Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Lent... 1 day early.

And a taste of things to come:
Thank goodness my mom is coming over tomorrow because we need a change of pace. Last week the doctor said A's ear was still a little pink and if it bothered her, to give her a call and she would hook me up with some more antibiotics. Well she ended up with a little cold, which seemed to clear up over the weekend, and then Tuesday, 2am she woke up screaming. She said her "ear hort". This happened a good 4 times or so and first thing in the morning I called the Dr. for her meds. Unfortunately they didn't get the call to the pharmacy until 4:30pm, after 8 phone calls on my end. So Anastasia sat on the couch miserably... ALL DAY LONG. I found cooking an onion in the microwave in a small amount of water for just over a minute, and waiting for the juice to cool made a nice soother for her ears. (google "onion for earache" for more specific directions). We watched snoopy and the Muppets multiple times. Oh yeah, I had to watch too. That was part of the deal for her not to scream at the top of her lungs. Atleast I was able to read an entire book about saving seeds.


Yes my friends, I have every intention of having my very first garden this year. Complete with all or most heirloom seeds. It was going to be simple, but the more I sifted through the catalogues, the more wonderful things I wanted to grow. Then I picked up a book about saving seeds from the library and realized it isn't too difficult to save most types of seeds from one season to the next. I guess I am an all-or-nothing person. I can't just do the minimum and be happy, I really have to completely embrace all aspects of what I am doing in order to be successful at it. My mom probably never thought she would see the day that I sat down with an heirloom seed catalogue and poured through the pages of tantilizing vegetables with her. I have to admit, I never saw myself as a gardener but the more I connect with my roots and the more picky I have become about what goes into my children's (and my) mouths, I can almost feel the dirt calling me.




(Green Zebra heirloom tomatoes and why my husband wants a garden)

My mom has always loved gardening. She is currently raising worms in her closet. I wish I was kidding! Nick teases her about them, securing our inability to adopt any of her little slimy friends for our composting endevors. I come from a long line of Czech farmers. I remember the huge well of pride I felt eating greenbeans my grandpa grew, and I helped pick and snap. I remember the snapping part well, on the porch of my Grandpa's house with my cousins, aunts, whoever was around. I felt connected to my family, the land and the meal we ate. That was what my family was. Farmers and homemakers and it all intertwined. Once farming was a way of life and now it is somewhat of a luxury for those who can find the time and space for it. And it is one luxury I want to commit to. So any farmers out there who can share some advice, please do! Until next time... let the planning begin!

5 comments:

Annie Hatke Schap said...

She's a worm mother?!? How adorable! Kind of charming, really, even if the cuddle factor is kind of low.

I've been meaning to write you an email for SO MANY DAYS... maybe tonight after I'm done blog reading it will actually happen...

Kelly said...

I am so with you on the gardening. I keep finding more and more I want to grow too.

And I love the little embroidery on the pants. Too cute :)

Anonymous said...

Keep your first garden simple with not too many different types of plants. Since you're just starting off, you'll need to see what plant does what and figure out the sun/shade aspect too. You don't want to have 50 different types of veggies going on there and only have 1 or 2 succeed! So start out small. Once you see how your garden will grow this season, then you can add to it each year. Think of it as a fish tank. You don't want to dump too many different kinds of fish in the tank all at once! They might kill each other off! But I have NO idea what I am talking about compared to Jason, the Garden Master! Jason is the expert. Hopefully he weighs in with gardening advice!

Clare said...

Thanks for all the comments! I am trying to "weed" out some of the plants I don't desperately want. It is hard because I know some things might to better than others and I don't want to pick the wrong things and have little crops. :( I think I am going to focus on tomatoes and peppers and an herb garden and experiment with some squash, beans and lettuce. I saw a bunny the other day in the yard, so I am thinking of growing him some of his own lettuce near the forest so he won't be tempted to go in my garden. Who knows if that will work. What do you guys have success with?

Unknown said...

Clare,

Bush Beans, Tomatoes, Peppers, Lots of different types of lettuce. I grew radishes and carrots one year, but the radishes didn't do that well. The carrots came out well, but it takes all summer to grow and you harvest them in the fall and that is the end of the carrots. Anything that grows underground usually likes soft soil. So you will have to mix a lot of peat moss and sand to get it right (especially with VA's dreaded clay soil). Peas just do not grow well for me. Oh, cucumbers rule, but give them lots of room and keep them at the edge of your garden so they spread out of the garden and not into the garden, this way they won't chock off other plants.

Well, that is my two cents.