You have an easy time learning new things. Underactive: You are not very aware of spirituality, and you are rigid in your thinking. Overactive: You spend too much time intellectualizing, and may be “addicted” to spirituality to the point of ignoring your bodily needs.

How to balance: FOOD: Fasting and detoxing can be beneficial for the third eye chakra. EXERCISE: Meditate, write in a journal, or walk in nature. COLOR: Surround yourself with the color white or violet. Wear white or violet clothing and jewelry, and decorate your home with white or violet so that you see it often. Meditate on the color white or violet to heal and activate the crown chakra. AROMATHERAPY: Myrrh, Lavender, Frankincense. Apply to top of head or on your pulse points, or diffuse in your home. AFFIRMATIONS: “I am enlightened.” “I am awakened.” “I understand my life’s purpose.” “I understand myself and I show myself compassion.” Write down or speak aloud these affirmations regularly. HERBALS: Meadowsweet, Vervain, Gotu Kola. Drink herbals in tea, consume dried, use in your cooking, or apply to the body via salves, lotions and oils. CRYSTALS: Amethyst, Serpentine, Quartz, Diamond, Selenite. Place crystals on the body on the top of your head, or keep them in your home, hold them, meditate on them, wear them (on necklaces/chokers if possible).

***

IMPORTANT: **ALWAYS be careful and take your own health, current medications and conditions into consideration when using herbals and aromatherapy. Not all herbals are safe for everyone, always do your research and make sure you are being safe with how you use them and using a safe dosage. Especially if you are taking any other medications, because herbals can have dangerous side effects when mixed with other medications.**

The above information is synthesized from Chakras: A Complete Guide to Chakra Healing:Balance Chakras, Improve Your Health and Feel Great (Chakra Alignment - Chakra Healing - Chakra Balancing) by Kristine Marie Corr, as well as EclecticEnergies.com, TheInspiredTable.com, MindBodyGreen.com, Chakras.info, Intuition-Physician.com, IntuitiveSoulsBlog.com, MindValleyAcademy.com, GuidedMind.com, ParsnipsandPastries.com

[benjamingarden]

Planning Our Summer Garden

I am so excited to report that I am starting my work in the garden this weekend!  The snow is gone, for the most part, and I have a few remaining raised beds from last year that I can plant first.  We (meaning my husband...) have to build more beds because we moved things around last fall.  We (husband) also have agreed to build us (me) a cold frame, a small coop in the garden area, and a FENCE!!!! I am so excited. It's been a few years of discussion and I am told that it will finally all come together this year.  The small coop was a new "to-do" list addition because I had the (brilliant) idea of closing the coop girls in the garden area in spring and fall to allow them to clean up the beds.  (it also will work to keep them and other wildlife out during the growing season, of course) Without the fencing it's nearly impossible to keep them focused on the garden beds, so fencing and a nesting box area (as well as shade, food and water) is a necessity. And the man with the skills (and tools) agrees. So, with that hurdle gone, the next hurdle was purchasing seeds.  Have you attempted this yet?  My goodness, I hope so.  It's way worse then years past, which I'm not surprised by.  Unfortunately I attempted it a bit late but I found just about everything I needed to add to my seeds that I've saved.

I determined what I will plant/not plant (and quantity) based on garden space and what we eat.

I eat raw greens every day, usually 3 times a day.  So I purchased a LOT of seeds for greens all season and then in the cold frame.  This includes lettuces, salad greens/mesclun mix, spinach, dandelion, arugula, and baby kale.

We've been eating a lot of beets, so I purchased quite a few more beet seeds then we've had in the past.  I'll plant them spring and late summer.

Carrots and onions are great fresh but they also store well in the fall/winter, so we'll do 2 plantings of each of them.

We add kale to soup and stews so I'll plant enough to freeze for fall/winter use.

I am the only one who eats mustard, collards and swiss chard.  I add these to soups and stews, but also sauté as a side dish, and use collards as a burrito-type wrap.  I won't plant too many of these.

We eat and freeze a LOT of bell peppers.  We have a local pick-your-own farm that we can get these from as well, but we always try to grow enough for fresh eating and freezing (we freeze 8 gallon sized bags of sliced peppers to get us through winter).  We aren't always successful at growing that many so Labor Day weekend we can pick them locally if needed.

I typically plant a little bit of corn because we like to pick it fresh.  We typically, however, purchase it from a local farm in a very large quantity.  We eat it fresh and freeze enough to get us through winter and spring.

We absolutely love brussels sprouts, however, they take up a large amount of space so I won't be planting them this year.  Instead we'll purchase them from the farmer's market.

I always plant too many summer squash/zucchini (usually 8 plants, 4 of each), and will likely do so this year as well.  We love it sautéed, baked, grilled, raw in salads and used in baking, so it all works out.  I freeze just a little bit, grated, for baking.

We like fresh cucumbers and quick-pickled cucumbers so I usually plant about 10 plants.  I don't can or ferment pickles because they are too salty and we don't eat them. 

I won't have enough room to plant all of the tomatoes that we would need.  We eat them fresh quite frequently and then we plan to can tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes as well as freeze oven-roasted tomatoes.  I will also try a couple new salsa recipes for canning this year.  I will plant enough for fresh-eating and oven-roasting and we will pick, from the same farm we pick peppers at, enough for canning.

I have struggled with potatoes on and off.  I'll only plant 6 or 8 this year and we'll purchase the remainder from our farmer's market.

I have only grown sweet potatoes once before.  They were easy, but I wasn't eating them as much as I am now, so I've chosen to save garden space for other veggies in the past. This year, however, I will be planting quite a few for Oliver and myself to enjoy.

I have never had good luck with watermelon or cantaloupe.  It's a bummer because we eat them a lot.   I've decided to just purchase them from the farmer's market, as I inevitably have to do when the plants fail, rather than continue trying them.  Some day I'll try them again.

I eat broccoli every single day and Jay enjoys it as well so I will grow a lot of it for fresh eating and for freezing.  I'll do 2 large plantings of it.

I also eat a lot of cauliflower and Jay enjoys it from time-to-time.  I'll do 2 moderate plantings of this as well and we'll eat some fresh and freeze the remainder.

My fence (I'm told) won't be built until late summer/early fall, so I'm going to fence off one bed to grow cabbage in.  It seems that all of the wildlife that passes through our yard loves to feast on my cabbage, so hopefully this will allow us to harvest it before others take bites from each head.  I was not successful in getting seeds for red cabbage, so green is the only one I will be planting.

We really like fresh kohlrabi so I'll plant probably 8-12 plants for fresh eating.

I found that freezing jalapeno peppers & poblano peppers worked really well for us this year. I'll plant 5-6 jalapeno plants so we can enjoy some fresh, pickle some for canning, and then freeze both diced jalapenos and stuffed jalapenos.  For the poblanos, I'll plan on 5-6 plants so we can grill them and store in the freezer for use in soup, enchiladas, tacos or for stuffing.

I've had great success with tomatillos in the past so I'll plant probably 3-4 plants for fresh tomatillo sauce and salsa this summer.

We are growing mushrooms for the first time this year.  We bought shiitake plugs and then a boxed set for button mushrooms.  We shall see how that goes.  I'm not sure if it will be financially worth it or not.   I think if we get comfortable with it and can switch to purchasing sawdust spawn then it would be a cost savings (for the shiitake).  Not sure about the button mushrooms though.  I'll have to keep looking for better pricing to grow your own.  Comparatively, a 24 oz. package of button mushrooms are just over $4.00 at BJ's (when groceries are plentiful) so it will depend on how many this box produces.  The claim is "up to" 6 pounds.  We eat quite a lot of them so it would be nice if we can make it work.

We love green beans.  We eat a lot fresh but we actually don't mind them frozen.  I know a lot of people are turned off by their texture, but we still enjoy them so I usually grow a lot of these.  I'm going to try two new varieties this year as well.

Sugar snap peas are something we munch on all spring.  I am planting tons of these this month because I can use their space for cucumbers once they are done.  We freeze any excess (although we don't usually have much excess).  I haven't been planting shelling peas and won't be doing so this year.  I do love them in salads so maybe next year.

I've planted celery in the past and I have some seeds so I may plant a little bit.  I like to dice it and use it in salads and freeze it for soup.

We don't eat a lot of eggplant but we do enjoy a few dishes such as baba ganoush and eggplant parm in the fall so I always plant 3-4 plants and will do so this year.

I've started eating more radish so I'll probably increase my planting this year and do 2 plantings instead of just a spring planting.

We don't enjoy parsnips, turnips, fennel or okra (it's ok in soup but not my favorite) so I won't be planting these.  And leeks give Jay migraine's so we haven't had them since we figured that out about 14 years ago. 

We eat quite a bit of winter squash and our favorites are blue hubbard and sugar pumpkin.  They take up a lot of space so I usually plant only a couple plants of each of those and a couple each of delicata, acorn, and butternut.  If I have space I'll do that but with the increase plantings of the other veggies, I may default to the farmer's market and the pick-your-own field.

I adore bok choy both in stir fry and miso soup (Jay will eat it but it isn't his favorite) so I'll plant a few plants of it.

We have horseradish and asparagus already planted.  Best decision ever!  Our rhubarb is no longer around and I probably won't worry about that this year.  I would like to add more blueberry bushes and maybe another fruit tree to round out our fruit.  We currently have a grafted pear tree (6 varieties) and an Asian pear tree as well as a couple elderberry bushes.  We have a paw paw tree too but I keep forgetting to order another and there aren't any available locally.  It needs to cross pollinate.  Someday I will remember to do this before they are sold out.  We planted thornless blackberry two years ago so hopefully it will produce this year.  

I will plant herbs continuously throughout summer in containers on the deck again.  It worked really well last year.  I usually plant dill, basil, cilantro, oregano, chives, mint, thyme, sage, and parsley.  I dry what we don't use fresh for use later in the year.

I'm not planting shelling beans this year but would like to do so next year.

I would like to cut down what produce I buy from the grocery store throughout the winter.  I typically purchase mushrooms, greens, broccoli, carrots, onions, tomatoes (for salsa), potatoes, cilantro, and fruit regularly.  We always freeze enough corn, peppers (bell/jalapeno/poblano), berries, and green beans to get us to the start of summer.  I also keep winter squash in our basement as well as freeze some.  

This year I hope to grow enough greens throughout winter in the cold frame, micro greens in the basement, and find a good canned salsa recipe to cut those off of the grocery list.  Also I need to freeze enough broccoli & cauliflower (I prefer it fresh, but frozen is fine for winter), carrots, and onions to keep those off of the list as well.  This way I would only need mushrooms, potatoes and fruit in addition to pantry staples, meat and dairy.

What about you?  What will you be planting this year?

Planning Our Summer Garden was originally posted by My Favorite Chicken Blogs(benjamingardening)

[obsessivevoidkitten]

What does your garden look like? Like what kind of plants are in it?

It is a largely mixed bag. The constant drought followed by constant storms killed the watermelons and made them split.

Kiwano, the single plant I was most excited about, just wilted and died overnight with no indication why. Though 2 plants on the other side of the garden still live.

Squash vine borers killed 100 percent of the summer and 50 percent of the winter squash and they were the most important plant for food for us.

And 100 percent of the beans are infected with rust and have to be removed.

The third set of radish plants all bolted due to the sudden and extreme weather shifts but the other sets of radish did great.

On a positive note the strawberries, sunflowers, pumpkins, potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers look fine. The corn is doing well, and I am growing now a second set of beans that im preemptively treating with antifungal oil. Also trying more summer squash for a fall harvest.

[jeninthegarden]

Wet & Wild

Reflections of the Gardening Projects of 2019

This is my 12th year of garden logging.  What did I just say last year in my decadal review?  That’s right: “the deer remain the big issue”. Well, this past summer, they jumped the temporary netted fence around the corn and tomato patch, and ate all my tomato plants.  And I had a lot of tomato plants!  The deer did not even wait until the fruit had set!  Meanwhile, the ground hog got in and dug up all my corn the same day I planted it (twice!).  Then I planted sunflowers for my beans and squash to trellis on in place of the corn, and the deer hopped in and ate all the sunflowers and squash, and pumpkins and beans.  So, the field crops, although perfectly mulched with cardboard and woodchips a la Back to Eden gardening method, for water conversation and weed barrier, were a complete loss.  It was particularly sad because I started all my squash and melons from seed this past year, with great variety.  The plants were vigorous and blooming before I transplanted them. I hardened them off on the patio before lovingly transplanting them.  Years past when I have tried to direct sow squash, the squirrels have always dug up the seeds and newly germinated seedlings.  

As noted last year, the past few years have been wet and wild - too much rain and too many snap heat waves that have been the most disruptive events.  Still considering rain barrels, but still haven’t done it because there is no shortage of rain in this region. The spring was very wet.  The summer was fairly cool.  The fall was quick and dry.  If anything, we just didn’t get enough sun and heat for the fruiting crops or the long growth crops.  For instance, peppers were drowning in the garden until I rescued them, re-potted them and put them on the warm stone patio. Potato crop was measly though not reduced by disease, insects or rodents. The beets also did not grow, though hilled up in the same conditions under which carrots flourished. They germinated nicely and then stopped growing when they were only 3 inches high.

By contrast, we had a huge crop of peas in the spring and well into June. Unfortunately that meant I had nowhere to plant the cucumbers because I had planned to put them on the pea fences. I won’t make than mistake again.  Fresh raw peas were abundant in the first 3 months. But when I sacrificed all the saved peas and tried a fall crop, even though it was warm enough, it was too dry and the shoots didn’t grow more than 3 inches before it frosted and I had to eat them.  Even the fall greens did not germinate well.  Carrots, we had a bumper crop of and harvested plenty fresh for Thanksgiving dinner, and we had several rows still standing in the garden, in January. Turnips did fine; I pickled them. 

The broccoli and kale did well this year but the cauliflower and cabbage faltered, very disappointing because theses too were started indoors from seed to give them a good head start. And they were hilled up to keep them from getting too wet, but there was not enough sun or heat and their growth was severely stunted.   There was never a chance for the Brussel sprouts – they need nearly as much heat and a long growing season as pumpkins.  Collards just did not germinate. I was using old seed and it failed.

Spinach, a very fickle crop in recent years germinated and grew well last year, particularly where I was extremely brutal about thinning it.  And like the peas, we had a bumper crop of bush string beans, the purple variety, which enjoyed an extended season of about two months.  Did not get a chance to make pickled dilly beans because the dill did not germinate; the seeds were too old. 

Shocker of the season, I grew and harvested radishes! Have not harvested radishes in 10 years.  This variety was the Spanish black, sometimes used to pad out prepared horse-radish, very white and picante.  These were the large breed that should have been the size of an orange, but mine were only the size of golf balls. Meanwhile I ate a vast quantity of watermelon daikon radish bought from the farmer’s market. I made radish and feta salad, shredded radish and cabbage slaw, thin sliced radish with burrata and honey. So aggravating that I could not grow my own!        

Salad greens did very well, particularly in the spring and lasted well into summer because it was so cool. Again, ruthless thinning produced excellent results. The claytonia and the purple orach are still my favorite spring greens. Nasturtiums really took over the garden and they lasted well into fall, they crept and trailed all over the garden.  I love the leaves in salad and the blossoms in scrambled eggs.  I really like squash blooms in my eggs too, but Bambi ate all the squash.

Onions were tricky this year.  The Egyptian walking onions, which are self-seeding and in my herb garden seem to be petering out. Not sure if the last crop tried to seed in the lawn and got mowed or were subsumed by the rampant wild violets I keep tossing in the herb bed.  The leeks, I am sorry to say, did not get enough sun or heat.  Result – NO LEEKY DANCE; very unsettling to the delicate balance of the universe, although the kids are teenagers now and would have been horrified if I had tried to make them dance.  I bought some leeks in the fall because I am very fond of baked leeks au gratin, with some millet or brown rice.

The chives, as always were abundant. And they are perennial so I had to divide them this year.  Love the blossoms scattered in salad like minced red onion.  And, speaking of red onions, I planted about fifty red Cipollini onions, and harvested about fifty.  They were neatly hilled up so they did not drown. Maybe they were smaller than they should have been, egg sized, but they dried and stored well; we are still enjoying them.

I had numerous gardening projects going this past summer and I am surprised at my own progress: 

 The community garden.  I have joined quite a few gardening groups, both online and locally this year. One of them is the InterGenerate community gardens of my county, and specifically the communal garden in my village.  The community plot I cultivated this past year was an experiment in high yield food production in a 16 square foot raised bed.  The violetto string beans were part of that and a smashing success. This year there has been a lot of discussion about subsistence farming and the pretentiousness of growing the perfect tomatoes. The aim of the group is to teach people how to grow their own food and in that vein we donate both seeds and the harvest back to the community.  So this year the focus will be on real subsistence crops: potatoes, beans and squash.  I am enthusiastic and have gone completely overboard ordering potato seed, beans and squash which will proliferate my own garden this year as well.

 The Pollinator Pathway. This is a national movement subdivided down to extremely local chapters working to connect greenways, nature preserves and public lands with private properties where no pesticides are used to create green corridors that are pesticide free.  Very enthusiastic participation on our cul-de-sac; we all registered our properties with the Pathway and promised not to use pesticides. This is very impactful because our cul-de-sac abuts a 200 acre Audubon nature preserve so we are an important bridge piece in the corridor.  I am also very self-interested in joining this movement because this was my first year of bee-keeping and I harvested some superb honey. And I want to add a second hive this year

.  Provence in New York. While puttering around Cape Cod this past spring we discovered a family garden farm selling huge lavender plants at irresistible prices. And while I would very happily have purchased one or two for my herb bed at home, my dear husband had a vision of the fields of lavender in Provence. And since the price was right, and we were driving my Toyota highlander from which I had not yet removed the winter weather mats, he bought 24 huge lavender plants and we brought them home. We planted them in place of the wildflower bed that had petered out and started to go back to grass.  Applying my knowledge of lavender plants that have not survived the winter well in my herb garden, we planted each plant in a hill with gravel and sand under it for drainage.  If the lavender field (conveniently located in the flight path of my bee hive) survives the winter, we will expand it by another 10 plants this year

 The Wildflowers. All three of the windflower beds disappointed us and have petered out. We replaced the one in the back yard with a lavender field.  The one behind that against the back property line is getting the Back-to-Eden treatment this spring so we can plant fruit trees there in the fall. Plums – I’m feeling a plum tree obsession building. Santa Rosa weeping plum trees...  The wildflower patch in the front lawn has already received the Back-to-Eden cardboard and woodchip treatment, and we hugeled the old, rotten woodpile into it. This fall I planted the front of that bed with bluebells and the back of the bed with blueberry bushes. And I threw in a bunch of foxglove seeds in the western wall bed that have set six hardy rosettes I expect to bloom this summer (it’s a biannual).  I may move those to the front wild-flower bed, behind the blueberry bushes.

 The Western Wall – I moved the rhubarb, asparagus and horseradish to the new flowerbed by the western wall of the house.  I also planted a couple of kiwi berry vines that now need a trellis. The asparagus had already been thinning in the vegetable garden and did not appreciate being moved, so I ordered 25 new roots. The rhubarb seemed to like the new location and actually needed dividing so I have high hopes for this spring. Horseradish is a weed so it will be happy anywhere, and oddly enough, I read somewhere that rhubarb-asparagus-horseradish is a good companion planting formula. But I’m a little confused about digging horseradish out of a bed without disturbing the asparagus and rhubarb roots. I couldn’t quite work that out so I planted a patch of each, in the same bed but not mingled.

 Hugelkultur. (You have to say that word with guttural gusto!) What??  It is the method of building a raised bed over buried logs.  We made a really good start in the spring and got the old woodpile in the front yard entirely buried and covered over with cardboard and woodchips, and planted with blueberry bushes and bluebells. The backyard wall of wood is much bigger (leftover from the nine pine trees we lost in hurricane Sandy) and quite a challenge because it is always a jungle of weeds and poison ivy. But we persevered and got half of it hugeled and covered over with woodchips. And we even got some hyssop and salvia, dogwood and a couple rhododendrons planted.  This summer we’ll get the rest buried and then I want to plant an Echinacea patch and add a couple dwarf pear trees, and put bluebells in the front.     

    Back to Eden. Scored 20 cubic yards of wood chips, for free this past summer from getchipdrop.com. The woodchip and cardboard weed barrier method of gardening worked really well in the corn/squash patch. Such a shame the deer got in and ate everything. The children’s garden, mulched two years ago, was still so weed free that I planted a weeping persimmon there.  It is a chronically wet area and persimmons don’t mind wet feet.  I am thinking of adding a swath of river rock and making a permanent rain garden.  Need to add some button bushes and Siberian iris, and cardinal flowers. I still have 10 cubic yards of wood chips and I am busy hording up more cardboard boxes for spring. 

 The Herb Garden. I had a little problem with the herb bed this year.  I had 3, robust, Scottish thistle rosettes in the herb bed in the spring, and I decided to let them grow.  And they grew. They grew about 9 feet tall and 5 feet around.  Now, there is nothing prettier than a bright yellow gold finch flock hanging all over a giant thistle plant covered with vivid purple blooms.  But, thistles are really really sharp and I couldn’t weed under them. And when they finished blooming, I still couldn’t cut them down because the birds needed the seeds.  So the herb garden was a thistle and weed garden this past summer.  I really was impressed with the thistles but think for their size they would look better from afar. So, I dug up a fine, large rosette (they are a bi-annual) in the fall and moved it to the back of the big hugel, in a patch that has already been mulched with cardboard and woodchips.  And I see plenty of little thistle seedlings in the herb bed that will have to be weeded out in spring, but I might save a couple and put them in the hugel too for next year. 

 House plants. They were sadly neglected this past summer.  First year in a long time that I did not put them outside.  They suffered for being kept inside – the air-conditioning is not good for them.  I won’t make that mistake again.  My wax plant vine “Hobi” (Hoya Obovata) finally died, after 25 years!  So sad because I took cuttings of a plant that I had grown up with. I am going to order a new one. My “Brutus II” (a kidnapped Philodendron Hope Selloum cutting from an apartment sublet 20 years ago) is down to a single green leaf.  My Dracaena Warneckii (given to me by my mother-in-law as an engagement gift) is still alive after 23 years and thriving. The other Dracaena varieties which I adopted after a friend took a summer-long, cross country motorcycle ride and never reclaimed them, are still alive after 25 years.  I gave my giant poinsettias away after the holidays – they are always dead by March no matter what I do. So I am only left with one, sad little Christmas cactus I don’t know how to care for.  The Areogrow planter is up and running and the basil, parsley and dill have sprouted.  It is an excellent little hydroponic system. The art glass terrarium was beautifully replanted in the summer and lasted a couple months before dying out.  So it needs to be re-planted again, this time with plants that want less light.

   The seed list this year is a fresh start and I’m scaling back, except when I’m not.

  Seed List:  will follow as soon as I stop buying seed packets.

[revlyncox]

Perspiration

This sermon was delivered to the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, August 27, 2017, by Rev. Lyn Cox

In her essay, “We Are Community” from the anthology Becoming, Elandria Williams said the principles, values, and family of her community and her faith held her and other members of her church in the aftermath of trauma. She talks about “connective tissue,” experiences and relationships that transcend differences of identity and opinion.

I think this explanation shows how we get things done as Unitarian Universalists. From some on the outside, UUism doesn’t seem like it should work. We do not all follow the same creed in terms of the existence or nature of a God (or gods) or what happens after we die, yet here we are, worshipping as one congregation, supporting one another, and changing the world together. When I tell people on airplanes or buses what I do and about our religion, they often find it unbelievable. How can so many different ideas translate into a faith movement?

There are some ideas we tend to have in common, like the idea that we are born worthy, but it’s possible that the secret isn’t in the realm of ideas at all. The secret is in our connective tissue: the values and the relationships, the why and the who. There is a lot holding us together. That’s how we turn our hopes into action. We go from inspiration to aspiration to perspiration, and we don’t do it alone.

One example of turning inspiration to perspiration is a garden. Tending a garden is a process of turning ideas, soil, and water into food. My friend’s observations about Unitarian Universalism turn out to also be true for how other things come to fruition. There might be common-sense tweaks in how we do things, but the emotional and spiritual energy we need to put wheels on our sense of purpose runs on mission and relationships. Principles, values, and people are the connective tissue holding a group together as they pursue a shared purpose. Keep coming back to the why and the who.

The why and the who of my garden this year initially had the same answer: my children. I have seven-year-old twins. My goal was to have an activity we could do together that would also be educational. I wanted them to have a concrete sense of where their food comes from, to feel a connection with the earth, and to practice working toward something over time. More than that, I wanted experiences that we could share of planning the garden, helping it grow, and feeling joy with the harvest.

Knowing the why and the who guided my decisions about how. I went through pages and pages of graph paper figuring out what we might plant where. I put together an achievable plan, then I asked the kids what they wanted to plant, and my achievable plan was modified to an ambitious one. I wanted to plant carrots, cucumbers, green beans, and cherry tomatoes. They wanted to plant corn, pumpkins, edamame beans, and watermelons.

In early March, the kids and I went to the garden store. We got all the seeds on our list, and somehow also ended up with six kinds of herbs, plus the free packet of sunflower seeds the store gives out with every purchase in the spring.

We planted some of the seeds in little pots by the window. We started cherry tomato, watermelon, baby jack pumpkin, and sunflower seeds. It was thrilling to watch them grow. We got containers and raised beds ready and planted our first seedlings. Fun fact: birds think sunflower seedlings are delicious, not just the seeds themselves. We tried starting sunflowers three times. But that’s OK! The why of our garden was about learning, and the who was about our family.

This is the point when my errors in planning started to catch up with me. I planted the pumpkins and watermelons too close together, not anticipating how far they would spread or how much I would need to do to control weeds around them. I had protected the carrots and cucumbers from wildlife with netting, but I did not realize that deer like to eat edamame and tomato leaves, so we lost all of the edamame and several tomato plants. That’s OK! This is a learning experience! The why of our garden was about learning.

Around the time the corn got about knee-high, I realized that I had made another error, and that was that I defined the who too narrowly. I wanted to plant a garden to build a stronger relationship with my children, but I had forgotten that we are part of an interdependent network of people who care about each other, not limited to our household. Spending more time outside meant I had more casual conversations with neighbors and friends, and several of them knew quite a bit about gardening. Wisdom had been all around us the entire time.

Trading information about gardening meant that we had something to talk about that was life-giving, concrete, and grounding. Those of our friends and neighbors who were also gardening, or at least raising herbs in pots, traded crops with each other. None of us tried to grow zucchini this year, so that’s lucky. We have learned a lot. I learned that I don’t want to grow pumpkins and watermelons again next year, but I am all in for cherry tomatoes and beans.

Turning the idea of growing things into a living garden was a project powered by the why of learning and relationships and by the who of people in my family AND other people in ever-expanding circles of love and care. When we’re transforming goals into action, it doesn’t hurt to break out the graph paper and do some planning, yet the connective tissue of values and relationships is necessary for holding the whole thing together and giving a project or a mission the spark of life. In addition to household projects, I’d like to think that the questions of why and who are relevant in big goals, huge endeavors that span decades and borders and cultural divides.

Once upon a time there were two religious denominations. They had a lot of ideas in common. They both liked the idea of a faith that learned, grew, and adapted through the ages. They both liked the idea that loving God and one’s neighbor were important. Yet the denominations remained separate. It took almost a hundred years between the time they first started discussing their common ground until the time when they completely joined forces to become a unified faith that brought its combined history and potential into the future. I’m talking about the Universalists and the Unitarians, and their consolidation into the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961.

Universalists were convinced that union with the Divine is the shared destiny of humanity, and therefore we joyfully choose to care for all of our siblings on earth. Unitarians were dissenters who used reason in matters of faith, and by applying critical thinking to the evidence, found support for free will and a loving God, along with skepticism for the doctrine of the Trinity. Briefly, Universalists: no Hell; Unitarians, one God; both: free will, love your neighbor. These are powerful ideas. Ideas need people to put them into action.

The first time there was a resolution for a merger of the two denominations was in 1865. It was defeated, but the two movements had so much in common, they kept talking about cooperation. What separated them was not so much theology as culture. Universalists were more likely to be found in smaller and more rural communities. There were perceived differences of wealth, class, and education. For many years, the two groups focused on the mechanics of the how question, “How can we cooperate with the people who are different from us in these ways?”

Meanwhile, at the local and regional level, cooperation was happening all over the place. Many ministers held dual fellowship and sought positions in either or both denominations. Some individual congregations merged or federated, starting with congregations in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, in 1878. Even congregations that stayed separate got into cooperative arrangements, like the Universalist and Unitarian congregations in Syracuse, New York, that remain good neighbors to this day. Sunday School leaders swapped books and lesson plans.

These relationship-building efforts sped up as years passed. In 1953, the Universalist and Unitarian youth groups merged for form Liberal Religious Youth. In 1955, faith development professionals combined to form LREDA, which is still the professional association for Unitarian Universalist religious educators.

The question of who was clearly involved. Then there is the why. In the documents prepared for congregational discussion about the consolidation, the authors stated reasons about religious freedom and responding to the issues of the modern era. In retrospect, I would phrase it a bit differently. Universalists and Unitarians grew from the same source material of faith that moves people to love their neighbor and to promote liberation, and a faith that comforts its people in the spirit of love. By coming together, they were able to carry forward the most vital, transformative parts of their reasons for being, and leave behind the mechanics–the hows and whats–that didn’t necessarily support the why and the who. From there, Unitarian Universalism was able to adapt to a changing world.

Maybe you know something about two groups of religious people, rooted in the same source, who have more that brings them together rather than drives them apart. Sure, there could be differences in culture or class or expression, but the essence of these two groups is to love your neighbor, practice liberation, and find connection with the source of love. Maybe you know that the questions of how and what are important, worthy, difficult, and time-consuming; yet staying centered on the questions of why and who brings the peace of pursuing a mission with faith.

This is where experimentation comes in. The Worship Team and I have come up with a theme for 2017-2018: “A Year of Spiritual Risks.” We decided that spiritual practices that help us to stretch our comfort zone are exactly what we need to equip ourselves and encourage each other for what’s ahead in the congregation, in the community, and in the world as it is. Each month, we’ll be exploring a different practice of spiritual risk. In September, we’ll be taking the risk of authentic connection.

Our year of spiritual risks is not just for the heck of it. We have a goal, a why, of deepening our sense of purpose and community, and we have the people of the congregation and all those who might like to journey with the congregation, a who. Our experiments are aimed at strengthening the connective tissue of values and people.

In two weeks, I’ll be back to lead worship for the Ingathering. This is the beginning of our liturgical year, a celebration of renewal and community. On that Sunday, you’ll notice a few changes in the worship service. These are experiments, and the Worship Team and I will evaluate whether these experiments are helping the congregation with the why and the who. We’ll try new things with the Message for All Ages. We’ll do Joys and Sorrows differently, most notably at Clover Lane. We’ll greet each other near the end of the service rather than near the beginning. Let’s try these things out in the spirit of curiosity and discovery.

Moving from inspiration to aspiration to perspiration is a process. The energy we need for that process comes not just from time management and noble abstract concepts, but from a deep sense of our purpose and values, and from a sense of connection with the people and forces that sustain us. There are techniques that can help us refine the what and the how, and yet we must change and grow and adapt our what and how in the service of why and who. May we remain true to our purpose and values, and in right relationship with the interdependent web of life.

So be it. Blessed be. Amen.

[apatosaurus]

Update on neatly organized dirt: a few plants have been added, but most of the areas of organized dirt are not yet ready for plants. At least, they aren't ready for garden plants. Weeds seem to feel welcome. Weed-suppressing burlap to cover the beds until on-purpose plants have sprouted will (I hope) arrive tomorrow. We paid contractors to build two raised beds. I was feeling like a guilty imposter about that, then I turned over the soil in two direct-in-the-ground garden beds today. I used an old, metal shovel, no power tools. I feel less guilty now. There will be plenty of my own work in this garden. The tomato seedlings I started inside pretty much all died, so I got two cherry tomato plants for the Earth Box, shown here in the sunniest spot, nearest the street. The 4x8 box will feature cucumbers, maybe another tomato plant, maybe some snap peas. I have A-frame cucumber trellises ready. Like everything else, the box needs fertilizer. I bought fertilizer, that may be a Monday project. The landscape fabric will go away after the plants I want there are either sprouted or transplanted. Meanwhile, it's suppressing the worst of the weeds. The next bed, direct in the ground, will have trellis netting on three sides. That's why the 6' stakes are there. The kids want to plant corn. I'll surround a few (8?) corn plants with pole beans, mini pumpkins, and sugar baby pumpkins. The mini pumpkin seedlings I started inside and transplanted here might survive, but I'm not optimistic. Those are bush beans in the containers. The next in-the-ground bed is planned for watermelon and Cinderella pumpkins. I was thinking of trellising them. The guy at the garden store advised against it. I might do it anyway. The long container has edamame seeds we planted today. You can probably recognize the herbs. The little flower pot seems to have a sunflower sprout. The in-ground beds definitely need fertilizer, probably some compost, and maybe potting soil as well. Lots of clay, even with the addition of the extra fill dirt the contractors added. The little circle of stones is reserved for sunflowers. Not super sunny there, so we'll see. You'll notice the herbs in the oval container nearby. I am planning carrots and celery in the 4x4 bed. A friend showed me her sorrel yesterday and now I'm thinking about greens. This bed is in partial shade. The whole thing needs a fence. And edging. Maybe paving stones. Some amount of mulch, at least on the walkways. A watering system might be good. Still thinking about a trellis for watermelons. And probably some asper-cream or tiger balm for my arms tomorrow. This is the most ambitious garden I have ever planned. Hope some food grows in it.