TOMATO!

My life has been a little crazy lately---a rollercoaster of ups and downs, really. But, this little guy has made me ridiculously happy.







Now, I don't like tomatos, actually. I like tomato sauce and a lot of tomato based items, but a regular tomato I could do without. So, R. will be the recipient of this little guy, but just the fact that I grew him and have more growing I feel is a real accomplishment.

Patio Garden July 10th

Wow, there's been some changes in the garden in just a week! My Chinese Five-Color Pepper began it's bloom. It's really quite a pretty flower! Unfortunately I couldn't seem to get a decent shot of it, so what's below is a bit blurry. But, my Tumbling Tom is starting to get some color, so hopefully soon it will be ready to be plucked and eaten as my first grown edible!




The Chinese Five-Color Pepper and it's pretty, purple bloom




The ever-ripening Tumbling Tom... Can't wait to eat him up

Patio Garden: July 3rd

I haven't done a very good job of keeping track of my growing vegetables. I water them, check their progress, but haven't kept tabs on what's doing well, what's struggling, what's blooming and when, etc.

So, here's my first attempt to at least keep some visual records of what's going on in my "mini-farm" as it's been dubbed.

My "Strawberry Temptation" never did grow. Not sure what happened, but it just never came up. Of course, this was the plant I was looking most forward to. Oh well, everything else came up so I can't complain!





This is a poor picture of my "Tumbling Tom Red" tomatoes. I planted about five plants and they are all either showing off smalll green toms, or are blooming and will offer tomatoes soon.




Another poor picture, this time of my "Strawberry Popcorn" plant. Tassles are beginning to show and it's great fun to watch this large plant shoot up on my deck



The whole she-bang. The other plants are two kinds of peppers (one hot--Chinese 5-color; and one sweet---Golden Marconi), not yet flowering or fruiting, but growing taller and sturdier each day.

Let's Go! Let's Go! Let's zzzzzzzzzzzz

Last week as I voracioulsy attacked the new Kingsolver book I had ideas! and inspiration! and motivation! and excitement! popping up everywhere. Then, around Thursday I began to feel under the weather which lead to a weekend of feeling not quite right. I didn't feel sick totally, instead had the off and on symptoms of a sore throat, a temperamental stomach, and extreme fatigue.

Needless to say, though today I'm finally feeling normal, all those exciting ideas and motivations kind of went down the toilet. And though physically I'm feeling fine, mentally I'm feeling sluggish and lazy. There's a million things I NEED to do...and probably as many things I WANT to do, but I can't get mind, body and motivation on the same page.

In somewhat exciting news, my tomato plant is flowering like crazy and I have a few mini tomatoes starting to grow! I'm not sure if any other of my plants are going to produce, so it is exciting to see something actually bearing some fruit. Also it make me happy that my tomato plant is the one bearing because when I started my container garden venture, someone told me that there would be no way I could grow tomatoes in a pot. So :P I showed them. =)

One Meal a Week Challenge

Now that Farmer's Market season is starting around here, I have been trying to find farmer's markets in my areas. I have found a few that claim to be farmer's markets in my direct area, but sell mainly California or other imported food stuffs. Because of the summer followed by winter weather we had in March/April, a lot of fruit growers in the area suffered--and according to a local article, fruit is where the moneys at. So, call in California. This isn't to say they won't carry ANY local food, just not very much.

There are some fairly decent farmer's markets in my extended area. And by extended I mean upwards 30+ miles away from me and nasty construction and traffic on the way. As I'm not much of a driver, especially a city driver, I like to avoid those areas if possible. I know that radius still means it's local food, and likely food from closer to my apartment than it is to the city, but nevertheless I'm not to the point where I'm willing to make that drive at least once a week. (Yet, anyway).

I found a possible Farmer's Market a little bit closer, so R. and I are going to go check it out on Saturday morning. And, I'm like a little kid ready for a trip to Florida. I keep reminding R. we're going, lest he forget. And, currently, it looks to be the highlight of my week.

I have been reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, as I mentioned earlier. There are a lot of statistics included, and typically I distrust statistics because it's so easy to manipulate a number, or to conduct research in a way that makes whatever you have to say seem authoritative or to find statistics to back up ANY opinion under the sun. But, I found this statistic particular interesting, even if it's only partially true. "If every U.S citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we could reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week."

That's a lot of people doing one small thing and making a big difference, no matter how you look at it. I'm not at a point in my life where I think I can make a drastic change like living a month on local goods or even a week. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go totally local--partially because I am a very picky eater and partially because I am notoriously lazy. But, I feel one meal a week is COMPLETELY doable. And it could lead to two meals a week--a meal a day--and on and on until maybe my diet is mainly composed of local.

Now is the perfect time to start this challenge. Farmer's Markets are opening up everywhere and the summer bounty will soon be upon us (I had my first tomato flower pop up on Sunday!). If we're not really eating locally at all, why not try just one meal a week. It could be something as easy as 2 locally laid eggs and perhaps a piece of locally grown fruit for breakfast.

My success will depend on what we find at the Farmer's Market on Saturday and my ability to convince R. to try this little experiment with me (and continue to return to the Farmer's Market). (I promised to do a few things for him if he promised to read the book when I am finished with it).

If there's anyone out there still not integrating local foods into their diet, I think this would be an excellent first step.

I'm Back, For Good

I didn't expect the last few weeks to be so crazy, but maybe I should have. With the end of school, my sister graduating college, visitors and project upon project, I've been running around like crazy trying to get everything accomplished and in order. Thus, no brain or time for posting.

Well, school is over until the fall (when I'll be student teaching). And I have a few weeks before my job goes to full time. So, I'm hoping I can get a lot accomplished and organized for the upcoming summer rather than wasting my time away... like I usually do with a break in schedule.

All of my grand plans for a more eco-friendly life have, admitedly, gone by the wayside in the time being. I've been thinking more about making enough money this summer to support myself while I student teach in the fall than about how I can stop using ziploc bags or eat organic and locally produced food. I want to get back into the mindset where I'm trying to be a more responsible consumer--both in the sense of buying and eating.

Luckily, some REAL farmer's markets should be opening up around the area soon. In fact, tomorrow R. and I are going to go to a pick your own farm and pick some strawberries. Some storms rolled in last night leaving the next few days in the low seventies--rather than the mid-high eighties we were having. So, it will hopefully be a lovely day.

My vegetables are doing fairly well. I'm at the point where I am getting impatient...which is why I'm not the best gardener in the world. I don't need results immediately, but waiting a handful of months drives me a little crazy. Especially since this is my first attempt, they are in containers, and they don't get quite as much sun as they probably should. I just want to know that some are going to produce.

So, anyway, enough of my ramblings. I should be back to posting fairly regularly and hopefully more interestingly!

Spring is REALLY here

Wow, real spring weather finally arrived and I'm practically giddy with it. It's not too hot like it was in March, but not too cold like the winter we had in April. It's sunny, sixties with a cool enough breeze to necessitate a jacket. My favorite kind of weather.

I've been getting my seedlings transplanted in pots, hoping the meager sun and meager space will do well enough for some of them to give something. I'm not looking for enough to live off of by any means, but a tomato or pepper or two would be nice. My strawberry seedlings never popped up, so that was a bit disappointing. I might see if I can find a strawberry plant somewhere instead of trying to grow them from seed.

I'm eagerly awaiting the opening of a farmer's market down the street. It's not quite close enough to walk to, but it is close enough that it makes sense to make regular trips for fruits and vegetables, instead of getting them from the grocery store. And, it's on the way to the grocery store, so it makes sense to stop by there first, then continue on to the store for other necessities. I am very excited about supporting some local farmers and getting some delicious, healthy food out of the deal!

I want to start making my own bread, though admitedly I am a bit intimidated by the whole process. It seems like bread takes a lot of patience, and I do not have a wealth of that! But, I think that will be my project for this weekend/week.

I've fallen off my projects lately. Funks and fogs are not really conduscive to making changes. So, I've been indulging in things like kiwis from Greece and fast food and sitting around, ignoring all the little things I should do. I'm trying to break out of that and get myself together. I need to get back on track with all aspects of my life, being more conscientious in my environmental decisions is just a small part of that.

Hopefully this weather will help get my butt in gear =)

Sprouts!

My babies (well, all but the strawberries) are popping up like crazy. The miniature strawberry corn has quickly outgrown its seed starter, but so far I've only transplanted three plants.






It's actually been warm enough that they've been outdoors for the past week. I may have to move them in at night next week as it's supposed to start getting down into the 50s in the evenings per normal spring weather. But, for now they are quite happily growing. Now we'll just have to wait and see if they get enough sun to grow and produce.

Spring Has Sprung... Way Too Quickly

The trees are blooming like crazy and it's been just about overnight. One night, it was bare branches and brown grass--the next flowering Bradford Pear trees, Redbuds, and Forsythia. All in massive, full-blown bloom in the blink of an eye. It's beautiful--for the short week it will last. Either the heat (83 yesterday) will get to these early bloomers or the inevitable cold snap that follows will.

Yesterday, R. and I went hiking. Along the forest floor, the anemones and spring beauties were out in force, along with some Dutchman's britches and the occassional violet.

Everything is blooming and spreading in this 20-25 degree above normal weather.

I find this irritating for a long list of reasons. First of all, Spring is my favorite season and the week of really too hot temperatures just speeds everything up so that the pretty blooms and early smells are lost in the heat and will just as soon be lost in, likely, a below normal cold snap. I don't get to enjoy the blooms for more than a few days and the gradual warming of the world is lost in the up and down of way too hot and way too cold. It's really a shame.

I used to spend Spring Break's bundled up searching for signs of wildflowers at my Grandma's house in southern Iowa. We rarely found something so early in the season, but the search was fun nevertheless.

When winter pops to summer and back in forth, I feel like my Spring is lost somewhere in the middle and I don't get to enjoy that search for the first signs of green, the first blooms of the year. Instead, they all come out to once and don't stick around long enough.

On a happier note, my seedlings are popping up like crazy. The strawberry popcorn I planted has quickly outgrown the seed starter and needs to be transplanted, and the tomatoes aren't far behind. The peppers are finally peeking out, but the strawberries are still being stubborn. Exciting to see the little shoots of green, though!

Fighting With The Words

Every day since my last post, I've opened up a new post... and then stared blankly at it. I have much to say, much going on, but the words... they aren't cooperating. My brain seems to be... I don't know what.

For about the past week I've been having nightmares or just really vivid, disconcerting dreams. They have been leaving me tired, muddled, and foggy throughout the day. I've had plenty of time to be productive this week, but the time just seems to disappear--and quite honestly I'm not sure what I'm doing with it.

Warm weahter is here... why do I feel so sluggish and out of it? It's frustrating, but I'm not sure how to break out of it.

In better news, I have my first sprouts from seed starting over the weekend. Also, I found out that my neighborhood has a community garden! So, I can get a plot for $40 starting in April. R. thinks if I plant the veggies at the CG they'll get messed with (the CG is right on the main drag, and there's a bar not far away, so it's a definite possibility), so I think--if I get enough seedlings, I'll put some in the CG and keep some for my patio containers and see which work out the best (or if at all).

We'll see how it all goes, right now I'd just love to have some dreamless sleep.

Snow!

A few days ago, the title of my post was "80 Degrees." And then yesterday, for three hours, big flakes fell consistently. A pretty picture, but very out of place!

For Missouri, this time of year means a lot of ups and downs just like that one: 80 one day, 30 the next. That's the hardest part of early spring for me, my body doesn't like the wild mood swings of Mother Nature. Nor does my closet, because it means having out both winter and summer clothes, rather than being able to put one set away.

I'm off to buy my container vegetable gardening supplies today and get a bit of a late start on seeds. R. keeps bringing up the fact that we probably don't have enough sunlight. He's right, but I want to try anyway. Maybe it will be a bust, but at least I'll know I'll have tried--and maybe next year we'll be in a house where I can have a nice ground plot right in the sun! :) Wishful thinking.

Eighty Degrees

Since it was a simply BEAUTIFUL morning, I tried to take a bit of a walk. Unfortunately, my back was still aching from the hike on Sunday. I knew I was out of shape, but this is ridiculous!

I meant to get out today and buy some seed starter and what not, but I accidentally turned off my alarm rather than hit snooze. So, when I woke up I had just enough time to shower and attempt a walk before our washer and dryer were delivered! (Very exciting, now I can clear the closet of piles of dirty laundry).

Anyway, I’m still not sure what I’m going to do about the lighting situation. With daylight savings, the balcony only gets about 2-4 hours of sun, basically from 2-4 in the afternoon. So, I’m worried about all my possible plants. But, I’ll have to do the best I can and make do with what I’ve got. The key is to get it started this week!




Today it’s supposed to hit eighty degrees. I think it’s a little early in March …or April or May to be hitting 80. I’ve lived in Missouri for almost 12 years now, but somehow I’m always surprised by how early the warm weather comes. I don’t know if it’s something to do with spending the first 13 years of my life further north, or what, but I’m always expecting cool springs and getting the crazy up-and-downs of Missouri’s spring. But, since I can’t change the weather patterns of this crazy state, I’m just going to try and sit back and enjoy with shades up and windows open.

A Jumble of Things

Whew, back in my own apartment! I have to admit I enjoyed curling up with a kitty at night and the broad cable selection of my parent's house, but it is good to be back in my home. My parent's home doesn't feel like my home anymore, much to their disappointment, but I only lived their 5 years--and now I am almost seven years removed from it, so it's just not mine. All right, onto my jumble of things:


Jumble 1:
I have quite a mess on my hands, because R. was sick all week and couldn't finish my unpacking efforts while I was away. This is his excuse anyway, but I don't think the place would have been any different on my return had he been feeling any better. He'd just have some other excuse in the wings. :) So, that is my project for this afternoon since I finally got my taxes done this morning. I think if I can get things put away and organized, I'll feel a lot less... jumpy.

Jumble 2:
One of the things that being home did was give me time to respark my creative juices in the fiction writing department. I have been writing short stories and novels since I was in elementary school, and the past few years have been an up and down dedication to my series of novels based on one family.

Over 2 years ago I began self-publishing these novels through Lulu Press. Somehow I have the heart to sell them to friends and family, but not the heart or fortitude to submit them to publishers.

As I am getting ready to finish up my fifth book in the series, I realize I didn't have anything on this blog about my novels. So, I'm going to be adding a little button to the sidebar. My novels are family-oriented romance novels. I don't think they would fit into the mainstream romance novel market today, because they are not very racy... if you could call them racy at all, and they're character focused and driven. No spies, vampires, murders, etc. It's the story of a family, and the people they fall in love with. Anyway, there's free previews of the first chapters of each if anyone likes romance novels :)

Jumble 3:

I need to get my seeds started! I finally got some containers lined up last week, but I need to get some soil mix to get stuff started. I'm hoping I can get this project accomplished by the end of next week. Then we'll be on our way to an odd assortment of vegetables.

I am, however, worried about sun. Our porch only gets sun in the afternoon, and even that it has to filter through the deck slats. I'm not sure what I can do about this except watch the porch to find the best sun spots and place the containers there once they are ready to be outside.

In the end, the project of growing at least one thing I can eat will probably fail, but it will be a learning process. And, hopefully next year I will have a house and a yard with sun to plant my veggies in.

In other news, I was driving not too far from our apartment last week and noticed a big sign for a farmer's market coming soon in a strip mall only a few miles down the road. I could not be more excited to see where this food will be coming from, but hopefully it will be an excellent resource for local food this summer!

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I hope to get my posts more... cohesive now that there's no big (planned) changes, vacations, etc looming on my horizon. Back to the old grindstone of routine. Thank God!

A Miscellany

I want to thank Liz and Katie for their answers to my question about local vs. organic, when given the choice. I think both their answers reinforced what I had been leaning towards, which is always good!

In terms of the container veggie garden, things are on hold while we move. I was hoping to start the arugula and a few other plants indoors by the end of February, but it looks like the move won’t be a done deal till the last weekend in February, then I have to spend a week at my parents house watching my little sister while the parents go on a Caribbean cruise. Some people have all the luck. So, now we’re looking at mid-March and I’m not totally pleased about it. Still, I think it’s important that we get settled before I tackle a project this big. I want to succeed at least with something so I know I can do it.

Food wise, I have yet to begin making major changes. Since R. does most of the grocery shopping/buying, I am having trouble convincing him of making conscious choices over cost/convenience choices. He’s beginning to see my point, but he’s still in the camp where convenience and price are the number one priority. Therefore, organic only wins if it’s around the same price. And, he has the notion that organic doesn’t taste as good. He’s having trouble distinguishing organic and healthy/low fat. So, we’re working on that. Luckily, he’s very on-board with farmer’s markets and buying food fresh, so once we get to summer he’ll be at least going in that direction.

I’d also like to start being better about our waste. We throw away a lot, and recycle very little since it is not offered in our apartment complex. It’s hard to change from being convenience oriented to being more mindful of what goes into your trashcan. But, I know I need to start making these changes now while I have the time and effort. That way, once I start student teaching and ideally getting a teaching job, the routine will already be in place and I won’t say—Oh, we just don’t have time to reduce our impact on the environment.

The minimizing/simplifying is going well. I filled up a large garbage bag full of clothes to send to Goodwill. R. doesn’t seem as excited about getting rid of all his unused stuff. He’s determined to keep all 8 million t-shirts. I’m determined to cut back significantly.

It’s hard to believe that we’re almost halfway done with February. March doesn’t feel too far off. And April will be just around the corner. Sometimes, I wish I had the patience to savor each season, each week, each day instead of waiting and planning and thinking about the next one, but I suppose it’s partly this time in my life—filled with so much change, it’s hard to focus on the here-at-hand.

Seeds and Eco-Footprints

Veggie Garden Update: I received my first batch of seeds yesterday. These were from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company (http://www.rareseeds.com/). I was impressed with how quickly I got them (though I do live in Missouri and the company is in Missouri as well, though further south). They also threw in a free packet of seeds of Golden Marconi Peppers which are a sweet pepper, so that will be nice in comparison with my hot Chinese Five-Color Peppers.



So, now I’ve got to work on finding some containers and deciding what kind of mix to use in the pots. I’ve read varying suggestions, though I think I’ll probably go by the growing guide from Baker Creek.

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Since I started this blog a little over a week ago, I have been searching the Internet for like-minded people who post regularly. There are quite a few blogs that I’ve been enjoying. The most regular posters, I’ve put in my link list—a list that will likely grow and change as I have become mildly obsessed with reading blogs.

One of the themes I see over and over again in posts, about pages and so forth is the idea that people are trying to erase the footprint they leave on the Earth. I find this a fascinating topic. I too would like to put out as little as I can in terms of hurting the environment, but I think this idea of erasing (or lessening) our footprint is a hard one. It’s not the “American Way.”

I think the majority of Americans are brought up being taught to put their mark on the world. Not necessarily there environmental mark in that they should pollute and damage the delicate balance of ecosystems, but to make our mark so that when we are gone there is proof that we have lived.

We are taught we should want to make a difference, make tons of money, have as much stuff as we possibly can—and sadly those last two outweigh the first. When our national motto is MORE MORE MORE, then the environment isn’t much involved in the thought process.

I, for whatever melding of genes and parenting, have never really wanted more. I’ve never been called materialistic… in fact; my Mom often finds my lack of buying things to my detriment. This was more so before I entered the “real world.” I’ve become a bit more of a shopper and spender and less of a wait for others to give me what I want. But still, my goal is not to make tons of money, have tons of things. In fact, I want to live a more simple life and I don’t want my (future) children to grow up with video games or zombies in front of the TV.

But, there is this presence around me that has that allure of “stuff” still right there in my mind. I used to watch an ungodly amount of TV. Since I have moved in with my boyfriend that isn’t as much the case. (I spend too much time on the computer). This week, I wasn’t feeling well a couple days so happened to watch more TV than I had been watching in weeks. And I began to see these ads bombarding me with what I should want, how I should be, and all the quick fixes to get there. I watch TV and I feel fat, poor and sloppy. Maybe I am the sloppy part, but my weight is fine and I don’t have a lot of money, but I have a roof over my head and food and plenty of stuff and plenty of people who would help me out if I were in financial crisis.

There are a lot of forces out there that try to make us feel unhappy with what we have. I’m not one of those people who says we shouldn’t watch TV. I enjoy The Office and Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert and Top Chef a little too much to do that. I think TV is fine form of entertainment, as long as I’m remaining conscious of the advertising affect on me.

I don’t need more, and I don’t always want more. I want less, and I want to create the smallest possible footprint in terms of the Earth’s health.

The Little House Cookbook

I was looking through all the junk I keep crammed under the guest bed when I came across something I had forgotten completely.

At some point my Mom or Grandma had bought this orange cookbook full of odd, old-fashioned recipes. When my Mom wanted to get rid of it at a garage sale, I took it for myself. I didn’t know how she could get rid of something so infinitely interesting… and then it got packed away and I’ve barely looked at it since.

The book is The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker. It’s a book full of recipes mentioned in any of the fantastic Little House books or recipes that pioneers would have been making around the time Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family was traversing the Midwest. I’m a big history buff—especially the social aspect of history. Not necessarily wars or political disasters, but what were the everyday people thinking, feeling doing?

So, when I came across this book again I opened it up and looked through it. I was amazed to find just as many (if not more) words and explanations as recipes. I began to read the forward and was struck by how perfect Ms. Walker’s words seemed to fit with the ideas of simplicity, eating locally and even sustainability.

“They [the recipes] turn out to be a wonderful way to rediscover basic connections, links that are often obscured in the complex modern world. By this I mean connections among the food on the table, the grain in the field, and the cow in the pasture. Between the food on the table and the sweat of someone’s brow. Between the winter and dried apples, the summer and tomatoes, the autumn and fresh sausage. Between the labors of the pioneers and the abundance we enjoy today. Between children and their elders. Between the preparation of a meal and the experience of love.”

Walker’s words are undeniably perfect for this generation. She points to a point Joan Dye Gussow also brings up in her book This Organic Life. Many people don’t make the connection between what they eat and the farmers that produce the food. Many children haven’t any idea how onions or celery or peaches grow. There’s no connection. We simply, as a nation, do not seem to care where our food comes from as long as its cheap and convenient.

I think a lot of the local movements and homesteading movements stem from a wish to have all
those connections back. My Dad often makes fun of my love for old things, pointing out that I wouldn’t want to live without plumbing or running water. I try to explain I don’t want to transport myself back to that time, but I would like some of the values of community and food to be transported to our time. Pioneers and all those that came before the industrial age did what they did out of necessity. If they didn’t plant vegetables or have some kind of food source,
they died. Many of us are so lucky not to have that kind of threat hanging over our heads, but it doesn’t mean we should allow our ignorance to threaten our planet and our own health.

I’m getting a bit soapbox-y and a bit rambly again, so I’ll just say this. What I want from my life is to understand those connections between the food on the table and sweat of someone’s brow. I want to pass this to my children should I be lucky enough to have them. These new choices I’m making are to increase my connection to the land, to what I eat and an attempt to rememember my good fortune to have all that I have and not always be wanting more, faster, easier, and cheaper.

Revive the Victory Garden

I was trolling through the blogs I am beginning to visit each day and I came across this magnificent post:

http://simplereduce.blogspot.com/2007/01/revive-victory-garden.html

Take a look, be inspired! Let's fight global warming one vegetable at a time.

Seeds Ordered!

Well, I went a little hog wild yesterday and ordered some seeds, partially at random. I’ve been reading up on what to plant, what works in containers and all that. I’ve read people’s blogs where they pour over seed catalogue after seed catalogue insuring they’re making the right choices. But, me, I just picked willy nilly.

I may regret some of my choices; I ended up ordering more seeds than I had anticipated (of course). Since we are moving some time before June, I should have minimized rather than gone overboard. But, here was the final result:

1 Packet Temptation Strawberries (I read these do surprisingly well in containers)
1 packet Tumbling Tom Red Tomato
1 packet Strawberry Corn (something with strawberry in the name—but basically popping corn)
1 packet Chinese Five Color peppers
1 packet arugula

I ordered these all from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Pinetree Garden Seeds

(Side note: MS Word didn’t have arugula in its dictionary—hmm)

I have two wood containers for the arugula. I’ve heard mixed things about using wood for containers, but I think I’ll give it a shot and if it doesn’t work out I’ll know for next time.

Now the challenge is to find big containers for the rest of the guys. I’ve tried to find stuff around the house I could use, but I’m not coming up with anything that is really as big as most of the articles I read said vegetable containers should be (5 gallons).

Another challenge is finding somewhere to put the containers once they’re ready to get moved outside. Right now, actually, there are some spaces because our apartment is on the corner. The corner faces south, so some items on the balcony might work as being close to south facing. My concern is when we move to another apartment, we’ll be unlikely to have the same setup. I guess that will just have to be one of my criteria—south facing porch/balcony/something.
I’m excited to start, but I also know my limitations—I have issues with long term projects, as in losing interest or motivation to continue. I’m hoping the idea of food coming from these plants will keep me going!

The Urge To Cultivate

For such a mild winter, it’s a bit of a shock to all of the sudden be in the twenties outside. Now, in the past twenty-four years I am living the furthest south of all my many homes, so I am no stranger to a true winter. However, the apartment we live in, though only over a year old, has terrible heating downstairs. Being inside is and staying warm is an effort, so then going outside no longer holds an appeal. I am someone who gets cold very easily, and I need the right conditions to want to brave some cold weather. Shivering under sweatshirts and blankets isn’t really the right conditions.

However, despite the cold, the clouds finally broke today and there were periods of sunshine. It’s been a little too cloudy for my particular tastes, so the sun was a welcome excuse to pull down the shades (my shades actually do come down, rather than up, in order to see out the window).

Despite the ice and cold weather and lack of sun, I have noticed a lot of gardeners gearing up for spring on their blogs. Much talk of seed ordering and compost and whatnot. One of my goals this year is to start on organic garden. I made this goal when it looked like we would be moving into a house or condo this spring. This has since changed and it looks like, instead, we’ll be moving to another apartment (oh the joy). So, my organic garden has undergone some reevaluation.

I still want to give it a try. One of my other goals is to eat something I grow, so even if I just have one measly tomato plant I will be immensely happy (for this year). I’ve been doing some research on container vegetable gardening (more research to be done when I get to the library at some point this week). Right now, I think I might try to grow some tomatoes, one or twp varieties of peppers, and probably some lettuce. I suppose the time is now to start these endeavors, though it seems so early to me (the novice gardener talking).

Though I am but a novice, gardening of all forms is something that seems to seep its way through the generations of my family. I have long been brought up to appreciate and memorize flower names—both wild and domestic. When I would visit my maternal Grandmother in rural Iowa, we would pour over Wildflower books and hike about her wooded land identifying and picking and enjoying the little gems that the wilderness had to offer.

Both of my Grandmothers also had more domestic gardens, filled with perennials and annuals of all shapes and sizes. My mother is a gardener/floral designer by trade and so I have been brought up with the love of growing things. I have not had much luck, or much interest, in growing my own until now, but I think I have the basics down.

I decided I wanted to start my own vegetable garden, because I seem to have cultivated the very American way of needing tangible results. I suppose flowers themselves are the result, and a tangible one, but you can’t really do anything with them. I love wildflowers, but growing them would take away a bit of the wild I think, so domesticated gardening, for whatever reason, leaves me desiring more. I think the vegetable is the answer to that. It produces something I am going to eat (if I can somehow manage to do it all right).

Beyond that, I find myself growing increasingly political. Sadly, by growing increasingly political that still leaves me behind many. Though I have keen interest in politics, my frustration often outweighs my patience with the way things work. So, instead, I find myself holding on to certain issues rather than parties, events, or other such means. With the inspiration of the words of Barbara Kingsolver, Joan Gussow, and Nell Newman, I have become increasingly aware and passionate about the state of our nations food consumption and the costs on the environment and even on many less fortunate people who I’d never even considered before. My garden thus becomes also the beginnings of a political statement—not to others, but to myself. Slowly, I am choosing to make the conscious effort to do something that may increase our chances of changing the way things are. Ideally, as I gain the resources, the space, and the dedication, I hope to expand the garden to at least a small bit of sustainability (like say, vegetables) and increase my appreciation for the farmers that bring us food, and knowledge of the seasons and what I have a right to be eating.

And even beyond that, as winter melts into spring, I always have the urge to sink my hands into some dirt, to cultivate my own green, and hopefully this year, reap some rewards of that urge.

Mom's Garden 4/16/06