Today I looked back to August 2013 and 2012
on my blog to see what I was doing around this same time and it struck me how
the flow of planning, buying, sowing, planting is a natural part of my life
now.
When I started out I devoured every blog
post, website, video and book about how to do this thing. I needed the
information to get started and equipped for what turned out to be a huge amount
of work and effort in converting our garden into a mini urban farm.
A lot of what I do not in the garden is
internalized, as I know what has to happen when for the most part. I know that
from August to September I need to get the seeds that are not sown directly
into beds my ready in newspaper pots. I know that from October onwards we have
the busiest time planting and staking on through December.
Summer brings another burst of work as we
fight off pests and disease on the plants. Harvests start coming in as the corn
ripens, the tomatoes blush and the peppers swell. I love the tallness of the
corn stalks, the creeping of the squashes, the smell of tomato plants in the
sun.
Then it comes to clearing out again and
adding compost and autumn is upon us once more. For instance I know that it
takes about 4-5 months for the compost to be ready as I have watched the heap
change month by month over the last 6 years and have smelled the change in the contents
until it turns into gorgeous black gold to feed our vegetables.
Having done this for so long now I no
longer feel anxious or worried about the garden and the growing of food. It has
a gentle flow of its own as we care for it, plan it and work in it.
I also went all out into the bread baking,
stock making, canning and preserving thing that filled both days on the weekend
back in the first years. I am exhausted just thinking back to the frenzied
activity of those first days.
I have calmed down a lot since then, thank
goodness. I am not sure who my taskmaster was in those days, why I felt so
driven and what I was trying to prove to myself, but while they were certainly productive
days making soap, bread, herbal remedies, jams and cakes, I don’t hanker after
it at all.
Now when we have lots of strawberries, I
will make some jam or we will eat them fresh. If we want bread we’ll make it.
If I need stock, I will set it to cook slowly all day. 5 weeks before we run out of soap, I make some more. It’s now also just part
of the flow of our home.
I love the gentle ebb and flow of the
seasons now, I don’t measure them any longer by children’s growth and
activities, but rather by what is growing in the garden and what food is on our
plate.
Summer corn freshly picked and steamed served with butter and salt…slow
roast tomatoes in the over for pasta sauce….beautiful new potatoes with parsley
and butter….and my absolute favorite – just cut asparagus quickly steamed and
eaten with Hollandaise sauce.
So here I am loving the end of winter and
eagerly anticipating spring.