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.

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!

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:

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!

“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

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!