WFP: A regular update, but let’s face it- it’s mostly about food.

There’s so much to do these days! It has been so nice to walk slowly through my yard, with a bowl full of chicken slop, discovering all the little beauties that spring has to offer. I’m soaking up the green and all the blossoms and… this season is just like the food it provides. It all feels fresh and bright and good for me.

Blossoms on our little cherry tree.

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We planted our cabbage, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. When I say "we" I mean Jeff and Vera. I had run out on an errand while little Asa was sleeping, and they got to work while it was still light out. Jeff reported that he carefully showed her how to do it, and that she took the instruction and, armed with her little blue plastic trowel, she got to work. Jeff said he watched out of the corner of his eye as she perfectly planted over a dozen of these delicate little plants. After about 15 or so, she apparently dropped her trowel and announced she was going in the house. Jeff protested, saying that he needed her help, but she told him she was done planting for now. Later on we both laughed while he told me the story, and we got this warm fuzzy profound feeling about it all. You know, that we are "We". That she was actually helpful and not just "helping". We are a family. And not just that, but we are a family that tries to provide for our own needs- we all get our hands dirty, we all grow and cook and handle our food, we all do the dishes, and we all have a say here. I’m looking forward to seeing what our kids will think about all this- what kind of influence and input they’ll have, and what kind of a difference it will make for them to have this kind of agency over their lives. I mean, I know it’s made a difference for me.

So much of what we do and why we do it comes down to food. I mean, I’d be lying if I said that I fostered some kind of innate concern about the natural world without it first having to do with my own needs and desires. I mean, it certainly has grown to be a genuine concern, but I was catapulted into this world through concern for my own body. I desire clean food and clean water, a healthy body, and a happy and balanced mind. Now, in my desire for all those things, I have found myself on this path, one that helps me to care for and about so much more than just my own body. Food is profound stuff. Food tells a story, if you let it. And, if you hear the story it tells, it inevitably leads to action. That’s just what I think.

Wild violets are everywhere. I love them. I love that they are so beautiful and that they are edible. I love just taking a walk with Vera, and telling her that she can nibble on all the fresh greens out in the yard. She does much better with eating them outside while she’s exploring than when I put them on her plate. Who knew greens could be such a fun food?

 

Quince! We transplanted this baby from a friend’s yard last fall. We were not sure if it would make it… It had been dug up a couple of days prior to planting, and it was cold and sad and we just weren’t sure. But here it is, flowering and being awesome. We’ll see if we get fruit. 

 

The first herbs were put in. Tonight we’re mulching, which I’m excited about because it will clean everything up so nicely. There’s a fair amount planted here, but some are hard to see because they are so small. So far we’ve got two different kinds of chives, oregano, yarrow, lovage, thyme, parsley, and chamomile. 

 

Then, on a whim, I just decided to plant some stuff on either side of this little sidewalk on our parkway. It’s nothing fancy, I just laid cardboard down on top of the grass, then topped it with some compost and loose soil from our yard. In it I planted lavender (which is so small you can’t even see it right now), and borage (which will have pretty blue star like flowers). Then I mulched it all with old leaves and grass and lined it with these stones. It was a fast little project, and I plan to just continue doing stuff like that until most of the parkway is gardened.

 

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Gracie

Latest posts by Gracie (see all)

• Let the world be fed - October 21, 2024
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