gardening goals

I write my lists in a blue notebook. Idea and want-to-do lists, mostly -- for gardening, sewing, knitting, decorating -- but also gems gleaned from various programs, speakers, classes, and gardens I visit. 

This is my list of gardening goals from last year.  By eat in the garden & from I meant to pick a meal -- cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes or whatever and eat them on the spot, seconds off the plants, unwashed, as is. It's quite an amazing experience to do that for your lunch. Anyway, this list seems very zen to me now. I accomplished three of the four, I failed on save seeds.

This is page one of this year's. I hope I'm not setting myself up for failure here. It looks the opposite of zen, more survivalist.  

Yesterday, I saw that my favorite pen was on final close-out or words to that effect (Jaws music here). I bought the last ten packages at half price, that is the only good part.  I tell you this in case it's your favorite pen, too, but don't go to the King Soopers on Colorado Boulevard in Denver because they're all gone.

Do you have a favorite pen? I'm looking for one.

time = life moonday

Lately I've been noticing how I refer to time and how stressful it is to not have enough as a result of choices made. So I've been perusing a favorite book, Slow Time, by Waverly Fitzgerald. Just reading a book with such a title makes me feel better about myself. I am busy. Everyone I know is busy. We all refer to time as if it's a precious resource. Which it is.

One of the many exercises in Slow Time is to substitute the word time with life. It's powerful enough to make the busiest person take pause. Do I have enough life for this? Is there any life left? Springlife, summerlife. What life is it? Work life, play life. Life is running out. Life flies when you're having fun. Life constraints. Things take life. Life heals all wounds. Life will tell.

I've been spending a little bit of my life appliqueing moons onto squares to be used for some sun*moon*stars*whispering. I've learned some things in only a few minutes. Basting is good. Linen is easier to needle-turn.  Following a line saves life.

On this waxing moonday, our Cancer moon moved into the sign of Leo, with the day quality changing from cool and moist to hot and dry. The Leo moon energizes us to hit the ground running just as we begin a new week. We venture out with confidence, ready to shine, after nesting these last few days under the sign of Cancer. I am glad to give my inner self a little rest and move outward with Leo's help.

Leo rules the heart and circulation, the back and the diaphragm. It has a stimulating effect on the body, as in the personality, so we do ourselves well to avoid overdoing it, on top of it all. Replacing stimulants like coffee and black tea with herbal teas would most definitely be beneficial today. Chamomile, lemon balm, and hibiscus all have a calming effect with hibiscus actually lowering blood pressure for a time. If you find yourself over-excited, try this heart-connecting breathwork: After finding your pulse, begin to breathe along with your heartbeat by inhaling for six beats, holding for three beats, exhaling for six beats and holding again for three beats. Repeat until it becomes easy and then slow your breath even more until you are totally relaxed. This helps me when I have trouble sleeping, too.

I'm going to enjoy some life in the garden now and I hope you have life to do what you want, too!

100% cotton, made in india

I bought a bundle of these still-rolled batik scarves at a yard sale years ago. At least I think they'd be considered batik. I gave some away and unrolled two for myself. For some reason, I've held off doing anything with the last of them.

Does anyone know anything about these? The tags say 100% cotton, made in India. I looked around the internet but couldn't find anything quite like them.

I'm wondering if this is how they're sold in India? Are they meant to be scarves or pieces of cloth to make things with? Is there a really easy way to unroll them? It's nice to meditatively work on unrolling one, but it does take quite a while. I'm wondering if it would instantly loosen up by itself when immersed in water, like those magical flattened sponges?

Have a great weekend, everyone.

xo

curried poppy mallow soup was made

Yesterday as I was doing some garden clean-up, I thought to myself mallow soup for dinner. I just happened to be near several poppy mallow plants and I'm pretty sure they planted the idea in my head. You know how that works. Poppy mallow is a lovely low-water perennial groundcover with magenta flowers. It also happens to be an easy-to-grow herb with both medicinal and food value -- a medicinal food! Its demulcents soothe the throat and stomach lining relieving pain and inflammation while its emollient qualities can help to heal skin irritations.

Four cups of beautiful mallow leaves were plucked in short order, washed, and ready to go. You can also use the prolific dooryard weed, common mallow (Malva neglecta) -- but poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata) leaves, a cultivated member of the mallow (Malvaceae) family, are just a little more tender, in my opinion.

Before prepping a planting area in the Buddha garden, these overwintered-by-accident onions had to come out. Perfect for the soup.

As with most soups, I used what I had -- the onions, celery, garlic, and about a quarter of a butternut squash. A sweet potato could sub for the squash -- or mushrooms or cauliflower or whatever's around.

Curried (Poppy) Mallow Soup

Olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1-2 crushed garlic cloves

1-2 cups chopped butternut squash

1-2 t. curry powder

1/2 t. paprika

1/2 t. salt

dash of cinnamon

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

4 cups mallow leaves, coarsely chopped

1 T. tamari

1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned

Saute the onion, celery, garlic, and squash in olive oil 5-10 minutes. Add the spices and continue for another minute or so, stirring constantly at that point. Add the chicken broth, mallow leaves, tomatoes, and tamari. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Serve with cream or yogurt.

It's delicious. But if you don't go for spicy-hot, then go easy on the seasoning!

Also posted at Food Renegade.

out of & into the dye-pot

out of the dye-pot: Two pieces of cloth landed on the latest Anthropologie catalog as I was clearing off the table for dinner the other night -- my work table and the kitchen table are one and the same, sort of a pain sometimes. The three of them looked so beautiful together . . .

The pleated-looking silk was dyed with old "dragon's blood" incense. The fluffy silk organza was dyed with a clivia blossom and leaf, wrapped in purple hemp string. I love their textures as much as their beautiful peach and pink colors. So soft and cloud-like. And nest-like, too. These won't be ironed just yet.

into the dye-pot: Dried lavender flowers (forgotten but found, from 2007!) and white linen.

filling the nest

Today is the new moon in taurus so I'm beginning to think about my new moon intentions. But still only thinking about them because I've realized the moon is actually void-of-course all day today. A wiser woman than I on these matters, Jan Spiller, astrologer and author of New Moon Astrology, recommends waiting until the void-of-course period has ended. So sometime after 12:09 PM MST tomorrow, I'll write wishes on the snippets of ribbons placed in this nest-like basket.

Today I will do some birdwatching as I work in the garden. (Working and building in the garden are good Taurus activities, by the way.) A chickadee couple is nesting in this little birdhouse hanging at the edge of our patio. It had previously been occupied by a pair of house wrens and I was really hoping they'd return. But Mr. and Mrs. Chickadee moved in instead and we're pretty happy to have them, as well. This is the time of year we look out the window at what seems to be a Disney movie with all the birds swooping in and out, gathering nesting material, feeding, drinking, singing and playing. It's the best.

loop de loop moonday

I heard a little voice again. It said wrap them together with loop de loop.

Did you know that the little voice is actually the anterior cingulate cortex, according to white-coated authorities at Carnegie-Mellon University? It's believed that if you're receptive to it, it's as good as having a guardian angel. (Pronoia by Rob Brezsny).

Yup, it said to loop de loop*.

This moonday is a dark moon in the sign of Taurus, a day of completion in the current moon cycle. (The next new moon occurs late tonight or early tomorrow, depending on location.) A dark moon is an intuitive time well-suited to do the last bit of inner work required to truly clear and release. On these last days of a waning moon, I sometimes get too antsy for the next new moon, my thoughts racing about what my future intentions will be, what seeds will I plant, what new things lie ahead in my life, etc. Thankfully, as an Earth sign, Taurus has a balancing effect as it helps us to be patient, more grounded and to move more slowly.

Taurus rules the lower face to the throat and neck including the ears, teeth, jaws, vocal chords, and thyroid gland. Stress to these areas may be pronounced while at the same time, dis-ease in them may be well-treated. Protect the neck and ears today if there's even a touch of chill in the air as Taurus always feels a little cooler than its actual temperature. That certainly rings true for me -- on this Spring day, May 2, and almost 50 degrees outside, it still feels frigid.

Some correlations with these body parts: Teeth are associated with making decisions, ears are hearing the truth, the thyroid is satisfying self and others, and the throat is self-expression. I once knew someone who lost her voice "for no reason" when her mother (whom she had issues with) visited. Now I wonder if the visits landed on Taurus days on top of it all!

*loop de loop: a term coined by handstories.