Garden Hand

I had an eager garden hand right before bedtime the other night. It was fun to garden with him, even though he tried to distribute soil evenly throughout our unfinished basement!

Cast of Characters

Spring has sprouted in our basement. I started many more tomatoes than we can grow so we can share some with friends and family. Yes, family. The idea is to hand-deliver them to St. Louis when we visit. It is looking green and lush. I hope we can keep up the strong vegetative growth and transplant these stout starts in the ground in 8 weeks where they will be further coddled by a temporary greenhouse because it's cold here.

I started some of our favorite, time-tested heirloom tomatoes: orange strawberry, box car willie, manyel, black from tula, amish paste tigerella. Early and mid-season tomatoes: quick pick, manitoba. Italian tomatoes, seeds purchased in Florence last summer: cuor du bue, san pierre, cos di florentino.

I started our eggplants and peppers, too: thai hot pepper, gourmet and golden bell. We have incredible luck growing really lovely peppers here, much better than we ever did in Oregon. Eggplants also produce an abundance that lasts us for many weeks of our favorite eggplant dishes. And enough to roast and freeze for late fall and early winter dinners.

Cultivation

Sometimes the unknown can be a dark, shadowy corner, something you would rather not unearth. You may encounter a stubborn root, so massive it takes much coercion for the slightest movement. Many more attempts to loosen it from the depths of the earth. Even more visits until you have exposed it sufficiently; you start the slow process of removing it.

When all is said and done, you have shed light on an otherwise dark area. You exposed and examined a stubborn root, a behavior that was weighing you down. The soul breathes in gratitude of this newfound levity. Freedom awaits you by facing those stubborn roots that took hold so many years ago.

A continual cultivation of heart and soul. This is our most important work here.

Seeds of Change

Change is difficult at any age. Allowing myself to reflect invokes so much empathy for our children, whose world is constantly in flux thus constantly demanding them to change. A dynamic world, a place of constant expansion and retraction. We have worked so hard as a family unit and as individuals to change ourselves over the past six months. With luck and a lot of effort, we are reaping the benefits. And the most beautiful part about it comes from the fact that our children were the inspiration and direction for this catharsis.

It was after Jonah's 'diagnosis' that I looked long and hard at my own life, my own temperament. I clearly needed to change in order for him to thrive. After months of even more sadness and anger ensued, I started to accept the terms. He came to us because he needs us and we need him. He is teaching us to be better people, better parents by easing his way in this enormous world of ours.

I had one week of pure freedom, pure soulful living right around the holidays. It was peaceful, and while our lives continued to be tumultuous, I made the conscious choice not to be. Rather quickly, the children took the cue and also found a higher place within themselves from which to perceive the world. We all rose above the mind's negativity and saw that life can be more peaceful than ever.

It was so gratifying to find this place within myself, to feel such a powerful love source. I now know where to find it though some days my mind's eye darkens my path making travel conditions treacherous. The opportunity lies in each day we are given, in each moment. For me, I strive to be better every moment I live knowing I will falter and knowing I will stand up again and do better.

Veggie Loaf

This recipe makes one large or two smaller loaves.


3/4 cups brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup bulgar
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped fine
1 celery rib, chopped fine
1 carrot, chopped fine
1 leek, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ounces dried mushrooms
8 ounces mushrooms
1 cup cashews
2 1/4 cup panko
3 eggs


Prepare the lentils by boiling in 3 1/2 cups of water and 1 tsp salt. Reduce to simmer and cook uncovered  until they are just beginning to fall apart, about 25 minutes. Drain well. While lentils cook, bring 1 3/4 cup water to a boil and add the bulgar and 1/2 tsp salt. Let stand off heat for 20 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh strainer. Set aside along with lentils.
Rehydrate dried mushrooms by boiling in water for 3 minutes (1 oz dried ~ 4 ounces raw).

Saute onions, celery, garlic, and leek on medium-high heat until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside. In same skilled heat remaining oil and add mushrooms cooking until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Let cooked veggies cool on a baking sheet. Combine lentils, bulgar, brown rice, and vegetables in a large bowl.

Process cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. In same processor, add half of the veggie-lentil-grain mixture and pulse until cohesive but roughly textured. Repeat as necessary. Return to bowl and add eggs and panko. Mix well and shape into loaf. Bake at 375 until internal temperature reads 160 degrees.

The Light

I find it invigorating to be planning a garden in the dead of winter. It rekindles my soul, reminding me we are past the darkest winter days. The northern hemisphere is indeed tilting back toward the sun again. It gives me hope to think of the warmth that will soon warm our soil, and then from it feed our bodies.

Our coldest weeks are surely to come as they always do in late January and early February. I attend to the important task of planning our garden for this growing season. The first growing season in years without any foreseeable obstacles except the obvious: time. I have high ambitions of transforming our small, compact growing space into an even more productive vegetable garden than in the past.

We just built new propogation shelves for our veggies, herbs and flowers. In two weeks time we will sow and anxiously await the first signs of spring: tomato, eggplant and pepper germination!!

The Medium

Last spring in the midst of an enormous remodel we built 2 raised vegetable beds in the front yard, replacing our tomato beds we built in 2003. The new beds total about 110 square feet. This year we plan to add 3 more, the size and location of which have yet to be determined. The challenge is that our front addition diminished our afternoon sunlight while at the same time our boulevard trees continue to thrive, thus shading our yard for longer periods in the morning. We also need to find a balance between aesthetics and practicality; it needs to both be appealing as a landscape feature while standing up to our day-to-day gardening exploits.

We no longer have chickens in the backyard as we gave them away in the fall. It was time for a break. When the boys are old enough to participate in the care of the hens we will build a new coop and raise chickens once more. We also hope to redo the backyard now that the chickens are gone. This will give the boys a little more room to roam when we're at home, and possibly more room to grow food or flowers - or both.

Our lovely aspaliered apple trees are yet to produce a bumper crop but I am hopeful this might be their year. John labors so delicately over them and I know he anticipates the spring when the buds swell. He meticulously inspects them, theorizing which ones may be blossoms. The rest of our cane fruits and berries are all doing well, despite our ongoing transplanting to different areas of the yard.

My other passion in the yard is my new perennial bed. Now in addition to the boulevard flower beds I have about one third of the front yard with flowering shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses. My inspiration comes from the many lovely butterfly gardens nearby and I hope the monarchs come to our yard in a few years. We are just beginning to establish their host plants so it will probably take them a season or two to find us.