The Perma Life

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 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!

A great quote by Walt Whitman…

“This is what you should do: Love the earth and sun and animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families… reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, dismiss what insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body..” -
Walt Whitman

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!