I keep seeing these around but I am not sure what they are. The bees seem to love them.

“Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it”
- – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.”
- – Denis Waitley

“How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?”
- – Paul Sweeney

“And we who listen to the stars, or walk the dusty grade
Or break the very atoms down to see how they are made,
Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand.
The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand.”

– “The Word of God” by Catherine Faber

Look at the surprise Michael had waiting for him when outside today? Luckily the old spare was in good condition (and it actually a full sized tire too.) Still not fun of course, but he changed it and is at work now.

The weather is still beautiful, but today is probably the last day of that till the middle of next week. We need the rain though. I went ahead and planted some leaf lettuce outside. As long as we don’t go below 28F it should be okay, and if not, I still have a million little seeds. I also started some basil seeds inside.

Speaking of plants, these little things started sprouting by our garage a couple weeks ago. They are on the north side of the garage (shade) and have tuberous roots. I know it is a little early to identify plants, but do these look familiar? I am in zone 5a. I hope they are pretty, right now I am just happy to see something new and green!

It has been beautiful for several days now, mid 60s, sunny clear blue skies, bird singing (or whatever that ruckus the pine jays make is…) So naturally I have been spending very little time indoors. Damian is like me, he hates being cooped up when the Mother Nature rouses from her winter slumber and calls us out. We have been going on lots of walks since Windigo went missing and they have been wonderful in this weather. I have more or less stopped wearing Damian in a wrap since he has become too active to be tied up like that all the time. He loves riding in his red stroller now though, especially with a sippy full of water. He points it this way and that in a (successful) attempts to direct me. “I’ll drink, you drive!” Seems to be his motto as of late.

Beyond our walks, I have been working in the yard. I finished building the compost bin and the herb bed beside the deck (still have to buy the soil to fill it) and am currently working on raking up all the winter debris from the rest of the yard so that I can build a potager for my summer vegetable garden. I have resisted the urge to plant thus far, mostly. I know there will be another hard frost, no matter how beautiful is right now. I did cave and sow some mesclun mix inside in a cut off milk jug, and a bush variety snap bean in another container (both of which are out on the deck enjoying the warm sunshine today.)

Damian either stays on the deck or in his playpen when I am doing yard work. When his playpen is in the yard though, I am finding I need to put a blanket under it to keep him from eating too much dirt. When he becomes determined though, he can push the whole thing off the blanket (and all around the yard in fact) which while frustrating, is extremely cute. I could stake it down I suppose…

…but I would much rather take frequent breaks and sit in there too with a tall glass of lemonade. He even has a little lemonade from time to time. We discuss politics, religion and the flavors of dirt and weeds from around the yard. You know, the usual.

Speaking of weeds, he adores sautéed dandelion greens, and so do I! We made a potato frittata with some this morning, yummy! I will save edible weeds for another post though, the sun is calling and Damian just woke from his nap.

A few weeks ago I received my heirloom seeds from Seed Savers. I also purchased Amish Pie Squash seeds but they were on backorder and now they are sold out! So my pumpkin need will be have to be filled elsewhere. Around May 18th I should be receiving my Seed Savers transplants, which are organic I think. I plan for everything in my garden to be as organic as possible. Here is my list of seeds, transplants as well as seeds I have not purchased or received yet:

Seeds

• Black Beauty Zucchini (I have 25 seeds but I am only planting two bushes, can you imagine 25 zucchini plants? That is the stuff of nightmare!)
• Empress Beans (these are a bush variety stringless green snap bean)
• Genovese Basil (your standard big leaf basil)
• Titan Sunflowers (these just sounded awesome)
• True Lemon Cucumbers

Transplants

• 1 Amish Paste tomato transplant
• 2 Hungarian Heart tomato transplants
• 1 Cherry Roma tomato transplant
• 1 Stupice tomato transplant
• 1 Aunt Molly’s ground cherry transplant

Yet To Come

• Purple Carrots (from Mom)
• Some kind of pole bean (from Mom)
• Pumpkins, unknown variety (from Andrea and Peter)
• Leaf Lettuce (buying a packet of seeds at the General Store)

This is the area of my backyard that is going to becoming the garden, over where those timbers are. The area is south facing and so receives a ton of sunlight throughout the day. I plan on building two 3×8 raised beds for the veggies, which will give me 48 feet square of growing space. The last frost is around May 3rd, so that is my target date for having the beds ready, we’ll see how it all goes. I would imagine in the years to come I will be adding more raised bed. I would love to grow potatoes, beets, broccoli, more kinds of sunflowers, peppers etc. I also am planning an herb garden around the deck but I’ll leave that for another post.

This is the breakdown of the cost so far. I feel it has been reasonable (and the first year start up is always most expensive:)

• Seeds – $17.75 – They are all heirloom varieties, so with luck I will be able to save some of their seeds for next year. I still have to buy a packet of leaf lettuce with will be a less the $2, it will not be heirloom this year.
• Transplants – $18 and I am told shipping will be around $12, so $30 – I should also be able to save some of their seeds too as they are heriloom and start my own transplants next year.
• Wood (for raised beds) – FREE – found it behind our garage. I am using old pallets from my neighbor and Michael’s work as well. I may have to buy a crowbar to break them apart though.
• Seed Starting Soil – $8ish – I am just going to buy a bag of of sterile mix from the store. The seeds being started indoors are being planted in the cardboard egg cartons that I have been saving.
• Garden Soil – Shannon knows where we can purchase topsoil for $16 a scoop (from a backhoe not a shovel) – assuming that is about a cubic yard, that is about what I need. Her step father has graciously offered the use of his trailer to transport it.
• Compost – freeish – I might be able to find it free somewhere in town (Craigslist is awesome) and I have started a compost pile, which is shortly going to be boxed in using the pallet method. The pallets are free.
• Garden Tools – unknown – Here is where the cost can rack up fast, we have budgeted $200 for tools but I doubt I will need that much. I want decent tools that will last, but I am not purchasing anything fancy either. I need a hose with sprayer, a digging shovel, a bow rake, a garden fork and a hoe. I am also considered buying this, or building something like it, to trellis my tomatoes. (I don’t know if we have grass so not sure about the whole lawn mower thing yet.)

Here is a little side request to the list above – if any of the local people who read my blog happen to have any of the tools I need (or ones you feel would benefit the garden) laying around, and they are in working condition, I would love to give them a good home. I would be more than happy to share some of my seeds with you in return, or my crop! (If you are not local and still want to help, you can check out our wishlist.) Oh, and books! I am learning almost everything online, so I would be grateful for any secondhand books, or links to wonderful gardening resources online.

So this is as far as I am in the planning phase, I am currently looking up pollinators and attracting them. (FYI mason bees are so fascinating!) I am curious to hear other people’s low cost suggestions as well as any tidbits of advice they might have. It feels good to be outside working on a project like this. Gardening puts me in such a spiritual mood. I cannot think of many things that make me feel more connected to the spirit of the Earth then by getting my hands dirty.

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with merged scales giving it a berry-like appearance.

(With the changing seasons flowers are not in abundance anymore, but their fruits are. Perhaps I should have fruit or foliage Fridays, in keeping with the alliteration.)

Michael brought this plant home from his work the other day, they were giving them away (they give away the ones too dejected to sell.) I know it is some kind of pepper/chili but I am not sure what kind, it had no tag.

Michael says there was a sign by them that said “Do Not Eat” but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is not edible, it just may have been treated with a bunch of chemicals. It might be some kind of ornamental though.

Peppers are an annual right? I might dry these peppers for decoration…

Does anyone know what variety this is?

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? It is right outside our townhouse door.

I love the clusters of vivid orange berries that is has. The birds don’t seem to touch them though.

Tree Identified: European Rowan

Even more of a reason to love it, it is a sacred tree in Scandinavian myth (the first woman was made out of the rowan) and in Aegean lore the first rowan came from where the blood of an eagle fell on the ground.

You can make a jelly out of the berries too, but shouldn’t eat large quantities of them raw. According to Wikipedia various parts of the tree can be used for throat problems, bowel and vaginal irritations, eye problems, cramps and to remedy diarrhea.

I have a few clusters of berries that the tree let me harvest. I am drying them to add to my Autumn wreath.

Last night I had a dream in which I was a bystander, watching myself, or someone who looked exactly like me. The “I” referred to in this post is the person I am watching.

I was standing in the middle of a very flat desolate landscape, with hard white ground as far as the eye could see, perhaps it was a salt flat. I am standing looking towards the pale blue sky with my arms raised, palms up, the wind is blowing my skirt behind me. I am wearing a blue ground length skirt, almost exactly like this one and a fuchsia peasant blouse, similar to this one. I am also wearing Damian in my Maya wrap, except its fuchsia rather then grey.

(Yep, I said fuchsia, as in electric pink. Totally not my color, I do not even own anything remotely pink. In fact I avoid pink like the plague… but I do have to say, fuchsia didn’t look half bad on me in the dream. Dreams can make anything look good I guess!)

I was calling out some kind of invocation, I don’t remember the words, but as I spoke them everything around me turned every shades of pink imaginable. The sky, the ground, all pink, even the air seemed to take on a hazy fuchsia tint. The pink seemed to emanate from me. Gradually as my invocation came to an end the pink faded. The bright white ground and blue sky returned.

A few moments after my invocation ended, there was a rumbling, one that I felt more then heard, and suddenly it was as if the world around me was fast forwarding. Water flooded the ground, swirling up to my knees and then receding. As it receded, low growing plant life grew in its wake and insects buzzed. Small bushes grew, then shrubs, then small trees, the towering ones. Soon I was in a dense forest, not unlike Colville National Forest (that photo is taken in them.)

A huge tree grew around me and I stood in a hollow alcove within it. Ivy climbed up its trunk, draping in front of me like a curtain. The seasons changed and the ivy turned red and its leaves fell. A little boy, Damian I assume, came running out of the tree and I followed. Michael followed too (where the heck did he come from?) and snow began to fall. Spring came and the little boy brought me a (pink) daisy chain and smiled up at me.

I woke up.

The dream was very chaotic but felt powerful. I don’t know about all the pink but in a general way it represents love doesn’t it? From love life comes forth perhaps? Any thoughts?

I never thought my pitiful stunted hail bitten morning glory would bloom but when I woke up this morning it has a beautiful flower smiling victoriously at me.

This is a photo of the front door of Michael and my townhouse.

I love my yellow tulips, they are so cheerful! Michael brought them home for me last week. I don’t know if I will be able to transplant them after the blooms die though. I have read mixed results of doing that as the bulbs were probably forced in a greenhouse before shipping to retailers.

Regarding the title of this post though, mornings glories. Am I asking for trouble if I plant a morning glory vine under that window? It will have a window box outside it shortly. I remember my parents having morning glories when I was growing up and they were so incredibly beautiful. However I remember them getting enormous and unruly.

So, if I plant one will it be impossible to control or will I be able to keep it on a trellis? My front door is west facing and I live in a zone 4 area by the way.

I’m not sure what else I am going to plant in that little bed yet though I like plants that I can eat (I am open to suggestions here.) I mights have a rather prolific amount of basil, parsley and chives shortly as I decided to grow them from seed. (If you are local you might be getting seedling gifts from me for awhile…)

I have a separate question too, still flower related though. What are these?:

I saw them in a raised bed in a parking lot today. They were a thick carpet of the most beautiful tiny purple flowers (the photo does not do them justice.)

I have a feeling most of my favorite flowers might be weeds…

EDIT: The purple flowers are called Creeping Phlox. Thank you for the id Aunt Ruth!

Michael works for a produce company and sometimes they get plants in for restaurants and have some left over. Today he brought me home tulips (that Parade Rose is from his work too.) After they finish blooming I am going to transplant them outside on either side of my front steps. Flowers are beautiful but I especially love getting live plants (like those tulips!) I have quite a few though ,they are currently all in the kitchen – except an Indian Rubber plant on my living room altar. I have rosemary, mint and thyme by the kitchen window and the seeds for basil, parsley and chives (which I need to plant this weekend…)

Today the Bank of America building in downtown Spokane shut off their power from 12:00 to 13:00, and people were invited down to the lobby for free coffee and tea as well as free compact fluorescent light bulbs*. The Spokane mayor, Mary Verner, spoke briefly to the people gathered about how our city is working towards a being more green and that all our little changes could make a big impact. It was a typical inspirational political speech, but I was still happy to hear it. We need more politicians who care.

So many people do eco-conscious things on Earth Day, which I think is really fantastic, but it is important to carry those goals throughout the year. I feel I lead a pretty “green” lifestyle. Change does not happen instantly or particularly naturally to me but as long as I keep moving towards it, one small step at a time, I know that I will reach my goals.

*Just a note about CFLs that most people do not know, they do contain mercury so you shouldn’t toss them in the trash. Once they die you can return them to where they were purchased, (the store will recycle them correctly) or you can take them to a recycling facility.

Poor George has spider mites… He is my little cypress tree who stays near the front door. (Yes, I name my houseplants.) I don’t know how I didn’t notice the infestation, now his branches are dry and brittle. George’s rootball is really tight in his pot so I am going to try repotting it, as well as doing the water thing (a strong water stream to the underside of the leaves will knock off/drown mites.)

I read you can cut the water 50/50 with rubbing alcohol too and spray it on the underside of the leaves to kill mites. Has anyone had any experience with that method?

Damn you spider mites.