Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
back to the piney wood hills....
Time passes, and seasons change...and sometimes so do location. Last time I checked in, it was 108 degrees in Chicago and my garden was just exploding!! We had late summer treats like rainbow chard, edamame, early carrots, green beans, and more broccoli than we knew what to do with!!
It was the most amazing broccoli we ever tasted, and the colors were so spectacular it was hard to harvest them :) We were able to share with family and neighbors... there is just something so magical about being able to share homegrown food with people I love and know that they are delicious & nutritious!
It was the most amazing broccoli we ever tasted, and the colors were so spectacular it was hard to harvest them :) We were able to share with family and neighbors... there is just something so magical about being able to share homegrown food with people I love and know that they are delicious & nutritious!
We had some major changes towards the end of summer... some of you may know, but for those who don't, me & my husband met and lived in upstate New York from 1998 to 2006. After having our daughter in the fall of '06, we decided to move back to the Chicago area to be around family for a few years. While we may have moved out of Ithaca, our hearts never left. It was always our dream to move back someday with our daughter and start some of her own roots here. After all, that is what keeps us all connected. So we decided this was the year to motivate and after finding work, housing, and an amazing school ... we made the move East coast in August.
I was overjoyed to be returning to my little upstate town, but it broke my heart to have to leave my garden. For the first week or so after making our decision, I honestly couldn't be out there. It was really, really hard to think about breaking off from this space, my space, our space. but after processing it all, I remembered that again, our roots connect us. And roots run both above and under ground. Deeper than we think, and that energy can transmit where ever the wind blows you. So I returned to my sanctuary .. and sat. And sat. I remember sitting for a long time, looking at each plant. At the plants ready for harvest, at the plants with buds getting ready for fall blooms, and I looked at the roots. So much love and care and time went into helping these little guys get their roots. And they have rewarded me back beyond words. I will take what I have learned, what they have taught me, and the seeds they gave back to me.... and continue on again this spring. Just in a different zip code :)
Luckily, my sister and wonderful neighbors kept harvesting from the garden after I left. I would get messages about amazing broccoli dinners, fresh green beans, more leeks that anyone knew what to do with, and I can't tell you how happy that made it. To know that even thought I wasn't there to taste them, I still was able to bring food to tables. It was hard to let my 3-sisters go, but was able to see some amazing teamwork between them before I left. The corn was tall enough for the beans to use as a trellis and the squash was just exploding! It's hard to see, and I wish I got more pictures before I left, but here is a glimpse... look closely at how perfectly they all weave together.
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Our friends carefully watched a pumpkin plant I had forgot about and when my sister and mom came to visit in October, they surprised Zara with a pumpkin from her yard!! Thanks again for loving my garden (you all know who you are!).
So long story short....I'm back on the East coast and couldn't be happier. I'm able to start working my property as soon as the ground thaws...and I'm excited and anxious to see what the growing season brings. I have some amazing women around me here that are just garden goddesses! To think we'll be able to get our hands dirty together while our kids play this spring makes me so happy! I received an amazing holiday gift this year...a generous gift card for Seeds of Change!! If you know me, you know they are my most favorite seed bank ever. I really loved everything they do and stand for. www.seedsofchange.com. My catalog is marked and slowly starting to plan on what I'm going to do this year. There are some cool seed exchange groups in the area so I'm looking forward to becoming involved in those.
Who knows what I'll find!! I wish I picked my cousin's brain more when I lived in Chicago about harvesting seeds, always a work in progress!
I hope to keep this blog going again this season. I've really enjoyed being able to share what I love with all of you. I'm so excited to see what this growing season brings... a new space, new climate, old friends, old roots. Happy to be back in my piney wood hills....
I was overjoyed to be returning to my little upstate town, but it broke my heart to have to leave my garden. For the first week or so after making our decision, I honestly couldn't be out there. It was really, really hard to think about breaking off from this space, my space, our space. but after processing it all, I remembered that again, our roots connect us. And roots run both above and under ground. Deeper than we think, and that energy can transmit where ever the wind blows you. So I returned to my sanctuary .. and sat. And sat. I remember sitting for a long time, looking at each plant. At the plants ready for harvest, at the plants with buds getting ready for fall blooms, and I looked at the roots. So much love and care and time went into helping these little guys get their roots. And they have rewarded me back beyond words. I will take what I have learned, what they have taught me, and the seeds they gave back to me.... and continue on again this spring. Just in a different zip code :)
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| artist unknown |
Luckily, my sister and wonderful neighbors kept harvesting from the garden after I left. I would get messages about amazing broccoli dinners, fresh green beans, more leeks that anyone knew what to do with, and I can't tell you how happy that made it. To know that even thought I wasn't there to taste them, I still was able to bring food to tables. It was hard to let my 3-sisters go, but was able to see some amazing teamwork between them before I left. The corn was tall enough for the beans to use as a trellis and the squash was just exploding! It's hard to see, and I wish I got more pictures before I left, but here is a glimpse... look closely at how perfectly they all weave together.
Our friends carefully watched a pumpkin plant I had forgot about and when my sister and mom came to visit in October, they surprised Zara with a pumpkin from her yard!! Thanks again for loving my garden (you all know who you are!).
So long story short....I'm back on the East coast and couldn't be happier. I'm able to start working my property as soon as the ground thaws...and I'm excited and anxious to see what the growing season brings. I have some amazing women around me here that are just garden goddesses! To think we'll be able to get our hands dirty together while our kids play this spring makes me so happy! I received an amazing holiday gift this year...a generous gift card for Seeds of Change!! If you know me, you know they are my most favorite seed bank ever. I really loved everything they do and stand for. www.seedsofchange.com. My catalog is marked and slowly starting to plan on what I'm going to do this year. There are some cool seed exchange groups in the area so I'm looking forward to becoming involved in those.
Who knows what I'll find!! I wish I picked my cousin's brain more when I lived in Chicago about harvesting seeds, always a work in progress!
I hope to keep this blog going again this season. I've really enjoyed being able to share what I love with all of you. I'm so excited to see what this growing season brings... a new space, new climate, old friends, old roots. Happy to be back in my piney wood hills....
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