This used to be a happy cabbage until the villianous chickens did it in!
I had a big weekend in the garden…
First, I had a large load of soil that we hauled in that I shoveled and mixed with my compost for about 5 hours. Then built 3 new 4×4 beds for extra veggies this year… I am a little worried about whether or not 2 of them will get enough sun. There is a fence on the south side of my property and it casts a shadow over some of the backyard. I think it will be fine, but I plan to grow my lettuce and peas in those beds since they won’t mind a break from the hot sun that comes too early in the South! I am still sore from shoveling shoveling shoveling!
After the beds were built and in place with the soil in, it was time to have some fun. I made 2 bean teepees out of bamboo I swiped from down the street, transplanted a few strawberry plants from one bed to another and then sowed some carrots and mescalun.
Then it all went downhill. I transplanted about 12 lettuce seedlings and 6 broccoli seedlings into the bed and then, after giving them a drink, called break time and went inside for a cool drink. That is when the chicken interlopers invaded. My new fence blocks the garden on 3 sides, but the back side is unprotected by the compost bins. I blocked that portion off but forgot about the tiny area between the coop and the greenhouse. This also happens to be a favorite chicken runway.
You can guess what happened next. I came back outside, whistling and ready for more planting, when I saw…nothing. Absolutely nothing. The chickens had eaten every single shred of veggie in sight. There wasn’t a stem visible anywhere! They had acted fast as when I came back out they were out of the garden, giving themselves a dust bath in the yard. Chickens 1, Bethany 0.
A colleague recently introduced my to one of the coolest blogs I have come across called The Illustrated Garden. This woman’s drawings are so so cool! When I saw that she was having a drawing workshop near me I did a happy flip. Count me in! I can’t draw at all, but I would love to pepper my own garden journal with little sketches…it would just be fun.
So, this morning, I planned to register. As I was dialing the phone number, an email came in- the organization I work for was getting an award! Hooray! Could I be there…guess when?! Yes, the same day as the drawing workshop. So now I am feeling sad and punished. The prize for working for such a cool organization is to never learn how to draw a beautiful sunflower or plump okra pod. Life isn’t fair! I will be stuck drawing stick veggies forever 
My new chicken-proof garden fence
So this weekend was supposed to dawn rainy on Saturday and I planned to be in the greenhouse, planting seeds and (hopefully) getting my garden journal in order so I can actually keep track of what I planted and when so I can remember my successes and failures from year to year. But, the day instead dawned fabulously sunny and cool, so I of course decided that I needed to have a new fence.
One minute I was standing in the garden, thinking about whether the area I wanted to put 2 new veggie beds got enough sun and the next minute I was at Home Depot calculating how many pickets I would need to get all the way around the new garden area. My husband was as bewildered as I was, since of course now he was going to be building a fence as well. I felt guilty for about 30 seconds and then continued to plot and plan…with a real fence I could keep the chickens out, which means I can plant flower borders and put a cute sign on the garden gate and…and…and…
I even had enough time to get those seeds planted in the greenhouse!
Have you ever seen the movie “Hud”? I have always really loved this movie since I was little, when I was too young to even really know what it was about. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Paul Newman film that I didn’t love…
Anyway, one of things I like about Hud are the dresses that the character Alma wears. I have quite a thing for those cotton day dresses women wore in the 30s and 40s. They look tough and feminine at the same time and you can almost imagine yourself in one hanging the laundry out to dry, a cool breeze rustling the skirt.
Since I live in an area where the summers are unbearably humid, I wear dresses most of the summer and the dresses I most want to wear are those like Alma wore in Hud. So I did a little hunting and found a pattern for a vintage style day dress:
I also found some beautiful soft cotton material with tiny flowers. So this weekend, in addition to getting my new garden beds built I will be constructing my own “Alma Dress”. Hooray!
I am very excited to report that my seeds have arrived! Last year I bought from Baker Creek Farms and was very happy…I saved some seeds and so have a lot left over. This year I did a little internet research and found a very cool company called The Sustainable Seed Company, and I bought all of my new seeds from them this year.. (plus a cool organic cotton T-Shirt!) I want to go visit these guys- I love their web site and their commitment to heirloom seeds. People like this give me hope!
If you haven’t bought your seeds yet…do it! All of the fun varieties are sure to sell out and then you will be stuck with whatever seeds they have at the local big box with no guarantees that they are suited to your climate.
I have big plans for the weekend, including…building 3 new raised beds and constructing some new bean teepees. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!
Where did January go?! Like most of my New Year’s resolutions most years, my best intentions to write EVERY DAY have not come to fruition. But that’s ok I suppose, I haven’t really been doing anything super exciting to write about…last month. That is all changing as spring approaches and I plan my spring assault on the seed catalogs and think about constructing new beds, how I can sneak a couple more chickens into the coop, etc. etc.
Last weekend I watched the film “Julie and Julia” – if you haven’t seen it and you enjoy any of the following: food, Meryl Streep, Francophiles, eating, baking, writing and/or self-reflection…you should see this film. In the movie, Julie decides to create a blog centered around her efforts to cook her way through Julia Child’s “The Art of French Cooking”. I really loved her angst and efforts at putting herself out there…maybe one day I will even have readers like Julie does 
So if I haven’t been working in the garden or writing, what have I been doing besides watching movies? Well, I have been working on an idea for a new organization centered on urban sustainability projects and environmental leadership…and I have even gone so far as to apply for a fellowship through an organization called Echoing Green and I am excited to say that I have made it to the semi-final round!
So this weekend I will be hard at work finishing my proposal for The Blossom Initiative…that is the name of my future kick-butt organization. Very very excited about the possibilities. Stay tuned!
I have a feeling 2010 is going to be full of grand adventures, starting with my spring gardening planning, which includes building 3 new raised beds and a more concerted effort to record when things sprout, weather conditions, etc. for future planning purposes. Hopefully we won’t get as much rain this year as the last, since many of my seeds drowned and rotted. Best wishes for a wonderful, self-sufficient New Year!
Yesterday I wandered around my hometown bookstore looking for something fun to read when I came across a new magazine all about urban farming. More and more people seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of sustainability. The good thing is this wagon has enough room to hold us all! Then, last night, gathered at a relative’s home for a family dinner, my little nephew Ned got to go out and collect eggs which he proudly displayed and then took home:
Ned shows off the eggs he collected
I got excited all over again and then felt guilty that over the past few months life has intruded on my best-laid plans for sharing my adventures with all 2 or 3 of you who are reading this. My resolution for the New Year is to gear back up in the yard, in my community and here on my blog to continue to save my own little corner of paradise. I promise not to leave you hanging this long again.
My garden at least hasn’t been completely fallow: here is a small harvest of lettuce, peppers and radishes from last week. And the broccoli is growing happily as well.
Broccoli
Yikes! It’s funny how quickly time passes…I think I need to add an “update blog” to-do item on my calendar so I don’t let time get away from me again.
So, what has been going on in the world of conservation lately? Not much, unfortunately. We have apparently once again decided to pass the buck on climate change. When is the environment going to stop taking a back seat to everything else? I know we have a lot of problems to deal with, but first and foremost we need to be able to breathe and drink water so we can stay alive to solve them.
A challenge: I dare you to give me a problem we are currently facing in the world and I will tell you why it is an environmental problem. Game on!
For the past few months I have really taken a close look at how I want to advance professionally. I mean, I know I love writing, I know I love environmentalism, I know that my future career endeavors will combine elements of both. But what I have been struggling with is whether or not I am ready to take the next big step in my career, which represents a large risk. It also represents the chance for great professional satisfaction. What do you think? Should I take a leap of faith despite the economy, despite the risk? HELP!
Last week I went home for lunch, fixed myself a tuna sandwich and turned on the TV to watch the previous night’s episode of The Daily Show, one of my all-time favorite shows. The interview for that episode was a young man named William Kamkwamba, who at age 14, built a wind generator from parts laying around his village in Malawi. Several things about this story are so extraordinary: 1. this kids was not even in school at the time. His parents didn’t have the money, so he went to the local library funded by some charitable organization. 2. He didn’t really speak or read English, so he learned how to build this windmill by looking at the diagrams. 3. He didn’t seem to think any of this was a big deal.
I can’t wait to get out and but the book. In the meantime, here is a link to his blog and the daily show clip.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| William Kamkwamba | ||||
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Today I googled the words “environmental sustainability” and in .38 seconds, Google gave me 8,950,000 results. In the first page, I see entries on Wikipedia (of course), a funding opportunity from the National Science Foundation to support engineering research, something called the EcoEarth Portal and another site to end poverty by 2015.
Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about sustainability…
“Sustainability, is a broad sense, is the capacity to ensure.” As good of a definition as any, I suppose. Although the word endure in its current use seems to me to equate with “suffer through” and creating a sustainable world shouldn’t be something we all have to grit our teeth and endure. If that is the case, then I have a feeling that we won’t be getting there anytime soon, since we Americans are creatures of comfort and convenience.
Can you tell I am feeling disillusioned today?
It’s been a long day, so for a little comic relief I headed outside to visit with the chickens. Moby the dog always wants their snacks, even if he wouldn’t normally want to eat it. Usually the chickens are quicker than him, anyway! Oh, and that high pitched squeaking you hear is my “talking to the chickens” voice!
Click on the image to read an interesting article about the wave of the future when it comes to getting mail.
I like to eat. I do. Food is tasty and it fuels our bodies; eating food with friends is one big way in which we socialize. And I will be the first to admit that I don’t always make the healthiest food choices. Even though I know what it means to consumers, to farmers and to agricultural policy in our country, I still sometimes stop at McDonald’s and order French Fries. Our bodies are hard wired to crave fatty, salty foods with very few exceptions. But we have gotten out of control over the last several years.
Talking on the phone to my sister today, she complained to me about my niece’s choice for lunch at school on Friday: fried cheese sticks washed down with a slushie. FRIED.CHEESE.STICKS.AND.A.SHLUSHIE! What are these choices even doing on a middle school lunch room menu?!
There was an interesting editorial by my favorite author Michael Pollen in the Times a while back. He made the argument that reform of the health care industry will make large insurance companies start pushing for reform of the food industry. As our medical system moves from one of treatment to one of prevention, in order to save money, insurance companies will start lobbying for healthier food policy so that Americans won’t continue to get sick from our diets and cost health insurers their large profits. It was an interesting perspective that I hadn’t really considered until a few months ago- the perspective that what you eat affects me!
This truth hit home for me earlier this summer when I got a letter in my mail from my insurance company telling me that my rates were going up almost $60 per month. When I called to complain that I was an excellent bet for them (I have a high deductible so none of my preventive check-ups were covered), I don’t smoke, etc. they said that they based my premiums on the general health care costs of all residents in Alabama. And since a good portion of people in Alabama are fat and have obesity-related diseases like heart disease and diabetes, I got to share in their portion of health care costs. Needless to say, I was beyond pissed.
So, if health care reform has as a side benefit the smallest chance that we as a society will think twice before stuffing our faces with those greasy fries from McDonald’s, I am all for it.
Last week I turned 31. I am not particularly afraid of getting old- in fact, I hope to be so lucky. 31 isn’t exactly a milestone year anyway. Not like 40, or 30 or even 25 for that matter. I distinctly remember 25- I had myself a little quarter life crises that year. Don’t laugh, that really exists. It was the year I realized that, for better or worse, I was just like everyone else. I wasn’t going to find the cure for cancer or win the Olympic marathon (embarrassingly enough, both of these were things I had dreamed of accomplishing when a young child). I was normal. And after some self-reflection and a much-needed reality check, I was ok with that fact.
Most of us are pretty normal…average…part of the status quo, if you will. We go through life worried about mundane things like our bosses or our spouses or our bank accounts or our house needing to be painted. But at the very same time, we are also this “divine mingle- mangle of guts and stardust” (Frank Capra) and we all have the capacity to make the world a better place to live.
I really think that all we have to do to make the world better, safer, cleaner and healthier is the following:
1. Believe- truly believe – that we are special enough to make a positive impact in the world and that we can be a part of the solution instead of the problem
2. Don’t believe that we are so special that the laws of economics (finite resources and infinite wants) don’t apply to us.
It is my goal for my 31st year to keep these two things in mind as I go about my daily life- my divine mingle-mangle life of guts, stardust and houses needing paint.
ps The full quote from Frank Capra is as follows: “Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. So hang in there! If doors opened for me, they can open for anyone.”
