Jack-O-Lanterns

Jack-O-Lanterns
Originally uploaded by Klingon65

Happy Halloween!

I wonder how many folks will dress up as political candidates, or as elephants or donkeys this year. I'm completely fried with all the he did this, she did that. It's like an ongoing bad marriage.

Speaking of marriage, my divorce will be final in about two weeks, I'm saying about because if he signs the final paper and sends it back to the attorney as expected, then it will be filed and I'll be an official single woman. The thing I am looking forward to the most, is having my name be legal. I changed my name years ago, perhaps it's been eight years now—everyone knows me by that name, but legally I have to sign my checks and documents with his name. So, that will be good, although it means the details of going to the drivers place, going to the banks, informing the IRS, etc. I'm making a list.

I was reading in the Artist's Way this morning about abundance. Now this is something we are all thinking about to some degree with all the changes we're in now. In the chapter, Julia Cameron is discussing how we think of God, or a higher power, the creator, etc. the name doesn't matter, it can always be changed, right? but she was asking the question: do we know who our source is. I do know and then I forget. I think I'm it, or perhaps before, my husband—and this wasn't a real knowing, it was just a situation. I mean, I depended on him in so many ways. I depended on him to bring home the bacon, to be my fiend and confidant. But God could also be all these things. In fact, if Julia is right, then if I trusted God as my source, then things would unfold as I desire—perhaps not look the way I think they should, but really I would have all that I need. Was it the Stones, "If you don't get what you want, you'll get what you need." Something like that.

Well, it's raining and it's dark and it's Halloween. My grandbaby is coming today- little late because Dad is bringing him. He has a sore toe, and is on antibiotics. Weird, no one knows how he got strep on his toe. So we soak and we but bandages on it. He is not a happy camper. He will be an alligator--alligators like rain, right?

Have some fun with those you love and eat candy.

Ciao!

New Moon

I forgot to tell you that we had a new moon. It was Tuesday, later in the day, 6 degrees Scorpio. It fell very close to an opposition with my sun, so I looked at my chart, and I'm having an event. That's astrologer talk, event. Okay Uranus and Saturn are close to exact opposites in the sky right now. And these opposites are falling on my north and south node. You know they're called the dragon's head and the dragon's tail—they're noting where you've come from and where you are going. So where I'm coming from in a strong authority figure in the home—the men in my life, the latest being my soon-to-be ex—and where I'm going to, the head, or the north node in Pisces in the house of career—where Uranus is transiting right now. So I'm thinking it is right, all that is happening for me. I know they say there are no mistakes, but sometimes in the midst of change, everything seems like a mistake. Perhaps when we walk toward our destiny, our feet dig in—but can we turn back? I don't think so.

Everything I ask for I receive—that is how the universe works. This is baffling to me in some ways, because that means I also get what I don't want. So I want a new man, or I want some help in the garden, how about a new art form. All these things show up. What about money? I guess it is showing up too. So maybe it is just the viewer we look through. Maybe it's there like Columbus's ships on the horizon, but we can't see it, because we haven't gotten it in our brains that it's possible or actual. I want it to be possible to thrive in my life. I wasn't taught this growing up. I was taught to do what I was told, and to be silent about the abuse. Now I have a lot to say about abuse, but you'll have to read more about that in my book. Or books. But anyway, switching to a new mind frame takes some work. I'm working on it, are you?

Okay the garden, I have a plan. Leaves—yeah, yeah, I know I'm repeating myself. So how about tilling? I've read it is better to just turn over the soil with a shovel, to not till it. It goes too deeply into the ground when you use a tiller. I like those tiny rototillers, but I don't have access to one. I'm still an outsider in the community garden—the weedy girl outsider—better change my thought here. We'll see what happens next year if I do.

Got to get showered and to the office/coffee shop where I write.

Ciao! Flower

Bright Orange Leaves

Bright orange leaves
Originally uploaded by Jaime Walsh

Well, the colors are really fabulous and the leaves, once they fall, will help your garden. Today I saw a lady select a few prime leaves from the sidewalk and decorate the trash can in Fairhaven with them. It was funny in a way. I passed her and pointed out one that she might enjoy. She picked it up.

Rake your leaves and heap them on the garden. You don't have to dig them in, just pile up with cardboard and table scraps and manure and grass clippings and more leaves. By spring, the soil will be teaming with worms, or so Deb says from Rainyside Gardener. And I've had good results myself.

Today I got two offers of help for my garden. I think we could divide it in half, or just do the whole thing together. We'll look at it next week. She's one of the other artist in the coop art building where I rent a room. Fairhaven is full of artist and gardeners and writers, etc. A fun place to live. And the other offer was from Brenda. She has a tree in her yard that is dropping the most beautiful rusty brown leaves. I've offered to rake them so I can take them home to my plot. Huh, sounds a little morbid.

Well, my cat is biting my toes, so it's time for me to call it a night. Have a good sunny day, and hopefully you're ready for Halloween.

Ciao! Flower

Warm Blankets

Okay, it's time to get out the warm blankets. Have you ever seen blankets spread over plants? If it gets really cold here, which is infrequent, blankets come out to cover the rhododendrons. It's just too much for their delicate nature, the terrible cold. Once we had a winter storm that sank the I-90 bridge and froze all the rhodys in our yard. The power was down for a couple of weeks and the roads were a sheet of ice. I cooked on the woodstove the entire week, and with no baths, we all got a little ripe. We had 5 trees down in our yard. Big cedars. One landed on the roof. It was frightening.

This winter, who knows? High winds are common here, especially so close to the bay. I think I'll start taking the train if I have to go south. I have friends still in Kingston; the train stops right at the Edmond/Kingston ferry crossing. The storms are worst there, off the shipping lane. You can hear the wind coming, a roar heading up the coastline.

Well, instead of putting blankets on your garden, you can use a cover crop. (although that won't help the rhodys). The thing you have to be careful with is letting the crop go to seed. See Secrets to Great Soil for more ideas. I once had a lot of millet in my garden—no wait--that was millet from the birds—we were feeding them, that's right. It's important to feed the birds.

Okay, it's my day to write—too writing groups, one I participate in, the other I facilitate. Writing is my mainstay, I love it more than I can say. This is good, as it's taken me a long time to figure out what I love in life the most, besides nature and growing things, growing essays—yes, words are my seeds.

Ciao! Flower

Cold Frame, Hot House

Well this could mean a tent you use for a wedding in the garden, and a wedding right now if you could depend on sunshine would be lovely. All the yellow and orange trees, I’m being repetitive I know, but I’m so fond of them. Yesterday I took a drive down Chuckanut Drive with my friend Peter and had a lovely dinner at The Oyster Bar. I actually had oysters, which I love and don’t eat often. On the side came a lovely potato and vegetable serving. The potatoes where mixed with hunks of parsnips, which brings me to the garden and growing parsnips. They’re big and robust and delicious in soup. They look like carrots only yellow. They have the flavor of carrot and celery mixed. Delicious in soup with leeks, parsnip leek soup, oh, sweet on a cold fall day.

As the sun went down over the water and we talked about politics, religion, and …. No we never got to the third thing folks usually argue about, we just chatted away, which seems to be easy between us. The sun going down, a fine wine, great food, and good friend, what could be better?

So my neighbor at the pea patch is putting in rows of tenting for her little lettuce plants and parsley. Which made me think I might do the same. Or at least butild a little lean-to. A little greenhouse thing. I’ve built many cold frames, a rectangle of 2x8s with a window over the top. This could actually work as well for winter as spring. I have kale up and chard growing, it could perk it enough to keep it going all winter—depending on how cold it gets. My cat is getting shaggy already, and he’s an inside cat. What the heck, he’s doing something in the kitchen—I better check.

Okay, he disappeared, which he’s good at. He hears me going and is like a shape-shifter gone from licking the butter, or getting into something on the counter. I hear him again, but guess I’ll let it rest. So, cold frames of bent stacks and plastic, or wood and windows, or even plastic tacked to a house and then draped down over the bed. There was more discussion about deer, and the prints were going through all the newly put-top-bed plots, and then there’s the cover crop: buckwheat will freeze, red clover spreads, seems like winter rye is a favorite. I may try that this year.

Okay, got the grandbaby to do, so I’m off.
Ta ta--Flower

Fall Leaves

FALLEN LEAVES
Originally uploaded by Rich Eye

The leaves along the boulevard are beautiful yellow and orange where the cop was holding up the radar speed detector the cars where going the exact speed limit, why? Because the cars coming the other way where flashing their lights. It was a trap and I was glad for the warning. I was going 35 and slowed to 24 and there was my speed on this big computer board. The cop seemed serious about his task and I wonder how long he sat there before someone flubbed up.

The trees along the railroad are reddish leaning toward pink. The leaves have turned this year in a lovely way, not too much rain and not too much wind, which does them in quickly. A gorgeous fall.

I went on a date tonight and had some good Mexican food. We talked about the stock market and conspiracy theory, UFOs and reincarnation. I ate too much and drank a rather large Margarita. Now it is time for me to crash. I'll be doing an expressive arts class in the morning. If you are interested, look up Dr. Jane Goldberg. She teaches a year long expressive arts practitioner class. Looks good.

Ciao!

Dividing Yellow Hammer

I didn't grow dahlias in my Kingston garden, except for one. And I didn't dig it up and divide the tuber, so I lost the plant. It was a Yellow Hammer. I've seen it growing down in the dahlia garden beside Taylor Dock. Very pretty. I did grow lots of Japanese Iris and those I divided and gave away and moved around. They grew well on the Glendon, the septic system, as it was always slightly moist there. Iris grow wild in swampy areas, so the water is a plus. There are so many varieties—yellow, white, purple. Beautiful.

We've been having some good gardening days here, chilly air and sunshine and the trees. The most I've done lately around my garden is think about how I will get the next things done. I used to have a truck and that worked well, to haul the bark or the manure or the leaves. Once when I was young I went from house to house and took the bags of leaves they put out for the trash and put them in my garden. This worked well, except for when they'd included bits of wood and jun

I've not much to say right now. Trying to recover still from divorce. Trying to get more sleep and to consider where I'm at is where I'm at for the time being. I'll move into a bigger place someday or not. The stock market has thrown me (and many others) as most all my money is there. And my ex, not so sure if he'll stay afloat, which would mean I won't have money to live off of. When push come to shove, the tough get going. Well, I'm tough, but right now a little worn out. I know it will get better, when I'm not sure. After the election. I can see the market coming back up. It's dropped so low though, taking us clear back to the 90s. Eek! Positive thinking, I do believe in manifestation. So think good thoughts; we can do an experiment. Are you thinking?

That's enough about that. So, dig up those dahlias and divide the tubers. Give them away or sell them. And be sure to store them in sawdust. They need to stay dry and not freeze. And bring in potted plants that need to winter over in a little warmer temperature. I think I already said this, but bring them in so you'll have them next year. Around the water things don't freeze as easily, but still, in a cold winter, they will.

Okay, have a happy day. Flower.

Fall, Such Beauty

It's so beautiful right now, the landscape with all the yellow and orange trees. The maples are glowing and when the sun sets, it adds an extra tinge of peach to the leaves and really lights them up. I know this is a hard time for many people, folks loosing all their savings and weird stuff happening. But nature is giving us a lovely show, and to be happy with that is all we can ask for. And to be happy with each other.

And I know that we are not alone in these times, that we are facing all these changes together. I've had so many changes in my life these last three years, that really I think I just can't take any more, yet there is more to come to be sure. What I'm thinking now is that I must love everything and everyone, including or especially myself. That way I will make the right choices in my life. I will live my life fully.

The garden is a good place to live, and learn. Everything comes and goes and when it is least expected, lushness happens. Love may be really what it is all about. I love to teach letting go and letting things come as they will. This is the way of the world, just being. It will all work out in the end, just think positive. Right? Right!

Happy Happy

Breaking Open

When I was a kid one of my favorite things to do in the fall was to collect the most beautiful leaves and take them home, heat paraffin on the stove in a tin can and dip the leaves--lay them out on newspaper to dry. Then I had this collection of orange and yellow and red leaves that I could keep for some time. It amazes me today that my mother let me do that. All that paraffin, a tin can sitting on the burner, newspaper on the counter right next to the hot stove. It was a good thing we had a fire alarm in the house, sensing eyes for flickering light, a large red bell, like a school bell by the back door.

Anyway, it was the oaks that I loved the best. I'd bring home the horse chestnuts, the acorns, and of course, tiny cones, too. I think now that really if it wasn't for Audubon Park I'd been a real mess. Nature was my safe haven. I was in that park after school, during the summer, fall afternoons, on the weekends when I wasn't baking bread with Mary Ellen. I rode my bike there, swung, played ping pong and tether ball. There were crafts in the summer, there were benches and tables pushed into tunnels that we crawled through in the fall and in the winter we sledded the hill and skated on the flooded and frozen parking lot. All in a park.

And the rest of the time, I was hard at it at home, doing homework I didn't understand, practicing the organ, cooking, cleaning and warding off my step-father. Yes, this is the issue I realize now that impacted my marriage. There is a place in me that never stops being vigilant. That never completely lets go. That's why I'm so good at what I do. With the CranioSacral work, I can stay there present for the entire time, with the grandbaby, the same thing, with my writing the same thing. I'm good at watching continuously, because I had to.

But what about the garden--it's a place I can let go of, let it be, let it go wild, let it reseed. The cosmos took over much of the garden this year. It's very pretty and I liked it the year before, using it as a shade for the beans so the deer wouldn't see them and gobble them down, but this year, it didn't work. Of course we had a cold rainy summer and everyone complained about not getting good tomatoes and not getting this or that, but there is plenty of produce at the markets. Plenty of squash anyway. Someone did a good job.

As for life and love and things that go bump in the night, stay present I say. Listen to your heart and make sure your life is there for you in all the ways you need it to be. I'm taking my own advice.
Ciao!

Tool Care & Mushrooms

Fall is a good time to fix broken tools, toss out rakes that have rusted apart, fix broken handles if the metal part is worth it. If you have clippers to sharpen, do so before the next pruning job. There is nothing worse than dull tools. If you have a good sharpening in the area take the tools there. I have sharpened tools with a wet stone, although not too effectively. If you have a grinder, you can do a good job at tuning up old equipment. See Garden Tools and Equipment

Now old equipment can be toned up too. So get to the gym during the winter months. Or if you can, walk in the rain, do your Pilates, and work in the garden. My friend from Rainyside goes out every day. She says she never gets the winter blues. I think it might be a good practice to get out on warmer days, but probably not rainy days. I'm a wimp, what can I say. Getting out lets you the wonders of nature, like this Amanita Mescaria.

Anyway, get to the gym on the rainy days--and the library were there are plenty of gardening books.

All for now. Happy gardening, Flower

Gardening Paradise: Requisites of the Home Vegetable Garden

Gardening Paradise: REQUISITES OF THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN Very nice site with lots of good tips for where to put your garden, how to improve soil, etc. Cheers! Flower

Farmer's Market

Ahhhh, let me tell you, the farmer's market in Port Townsend was fabulous, dozens of yellow jackets enjoying the sweets, apple cobbler, lovely little pasties, brownies and bread. Mounds of squash, beautiful acorn and delicata flashing bright colors. Many tables full of apples, varieties I've never heard of. Brenda and I bought leeks and rose finn potatoes, greens, chantrelles and mini cakes, not much bigger than a thimble with a crunchy outer glaze, sweet and moist. What a fabulous dinner we had, salmon with caramelized leeks, roasted rose finn potatoes, greens, corn on the cob, goat cheese, sauteed chantrelles and Spanish wine. Ahhh, what glutens and what fun. It's the time of year, yes? The time to indulge in the abundance of the gardens.

It all began with my trip down from Bellingham to the ferry on Whidbey Island, foggy, with sun filtering through low clouds. Fabulous and chilly and a rocky ferry ride. Brisk air and sunshine. And then Brenda and Abbe greeting me on the other side. That's what it's called around here when you cross the water: the other side.

I was thinking on the drive home that really life is pretty good in this post-divorce state of mine. Not that it won't improve, I mean the heart is still mending, but like the author of Eat, Pray, Love says, there has to be some recovery time that is just for you. You have to have some fun, and the body being feed fabulous food is one good way to do that. No complaints about what the body is putting on, just indulge to make it feel better. Later you can do those extra miles to walk it off, right now just give to yourself.

Okay, so take that sugar pumpkin and carve out the lid and then stuff it with rice and sausage and vegetables, seasoned well and bake. When you scoop out the goodies, you scoop a little pumpkin too. Very nice and satisfying for fall. Here is a good book where you can find many recipes for fall soups New England Soup Factory Cookbook

See you shortly,
Flower Power

Bring Them In

Yes, you can dig your dahlia tubers now and be sure to bring in the geraniums and all other plants that are sensitive to the cold. My grandmother kept her geraniums in sawdust in the basement. Dahlia tubers do well in sawdust too and you can split them and give them away or sell them. A dahlia business on the side. You can also pull tomato vines and hang them in the garage. With plants that need to stay a little warmer in the winter, put them in your garage (if you run out of room in the house) and shine a grow light on them if there is no window.

I've been thinking about how lazy I am with house plants and gardens—really I just see what is beautiful and try to keep that going. I'm repetitious, though. I took music lessons from six to sixteen and it was just the other day I realized why it doesn't bother me to put a song on repeat and listen to it again and again. I did an hour of that every day. That's a lot of Bach's Concerto in C Minor and Moonlight Sonata.

The leaves are yellow and falling here in the PNW. Right here next to the bay, we haven't had a frost. Up the hill where it is colder, there has been a frost. This weekend, it will be a little warmer. A bit of sunshine before our next bout of rain. I'm thinking of sunny weather in Jan. I passed up a trip to Mexico in January, but that's okay. I do have to cool my jets as far as spending goes. Like everyone else. That's why I'm thinking I'll make it a priority to improve my gardening behavior. To quit being so ADD with the weeds. Pull and few and walk off, forgetting what I was doing in the first place.

I'm on my way to Port Townsend today, a sweet Victorian town to visit if you ever get a chance. Actually it is as quaint here in Fairhaven, but not as much of it, and not as sleepy. And Port Townsend has the forts and the Strait of Juan de Fuca to look upon. Great beaches and lighthouses and lots of creative events at Centrum. Do visit if you get a chance, and then if you come to Bellingham, look me up.

Must run now, so have a swell sunny day and keep gardening.

Flower

Pretty Flowers, Ridiculous Beliefs

Isn't pretty a funny word. Pretty! Pretty flowers. Pretty girls. Pretty sunset. Pretty life. Well last night it was a grey sunset, and the flowers were withering, but I had a great evening with my friend Peter. Yes the leaves are blowing and in the garden, things are brown, bent, decomposing. This is the life cycle for plants and for animals. We are all going through this process together, kicking and screaming, looking for the fountain of youth. And what is the fountain? I think it is happiness. Despite the hardship, the fountain requires us to be happy. Bobby McFarren was right, Don't worry, be happy.

Last night we went the movie "Religulous", Bill Mahr's movie about religion. At the end he said, "Grow up or die!" I was moved by this movie, yes he can be course, but I thought he made a good basic point. So many of our beliefs, when pointed out as he did, do sound ridiculous. And we kill each other based on these beliefs. As a divorcee, I know that my marriage came apart because we didn't agree on things. Our beliefs were incompatible. Did we kill each other--no, but almost. Not physically, but emotionally.

What I mean here is, isn't it easier to be happy. Growing up means taking responsibility for oneself and accept others for who they are Here I am, closing in on 58, trying to get over heartbreak, and then this comedian says grow up or die, it hits home. It is my life--why not just do it as I see fit, and not worry.

Well, in the garden, I balking still. I'm embarrassed to say that my efforts to turn up the weeds lasted four hours. Other plots are weedy too--it's the nature of the thing. It is nature. Leaves will help the soil, I know this. The grandbaby and I will attempt gardening today--it would be easier if it were just out the back door.

Okay, be happy,
Flower

Fellow Berry Pickers

Hello, fellow berry pickers. I'm curious about your favorite recipes--if you have one, send it to me. I've made lots of blackberry cobbler through the years. One of my favorite recipes is totally easy--only takes two cups of berries too, which you can glean fairly easily first thing early summer--even now when the berries are becoming more scarce. So the recipe calls for oil in the bottom of the baking dish, about 1/2 cup. On top of this, a batter (this won't be exact because I have to find the recipe) but it is approximately 1 1/2 cups rice flour (I'm gluten intolerant) 1/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup soy or rice milk (I'm dairy intolerant) one egg, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. So pour this over the oil. On top of this batter spread 2 cups of berries and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. Bake until nice and golden brown at 350 degrees. Okay, hopefully I can find the real recipe, but you can experiment. And for more berry recipes, see the The Berry Bible

In the move I lost things, not entirely lost, just lost inside the boxes stacked in the storage unit. Making a new life is confusing, mostly because the new begins to replace the old and then the old gets lost. Some rainy day I'll go to the unit and start sorting--ugh!

Okay then, all good sunny fall days to you and happy berry eating,
Flower

Wild Berries

Around here, in the PNW, there are lots of wild blackberries. There are other berries too: salmon berries, thimble berries, huckleberries, marionberries, strawberries, and more. The wild blackberries that grow invasively, are not native to the area. The native blackberry is tiny and grows along banks that face south. Once, in a yard where I lived, the edge of the yard facing south was not just where you parked your car along the street, but it was an area I was landscaping, so when these women were picking my wild blackberries, I shooed them away. Around here, rural property seems to be owned by all—these women challenged me, saying it was the bank along the road, the berries were free for the taking. I informed them that it was part of my yard. Imagine folks picking fruit from your trees along the parking strip. Yes it is in theory the city or county's property, but you are keeping it up.

Well, anyway, they left. And I picked the rest of my wild berries. The small blackberry is a delight, sweet and perky. It is harder to come by as there aren't a lot of them in comparison to the big blackberry that is everywhere, and not to be cultivated--remember. The small berry is good in pie and jelly and jam. Have you ever made freezer jam? You just wash and mash berries. Sweeten, add pectin and freeze. Easy does it. Of course this jam goes bad quickly once you remove it from the freezer, as it isn't cooked. So eat it up fast. For real recipes see Wild Jams and Jellies

My grandmother Mattie made jam from thimble berries. We'd collect them along the road—there's that road thing again. But this was at the lake and the plants along the road weren't in anyone's yard, they were just part of the woods, growing profusely everywhere. Thimble berries are bright red caps and when you pick them, the juice comes out like blood. Some don't like the flavor—I do. And since I was a child when I learned to love them, I have a special fondness for their flavor. Grandma made the cooked jelly and she sealed it with paraffin. I used to make jelly and seal it with paraffin, but inevitably the jam would mold. I did something wrong, obviously. So I learned to water bath the jelly. Then these jeweled jars: red and purple and ahhhh, beautiful jars of jelly would go on the shelf in the fruit room. Like a treasure chest of jewels.

There are still blackberries to be had, although it has started to rain now, so the picking is getting slim. This is perhaps the last weekend to pick. And as for thimble berries—spring is when you pick those. They are one of the first berries on. Thimble and salmon. Be sure you add them to your larder.

Happy gardening,

Flower

Wind & Full Moon

Here it is, the turn in weather we've been expecting. Wind and leaves falling and cold. In Spokane, my home town, there hasn't been a frost yet. Here, yest we've already had one. We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday and brought home some nice gourds and pumpkins and apples and drank some hot apple cider and feed the goats. It was completely fun and sunny and happy. Now we're faced with low light and stormy weather--everything equally balanced.

The full moon is on Tuesday, Aries/Libra 22 degrees. It's a time to remember how we own our assertiveness, and how we then can give it to others in a way that is fair to both of us. This moon is also accompanied by a Mercury direct--which is good, things have been righting themselves during the retrograde. A good thing I guess, although scary when it comes to how many us have planned our financial futures.

Well, not much time this a.m. as the grandbaby is coming today. I bought a fall doughnut for us to share, what was I thinking all that sugary icing. But hey, what's life for but some fun. We are eating our vegetables like crazy right, a little dessert now and them is harmless.
Ciao, Flower

Working Hard on the Garden

Well it’s hard work keeping a garden, at least when you’re doing everything else in life that needs to be done, like working and cleaning house and shopping, etc. I did get over to the garden and turned over a swatch of the plot on Friday. It wasn’t weedier than anyone else’s—so I’m sure I wasn’t the only one getting a letter. I think the timing is good to see what is there for the winter—some beets, some chard, some kale. I dug a few potatoes and picked the last of the tomatoes. It’s really not so hard—I just make it hard in my mind. I’m like that, resisting; actually I’m kind of beat.

I’ve been thinking about this a bit—my own resistance makes things hard. This is not just for gardening, it is also for making art. I have a resistance that makes things hard. I’m wondering if it comes from my childhood when I was made to do things I didn’t want to do—like go to work with my dad to stuff hundreds and hundreds of envelopes—when I really wanted to be playing with my friends in the sunny park. I wanted to be tending my own little garden in the back yard. Yes, just that. Or riding my bike.

Okay, so perhaps I have a bad work ethic—although everyone thinks of me as so hardworking, and really I’m pretty much non-stop. What the hey? So it’s an attitude—give up my resistance and see what happens next. That’s my goal.

So today again, I’ll work a little more on the plot. I’d like to find some leaves to top off the garden with for winter. And some chicken manure. I think I know where I can get both of these things. A strong man to help me in the garden would be nice. Or a strong woman, makes no never mind. But I’ll probably do it myself. That’s just me.

Talk soon, Flower

PS Check out the photo of the artichoke. Cool, huh?

Hard Work

Well it's hard work keeping a garden, at least when you're doing everything else in life that needs to be done, like working and cleaning house and shopping, etc. I did get over to the garden and turned over a swatch of the plot on Friday. It wasn't weedier than anyone else's—so I'm sure I wasn't the only one getting a letter. I think the timing is good to see what is there for the winter—some beets, some chard, some kale. I dug a few potatoes and picked the last of the tomatoes. It's really not so hard—I just make it hard in my mind. I'm like that, resisting; actually I'm kind of beat.

I've been thinking about this a bit—my own resistance makes things hard. This is not just for gardening, it is also for making art. I have a resistance that makes things hard. I'm wondering if it comes from my childhood when I was made to do things I didn't want to do—like go to work with my dad to stuff hundreds and hundreds of envelopes—when I really wanted to be playing with my friends in the sunny park. I wanted to be tending my own little garden in the back yard. Yes, just that. Or riding my bike.

Okay, so perhaps I have a bad work ethic—although everyone thinks of me as so hardworking, and really I'm pretty much non-stop. What the hey? So it's an attitude—give up my resistance and see what happens next. That's my goal.

So today again, I'll work a little more on the plot. I'd like to find some leaves to top off the garden with for winter. And some chicken manure. I think I know where I can get both of these things. A strong man to help me in the garden would be nice. Or a strong woman, makes no never mind. But I'll probably do it myself. That's just me.

Talk soon, Flower

Cats in the Garden

My cats, all five or six of them that I've had through the years, have always been drawn to my gardens. Ozzie was the best at digging up my plants. Scooter had a deformed paw, so wasn't a good digger. Thunked the moles on the head, that was all. The other cats from my past, Jude and Cloud didn't seem to be as much of a problem at digging up plants as Ozzie was. Ozzie would scratch up the tiny carrot plants, the teensy beets, and new leaves of broccoli or cabbage plants. After I replanted and replanted again, I finally got smart, coming up with my own method of protecting the plants: inserting sticks along the row, just bits of alder branches or other brush from clearing, usually ocean spray or salmon berry, wild plants of the PNW.

Now I have an indoor cat, Sid, who only digs up the bags I keep in the closet and a hat that's fallen from the shelf, he can pick at it beneath the door of the closet. He's a nut for hats and gloves and socks, anything he can pull at with his teeth; I really think he thinks he's finding a small animal to rip apart. He's a house cat who tries to climb the walls, kills small animals in the form of gloves, and chases mice (my toes) that make their way beneath the covers. Once I foiled Ozzie with the sticks stuck along the rows, I finally got my garden started. It was a good solution; I pulled out the sticks when the plants were large enough to stand up for themselves.

As far as gardening goes, this is the time of year to turn things under and plant a cover crop. I may plant a cover crop, but probably I won't. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I'm trying to find my way through this divorce grief. It's overwhelming to think about trying to do much other than make my way through each day. When they say "one day at a time," they really do mean it. Today, I wrote and treated a client (I do CranioSacral therapy for a real job, that and teaching writing) and I do the other things I love, making art and gardening just for the heck of it. Well, more than that really, if I wasn't for doing these things, I'd go stir-crazy, climbing the walls like my cat.

Tomorrow I will weed, the final weeding for the year, perhaps. Brenda will help me and the grandbaby too. We'll make some headway, I hope, if it isn't raining that is. It rained hard earlier today, hailed even. It was crazy. It is early for fall. Snow in the pass already.

Okay then, happy day.

Ciao, Flower

The Letter

At last I got the letter saying my garden is too weedy and to clean it up. So I will, I have it scheduled for Friday. I used to worry that I wasn't doing a good enough job, but now I know I'm not. It's the divorce, see--what can I say. I have too many things on my plate, quit claims, new insurance, grief. Getting divorced is practically a full time job. So, I'll weed with Brenda Friday. Asking for help is hard, but single women must.

And now, we had a frosty night. Perhaps not immediately, but around, and even skiffs of snow. Winter coming already. That is too much to take. Okay then, if you want to kill a large area of grass or weeds, cover it with a tarp. It takes a few days, but it will work fine. Also, turn over the grass, the it will compost right there. Grass has very deep roots, so it will come up again, that is it's nature. But persevere.

Okay, I'm on a schedule, so gotta run. More later.
Flower

Stormy Weather

The wind blew all night and the rain pummeled the windows. Looks like some clearing this morning, a little color in the sky. A good morning to put in garlic sets. Garlic has a long growing life. You plant it now and you harvest next fall. Why so long I don't know. I grew it once, elephant garlic and a few different types. It didn't' do that well, but I was growing in Kitsap hardpan. You can barely dig in it.

There are tons of different types of garlic. Each tastes a little different. Why not experiment, try growing some in your home garden. If you have a planter garden on your deck or balcony, garlic isn't something you'll be growing, but chives are nice and a perennial. Good on baked potatoes and in salads, too. I love the little flowers, little purple puffs. Very sweet. There are also garlic chives to be had. See the book Growing Garlic for more info on varieties.

Well, have to run this morning, got a writing date with my writing buddies.
Ciao! Flower

Criminy Sakes

Criminy isn't a special type of squash, it is the response to the many things that are going on these days. It is a special response to the drops in the stock market, to the fear that is spreading like fruit flies, to the mistrust that is so obvious with many. And to the letter from the parks telling me to weed my garden. There is only so much we can do about anything, right, like what is going on for criminy sakes--I think my mother used to say that. I wonder if we all settled down and quit freaking out, what would happen? I had friends predicting this market back in the late 90s. Perhaps they were right, or perhaps they all caused it with their thoughts. That's the new age thinking, we are what we think. Which means I think I'm a bad gardener, so therefore I am. That old "I think, therefore I am" theory. Well, I think I'm rich and famous and adored--okay I'm waiting. Huh, nothing happened.

Today it is raining. My grandbaby hurt his toe and it is swollen and red. I put neosporum sp? on it and a cute Peanuts bandaide. He wasn't happy, but a good soak in Epsom salts--just like we did when we were kids, and a little time will heal it right up. Perhaps that's what the economy needs--a good soak in Epsom salts. Sometimes I wonder if it is right for me to be getting divorced. Seems like it's just making a bigger pile of financial headaches for both of us. Well, all the more reason to keep the garden and work my tail off to get it going well. I may need to rely on it for food. I need pearls to wear, however; something light, multiply strands, perhaps freshwater pearls and the rubber boots I own, they're just stylish enough to look good on Sarah Jessica Parker. Oh, poor pathetic me. Am I a gardener or a clothes horse? Both, I guess.

If you want to get rid of fruit flies, get rid of any overripe fruit. Or sic your cat on them. Keep overly ripe things put away for awhile, in the fridge if you can--the tiny flies will peter out eventually. Nothing to eat, and that's all she wrote.

I love the smells right now, all the ripe fruit, all the veges and the air full of leaves and soil and wood smoke. It's lovely--and now a little rain. What could be better? A rising stock market.

Okay, chow down and invest--that's my advice.

Flower

Indian Corn

Indian Corn
Originally uploaded by Jaida

If you grow Indian Corn in the garden and regular corn, too, they will cross pollinate. It's fun to grow Indian Corn and dry it and decorate with it, but again, it is hard to keep strains apart. I grew Indian Corn once. The colors, yellow, rust, purply-black, are all fabulous. I like to stake tied corn stalks, pumpkins and ears of Indian Corn on the porch. They are a lovely indicator of fall and soon spiders will have their webs spun through them and it will be Halloween.

The grandbaby is already shreaking at the Halloween things he sees in the stores, balloons with goblin faces, etc. He's especially afraid of skeletons. And then there's the pilgrams and Thanksgiving and the book Turkeys, Pilgrams, and Indian Corn tells the story of Thanksgiving. Take a look.

Sometimes I think about how everything is new to the grandbaby and how parents, not necessarily his, get impatient with little ones start crying or being resistant. But I'm afraid and become resistance, most of us do. He just acts on his feelings immediately, there is no ego saying, well, I shouldn't feel this way. Right now I'm afraid of a lot of things, comes with the territory of the divorcee woman. Yes, I was running home in my dream: late for work, I had to grab my papers and couldn't find my home. I searched and searched, even went around to the back of the houses, I didn't have a home. Now this is sad to me--and although not a reality, because I do have a condo--it's just not too homey here. I feel confined, exposed. I miss my home on the water, the routine I had with my husband. So I'm going to do something about it. I'm going to start looking into getting a home. And I'm going to make my routine, how I do my days, okay--something I'd miss if I didn't have it. Everything is good, right? Yes, everything is great.

Friends forever, Flower

Pumpkin Picking

Pumpkin Picking
Originally uploaded by WisDoc

Just a little south of Bellingham, the Skagit flats stretch out between the mountains and the sound. This is fertile land where swans graze in the winter. And snow geese. The geese have been flying south, which of course tells us winter is coming. Today, a storm is coming: high winds, as high as 50 miles per hour on the coast. This is no problem where I am, snugged inside a condo. But where I lived in Kingston, power went out frequently.

What I wanted to say here is, on those flats are acres and acres of pumpkins. And now with the vines dying, orange globes shine in the sunlight. Very pretty. If you have grown pumpkins, you know how exciting it is to have them turn orange under those big squash leaves. And to pick pumpkins and have them on your counter, on the porch, on the dining table. Some are carved, some wait to be made into pumpkin pies. Sugar pumpkins are the best to grow for pie. They are small pumpkins and one easily makes a pie. I've also baked them with rice and sausage stuffed inside. And I've cubed them for curry dishes.

If you want to see what you can do with pumpkin, look up Cooking with Pumpkin. Also, if you are dairy intolerant, try making your pumpkin pie filling with soy creamer—it works perfectly and the taste is rich and smooth. For dairy free recipes see Cooking without Dairy

Gotta run off to Seattle today. I'll be passing those pumpkin patches , perhaps I'll stop for one.

Ciao! Flower

Sweet Date or Sweet Date?

Sweet dates contain a good sugar that digests slowly in the body, so if you cook with them, you'll not experience the rush of sugar refined sugar gives you. No spiking insulin. Date sugar has a flavor, however, not a bad flavor, but a flavor that could be detected in say, a cookie. Cookies made with brown sugar and oats and cinnamon would be complimented by date sugar. Cookies made with white flour and sugar, such as a sugar cookie, wouldn't be.

Okay then, Sweet Date: A man with a good smile and nice teeth and sweet breath. A man who keeps eye contact and doesn't spend the whole evening talking about himself. He holds the door for you, but isn't insistent that it is the only way things are done. You know, paying and holding the door boost his ego—or they are a sign of rigidity. No, he's just a guy who is into you and wants to help out where he can. But he isn't the type that helps you and never himself—that guy would be co-dependant. And then he'd begin to resent you because you've kept him from doing the things he wants for himself. Arugh!

Tonight I'll be having dinner with a man—he's cooking it—at his house. We've been out twice now. I hardly know him, but he seems sweet. So I guess we'll see whether he's date sugar or white sugar.

Beet sugar is another sugar used in cooking—and of course, the good old corn sugar, often manufactured into a syrup that turns off the "I've Eaten Enough" switch in your body. We're supposed to stay away from corn sugar.

In the First Time Farmer's Guide there are wonderful pictures of how to do this and how to do that on your little farm. The book was written in the 70s and suggests different poisons to use in the garden. Diotomaceous earth you know is the tiny skeletons of sea creatures. It looks like white powder and doesn't harm any thing but the bugs in your garden—shreds them. But now we know you shouldn't breathe it. Why does it take so long to figure out what harms us? White sugar, prehistoric bug skeletons, co-dependant men.

Okay then, think and speak love, and grow a garden.
Flower

Fingerlings

For some reason this Fingerling makes me think of Maurice Sendak and his book about the child whose father is off at sea. Can't remember the name of it now, and there are ghost children in the book that are called something like Fingerling, and her little brother is stolen by the Fingerlings and turned to ice. Anyway, this is sort of a gross word for food because a fingerling potato is shaped like a finger, a pudgy stubby finger grant you. But when roasted. they are sweet and tender—and of course more expensive. They are just potatoes. You say potato, I say potato. I'm tired today, can you tell?

Potatoes are in the nightshade family, plants that at poisonous if you eat their leaves. Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers—all nightshade. I read long ago that if you have arthritis you shouldn't eat these foods—it will make your pain worse. Some people avoid the nightshade family for just this reason. There are many reasons not to eat certain foods and not all of them apply to everyone. What I mean to say here is eating is personal. It can be mindful, which it hasn't been for me in a while. Lately I've been more frantic, as the details wind down from the divorce—I seem to be keying up. Yesterday I secured new insurance—for the condo and the car. Together they are $70 more than before, mostly because I'm in a different county, not because I'll be single soon. My advice is, if you are working out the details of your expenses, be sure to call your insurance agents first. It's not a given that your policy will remain the same. Your support payment could be calculated low.

Okay then, when you dig your potatoes, use a pitch fork, not the wiry tined one, but the thick pronged one. Dig carefully so you don't puncture the potatoes. Of course, you will puncture some. Eat those right away. Potatoes grow pretty much directly under the plant and around it perhaps one foot. Chef George at NCI said you can grow a substantial amount of fingerlings in a 5 gallon bucket, they'll just fill that thing up. I don't suppose I could plant them now and have them come up in the spring. That happens naturally—then I wouldn't have to remember whether it is Good Friday or not. That's when you plant, you know.

Okay then, happy day,

Flower

Squash

Winter Squash
Originally uploaded by ppv918

All these different varieties, have you seen them, the squash and pumpkins that are so gloriously shining their glorious colors from the gardens and fruit & vegetable stands right now? Orange and yellow and white and green, stripped and speckled and their shapes: acorn, pear, cucumber shape. I love squash—especially the little acorn that is easy to grow in the garden.

I slice acorns in half and fill the hollowed out middle with honey and butter, then sprinkle it all with cinnamon. Loving this dish that's baked at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until tender. There are other ways to prepare squash too, cube it and put it in soup, mash it like potatoes, combine it mashed with potatoes. If you grow your own, pick them and keep them in a dry place. They'll keep for some time and even when they yellow, they will be great. Ahhhh! A lovely fall and winter dish.

Okay, now for everything else, if it could all be as easy as cutting a squash in half. The economy, the campaign, the health of the worlds food and water. These are concerns that could be keeping us awake at night. Many of us have been staying awake at night. I for one have been losing sleep. I'm curious how to be happy and healthy in the midst of all of this. Okay then, meditation, prayer, ritual—these things help. Thinking positive—couldn't hurt. Exercise and spending time outdoors. Yes this is good. Gardening. Yes, another good thing, and a way to bring down the cost of food. At NCI, Charles the chef was talking about buying local, even if it isn't organic. Organics, which I belief in, sometimes come from Chile and from Mexico. But you might have broccoli growing in your neighborhood farm—this would be the thing to buy. Saving on fuel with all that shipping and really we don't know for sure what is coming out of these other countries.

Okay, that's all I have to say today. Best for you in all ways.

Flower