Instagram of a Trout Lily taken in the back forty (swamp area). God I love spring.
Outdoors
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.
Anne Frank wrote those words when she was 14 years old. She must have been an old soul, so much wisdom, so young.
It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve been to Rowe. I need to see the stars and get away from traffic, take a walk in the woods.
The pear tree needs trimming although it’s later to do it than it should be, it still needs to be done. The raspberries need trimming, the beds need to be semi cleaned out, mulched. There are brush piles to be burned, wood to be split, gardens to be spruced up. I need to check into what I have for seed potatoes and get some onion sets. The Ball jars need to be inventoried. Just the beginning of the busiest time of the year – now until October. Always too much to do and just enough. I love having an outdoor to do list. There’s always an excuse to be out there.
So even though I will be working I will also be alone with the heavens, nature and God. I will return to my work week renewed and refreshed.
Earth Day Coming Up
Earth Day has evolved for me over the years. I used to spend my time cleaning out my flower beds. I’ve planted trees, shrubs, and flowers on this day. This year I seem to be on a mission to augment as much of my food supply as I can with things that I’ve grown. This Earth Day week will be spent in prep for the vegetable and fruit growing season. Seeds will be started and although it seems late to some I can’t plant ANYTHING until Memorial Day in Rowe. There is still snow on the ground and the entire back forty was completely frosted this morning.
I want everyone to know the feeling you have when you eat or serve a meal with food that you have grown. You know everything about this food. You may have nurtured it from seeds or have seen it eating grass on a sunny hill. You have watered and fed and cooed over these plants and animals. You have planned and brought these home grown ingredients together into something that is fabulously delicious in its own time.
Years ago (really not that many) people ate what was in season. You didn’t eat tomatoes in January unless they were the “hot house” variety that completely lacked in both taste and nutrition. Vegetables were not flown in from Argentina or California during the winter. The cycle of meals had everything to do with what was ripe at the time or food that you had put up and was in your cellar or freezer. Growing up I remember my aunt and cousins staying with us when the garden was really beginning to produce. For lunch each day there would be sandwiches made with the freshest of tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. A platter just laid out with the bounty of summer, a taste that can not be replicated in any way other than to pick the produce, slice it up and eat it within minutes. I understand what it’s like to share the food that I have grown with the people I love. Hard work goes into it but it’s worth it when you see the look on someones face that is eating a particular plant for the first time or an old familiar one that tastes completely different because it is so fresh.
This year I think everyone should at least put a tomato plant in a pot of soil on their patio or steps or yard. Throw in a few basil seeds for good measure. This is sooo inexpensive to do and you will be paid back ten fold in something that you can not buy, the true taste of summer.
Going, going, gone.
Sue messaged me on Tuesday to say I wouldn’t believe how much of the snow was gone. Sunday when we left there was just one bare spot next to the patio. This morning all of the gardens are exposed. Things are popping out of the earth everywhere. God I love this time of year. The birds were all singing. The back forty was very, very wet but walkable. The water is rushing through the little brook that exits Hoover Damn (I guess I should write about Hoover Damn sometime).
The garlic is up! That’s very exciting.
And this looks like what will be on the agenda this weekend – burning brush. It seems like this is a never ending chore. It piles up all year waiting for burn season to open in January. Of course in January there is usually too much snow and half the pile is buried so we have to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. Burn season ends on May 1st so we just finish sugaring and it’s a mad couple of weekends trying to get everything burned. There is also a large pile of logs that needs to be cut and split. And of course Chester has photo bombed another shot. That’s his purpose in life.
6:30 this morning this is how it looked toward the back forty. The only place where you can see bare ground is the driveway. The difference is how it sounds. Spring is here, the birds know it, they are all singing their spring songs. The woodpeckers are all around rapping away at the dead trees. They have all returned from some warmer climate to sing spring in.
Bill doesn’t understand why I sleep with the window cracked open this time of year. I’m a very light sleeper and there is nothing that compares to having the birds sing me awake at dawn. As the sun is coming up their songs build to a crescendo. By the time it’s 10:00 they’ve settled into whatever they do for the day but there’s nothing like dawn in a quiet country meadow. When I was a kid I used to love to sleep in a tent out in the yard just so I could hear that. The sun would come up and heat up the canvas (yes, before nylon) with the birds singing away. I’d open the flap to see the dew rising over the grass and smell that sweet smell of morning. Then I would just sit and listen to the birds.
While there’s too much snow to sleep outdoors right now each morning you can walk out early and just be quiet and listen.
Fort Pelham Farm 