somewhere green

Usually around this time of year I start getting antsy for some greenery. Though it was neglected through the harsh DC summer and my difficult pregnancy, I miss my garden. I hope we can get reacquainted this spring. Until then, I'm taking pleasure in the little green corners of my home. It's not much, but I'll take what I can get.

New England prettiness

My garden here in DC has been suffering, both from neglect and extremely hot weather. It was nice to find some lovely patches of flowers and greenery during our recent stay in New England. Perhaps some of that inspiration will follow me though the next few days as I try to revitalize my own patch of earth.

May Day

Oh, how I adore the month of May. I can understand why, in some cultures, people put up a May pole and dance joyously around it with colorful ribbons streaming. There is something about the fecund emergence of color and life that is so energizing and delightful. We've been spending some happy moments in the garden these past few weeks. Every time we walk by our beds there is an exultant gasp as we discover some new emerging seedling or blossoming bud. Such simple pleasures!

I realized rather recently that I seems to be quite drawn to purple and blue flowers. They are making an appearance all around the yard; they make me so happy! We finally filled and planted the new raised bed and trellis - it looks quite imposing from the sidewalk, but I'm hoping that once it covered in greenery it will soften the effect.

Dance Around the Maypole

In and out, in and out,

Weave the ribbons tight;

'Round the Maypole we will dance

To the left and to the right

Happy May to you - hope your days are warm and filled with all sorts of inspiring natural beauty!

happy spring

{this moment}

A Friday ritual (inspired by Soulemama).
A single photo--no words--capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your "moment" in the comments for all to find and see.
Have a wonderful weekend!

hope grows in the garden

My basket of seeds has been taunting me these past few weeks. Those little seeds are longing to burrow down into the dark earth and begin their growing process. I've been putting it off... after all, February is too early to begin spring planting, right?

But I, too, have been feeling the same stirrings as those little seeds. Let's hurry up and grow already! But before I could jump into my raised beds with my seed packets, I had a little project I needed to complete first. Inspired by these from Pinterest:

via

I decided to make my own:

a few stones from our collection and some acrylic paints that we had on hand...

voila! (I gave them a little coating of Modge Podge just in case...)

So yes, they are already hard at work in the garden... let's hope I didn't jump the gun by getting those snap peas in the ground. But it's March now, after all. I expect happy, little shoots to make an appearance any day now...

A Word About Grass

I do love a good patch of grass to run around on, but this little anecdote below made me laugh. I thought I'd share:

A conversation between GOD and St. Francis about Suburbanites

GOD: St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the World is going on down there in the USA? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it, sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, sir -- just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back On the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves Them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You'd better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the Winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy Something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about…

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

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Along this topic, Mayumi and I have been enjoying a new book:

Makes me consider letting my little postage stamp-sized front lawn turn into a wildflower meadow!

Hope you have a lovely week, friends!

Weeds

I'm lucky to have a little garden plot in the back area of my town home development. My plants are not as fortunate, having a forgetful owner like me. They get watered with driplines managed by the HOA, but weeds? Weeds are another story.

See that little sign that says green onions? Those are not green onions. Those are weeds. Everything green in the picture is a weed, except for the red-leaf  lettuce in the far background.

How am I the only one among my garden neighbors that can't seem to keep up? I try to do a little here and there (for heaven knows I don't have time to attack them all at once), but fresh ones always pop up quicker than I can pull them.

Sorry, little plants. It's going to be crowded for a while.

Plotting

Forearms and upper back are killing me, but my little community garden plot is finally ready! Oh, the possibilities...

3 Things: Toddler Books for the Budding Naturalist

I'm such a bookworm, so my contribution to our 3 Things posts have primarily been books and I'm continuing the trend here. These are books that celebrate nature, gardening, and the seasonal cycles - a perfect way to welcome in spring, though they are standard reading fare in our home all year long. We LOVE them and I'm so incredibly happy to read them over and over to my little gardener (unlike other books which require incredible willpower to avoid groaning over whenever Mayumi requests them).

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Children of the Forest by Elsa Beskow

The Money Tree by Sarah Stewart, Illustrated by David Small

Runner Up:
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, Illustrated by Marla Frazee

I'm sure you have your favorite too, perhaps some that we haven't discovered yet, so please share!

Garden Joys and Woes

Gardening in the city has been a learning experience - lots of trial and error.  With little space in our urban neighborhood, I've had to build raised beds in my front yard.  I've tried to make it pretty with flowers, trees, and shrubs, but there's no hiding the fact that we're urban homesteading here.

I may have been a bit zealous in my planting; we've tried everything from radishes, peas and arugula to bell peppers, Japanese cucumbers, all sorts of tomatoes and even a renegade cantaloupe that must've grown from seeds in the compost.  Some things have grown well (like the cantaloupe) and others, not so much (partly due to guerilla squirrels that steal every almost-ripe tomato).

We recently had a rainbarrel installed - not the most beautiful feature of our front yard but I figure that I can find some big shrub or viney-type thing to camouflage it...

I've also taken over the tree box on our front sidewalk.  It's a bit haphazard now, but I'm contemplating planting a fig tree there next spring...

The best part is doing all of this with my little gardening hand:

It truly is a learning process.  Plans for next year include planting some dwarf fruit trees, a row of raspberry bushes and maybe even some more corn (we got three ears this year before the squirrels decimated my stalks).  Some books I'm devouring right now: Fresh Food from Small Spaces by RJ Ruppenthal, Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman, and The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen.  It has been a wonderful obsession for me this year - I'm a bit addicted to the effort of provident living.  Though we have a few setbacks, it is so empowering and satisfying!

Let me know how your garden is growing!