I love me some dirt!

I love playing in the dirt. Since I have had kids I have lost sight of just how much. However this summer, I am finding my groove again. Getting out there digging and reclaiming my space till my muscles all happily ache. Finding ways to incorporate old bricks and new plants and finding things we can grow to eat. Trying more containers (still working on this one). Reading gardening blogs, looking at gardening pictures...daydreaming about dirt and plants and statuaries. (I sooo want one! End of this month there will be one added!) Watering, reading books, figuring out how to grow up and be a good little organic gardener. Time is lost when I am out there. Two hours is lost in a blink of an eye and leaves me ready to pout and stomp my feet when I have to come in. Coming in with dirty grubby toes and grass stained heels, dirt scuffs on my forehead, and plant matter in my hair...oooh how I love it. My therapy. Dirt time. I wish I knew more but right now I will keep going with my trial and error style. Planting stuff and watching it be eaten by Peter Rabbit and his Chipmunk friend. The garden is open!! Now for my goal this summer is a dinner party out back. Have to get it all finished so I can work on this...maybe early fall?? Hmmm I am thinking it is the year!

Good Days

We have been making some good days here. We have been keeping it simple and visiting places nearby. We have been making simple things seem more like an adventure. We all mount up the bikes and wander out into our little world. We have been swimming at the Community Center, sketching at Dow Gardens, planting in the yard, and riding downtown for shakes and iced coffees. Our days are good. They bring us together as a family. They give us time to relax and breathe and feed each other. There is reading and cooking and chatting and movies...yep I think this time of summer practice is good. Summer you are welcome we are almost ready! A week and a half of school to go and a porch to clean and we are all yours!

Happy Solstice!

Summer is officially here and we are truly in bloom! The mini roses have never had so many blooms, the chammomile is blooming and filling in, the tomato plants are thriving and are in need of cages, even the compost pile is alive with growth, and there is even the hope of raspberries in the not too distant future! So happy solstice, and happy summer, enjoy the season!!!

Garden...

Ok, so let me start by saying I know nothing about real gardening...you know correct dirt, correct lighting, correct watering, correct plant arrangements, correct anything really... I have been more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gardener...people have plants to thin, I am there with a bucket and shovel, people have decided to cut back on some of plant x, I am there...and then I try to find an optimal place in my little city yard to make them happy...I dig, I shovel in some lovely compost, I plant, I water, and take daily walks to watch for the neverending battle of the weeds...and I cheerlead...and low and behold there is often success!! (Proof: baby sleeping in transplanted happily spreading woodruff, sun smiling behind transplanted varigated lemon balm, thriving blooming transplanted gorgeous iris, and cutely blooming donated lemon thyme!!! and my friend's garage sale found hens and chicks, oh and some annuals planted by the ladies in front of my great candle holder find for a whole dollar at a yard sale!!) I am not a good little gardener and have yet to perfect the battle of the weeds...but I love the planting and especially when they all start to green back up after our very long winter's! I feel so fulfilled to see those little plants poking through that still very cold ground...and you can imagine my excitement as I wait for all those buds to finally bloom!! I have contemplated taking a master gardener's class but timing has never worked for me to get into one...and I wonder if that would kill some of the thrill for me...the seeming magic of small successes...and how would I feel to find I have truly done it all completely wrong...so I still think about it...maybe for fun...maybe just more time to get my hands in the dirt!! Who knows... And to tell you the truth, if anyone would have told my teenage self I would love this so very much, I would have had some very unkind words to throw your way!! My mother has always been an outdoors, gardening lover...and she tried to get us interested and active and I can say I never got it...I hated bugs and heat and thought weeding and watering were just a pain of monumental proportions...but now I see the release the grounding the getting back to where we began the feeling of accomplishment as you transform the ground around you...a little zen really! And although I do not suscribe to her use of chemicals and fertilizers...I think I inherited a little more from her than I had thought...thanks mom!!! May all your little corners of the world bloom!! (Still anticipating those poppies!!! I am just a little bit excited about their arrival!!!)

Good Day

Today was another one of those dreamy, idealistic little days, the ones that actually play out like the one you had in your head. Where all the parties involved are content and happy and on the same page...and wandering and exploring all comes together...and we all find our place in the day... Bronwyn and I managed to get a bike ride in down to the farmer's market this morning. Not much in yet in our neck of the words but we did get some asparagus and spinach and I got some more herb plants (chammomile, dill, rosemary, and oregano were the new additions). I even got to get into the dirt and get them all planted today!! While we were gone John and Ella were crafting a lovely breakfast. We had pancakes and sausage and coffee and tea and orange juice all on our front porch. We even had a bouquet of lily of the valley a friend had given me for table decoration. I love lily of the valley so sweet smelling and they always remind me of being a little girl!! So thanks so much Margaret for the lovelies!

Then the ladies wanted to get out, so we being the lucky people we are, went to Dow Gardens, a lovely garden at the end of our street, photos above. It is full of paths and grass and places to wander and imagine. And there is a kids garden with water spouts where the girls get soaked and play...and if anyone who reads this can tell me what the cute little blue flowers above are I would really appreciate it!! I would love to get some of those in my yard!!

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday!!

Gardener

This year Bronwyn has been hot to garden...all things gardening and planting...she was so anxious that we started some plants from seeds just so she could see something growing before Michigan became hospitable for outdoor planting... As a fundraiser for her school, they sold vouchers for flats of plants at a local nursery so we went and picked them out and Bronwyn asked if we could get vegetables she really wanted to plant eggplant and low and behold they had some plants. I had places to go that evening but she was so excited to be getting things out that I dug the big top soil and she did all the rest including digging compost into the holes. I was taken aback. She worked so very hard. And the next morning the first thing she asked was "What can I plant now?" She is learning about taking care of something. About how our waste becomes something good. She is learning to green up her little corner of the world. She is learning to grow food and how to nourish those she loves.

We also joined our local CSA. We are sharing it with another family and are excited to get the girls out there and see how food is grown and where it comes from. We are looking forward to the season and to see all the varieties of foods that will come our way. Plus they have chickens so we get eggs and the kids can feed the chickens when they go out there. I may have to find a few new recipes for the new produce we get...can't wait till he gives us the call that the first lot is in!!! Here is to growth and locally grown foods!!!!!! (Can't get more local than our backyard!!)