So many seed trays, so little time

Its been a busy few weeks (for Jay), planting all the seeds in seed trays and storing them

in small greenhouses. One sits in our family room and the other, more recently, on our

deck. R has been so excited to help his dad plant and water them and gives us daily

updates on their progress. Gardening with children is so much fun.

 

We are fortunate to live beside a very nice lot that’s owned by the developer who built

the homes in our subdivision. On a whim, Jay decided to ask permission to put in a garden

this summer and the developer agreed. And so we’re lucky enough to be growing food this

summer not only in our yard, but in this lot at well. I’m sure the neighborhood is wondering

what the heck is going on as Jay continues to spread out hay and woodchips, dividing the

lot into garden beds. Our biggest concern is that the lot seems to be the lunchtime hangout

for the kids from the local high school and we’re hoping not to find destroyed plants or

cigarette butts in our plants.

 

This year, we’ve decided to plant based on what we eat the most. Which means lots and

lots of kale and berries, as well as cucumber, tomatoes, herbs and squash, peppers,

watermelon, pumpkin, cabbage, currants, onions and gooseberries.

 

I can’t wait to take a basket out into the garden and gather our food for dinner

How To Cook Your Life

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie that you liked the first time around, but the second time you came across it - that's when it spoke to you?

source

About a year and a half ago, Jay and I watched How To Cook Your Life, a documentary following Edward Espe Brown, a Zen Buddhist monk and chef, as he teaches people how to cook healthy food while nourishing their spirituality. Zen Master Dogen wrote a cookbook of the same name which  "taught that it is possible to discover Buddha in even the simplest of kitchen duties, such as washing rice or kneading dough, and so reflect on one’s own actions and behaviour in the world." At the time, I really liked it - Brown is an endearing, complex and funny character and the subject matter was interesting. What stuck with me after that first viewing is something he said when teaching his students in the film - "when you wash the rice, wash the rice" - essentially a cooking-related lesson in mindfulness and staying in the present.

Over the last several months, as we've made changes to our lifestyle and philosophy, we've noticed that certain things appear to be connected - where we read about permaculture, Zen philosophy often comes up. Take for example, One Straw Revolution, a must-read book for anyone interested in permaculture and organic gardening - many say that Zen beliefs are a central theme in Fukuoka's approach. Buddhism promotes compassion for each other as well as the Earth, less interference with nature, a focus on simple, healthy foods. Obviously, these are all ideas Jay and I can get on board with. Noticing this link between simplicity, permaculture and Buddhism, I decided to watch the movie again last night.

We found ourselves nodding throughout the show, agreeing with Espe Brown that our Western culture as it relates to food is totally out of whack. That we, in fact, have very little relationship to our food. That we are so focused on being on the go, on saving time, that we can't even be bothered to cook anymore. As he says in the movie, when you're cooking "your hands get to be hands again". Isn't that so true.

The film's focus on simple, organic food, preparing it with gratitude and mindfulness, wasting as little as possible, and slowing down enough to enjoy the fruits of your labour - how can you argue with that?

These are great lessons to take with you outside of the kitchen and into your life - be present, be mindful, respect each other and the Earth, value yourself enough to nourish your body and spirit rather than fill your body and mind with junk, enjoy simplicity, slow down. I think its possible to change how we think about food, about the earth, about our lives and I'm enjoying watching these little pieces fall into place in our own home and family - better food, less stuff, more time together, a mindful approach to life.

What's growing right now

Our raised bed

I cannot claim to be the brains nor the brawn behind our garden - the credit for that must go to Jay, who got our family started on this crazy journey in the first place. Gardening has developed from a seasonal hobby for Jay to an increasingly essential aspect of our life and the basis for our future plans. I'll be doing my best to share what's growing in our garden this season and what we do with our crops, but all difficult questions will be referred to Jay, the only one of the two of us who really knows what they're doing.

While enjoying a glass of vino tonight on the deck and admiring the green sprouting up around us, I asked Jay how he decided what to plant this year and I got a great tour of our little garden. I just love walking around and looking at all the life (and the food!) that exists right outside our door. As John from Growing Your Greens says, lawns are dumb - grow your own food instead. We are well on our way to making our backyard functional and productive as well as beautiful.

See what happens when you let things grow instead of just keeping lawn?

A key aspect of how Jay chose to organize the garden this year was mixing insecting plants, those that support beneficial insects, with our regular garden staples. By mixing certain flowering plants with veggies, the beneficial insects can prey on those that aren't quite as welcome.

Bachelor Buttons (with some basil in the background)

Some of our insecting plants:

- Bachelor Buttons

- Wormwood

- Peony

- Wallflower

- Butterfly bush

We mixed these with vegetables such as kale, brussel sprouts, cukes, squash, tomatoes (currant and roma, among others), basil and collard greens. Can't wait to start cooking with all this yummy food!

Kale

Squash

Wormwood

All the world's problems can be solved in a garden

" All the world's problems can be solved in a garden" - Geoff Lawton

It's true. A garden is a source of food, a way to battle pollution, a gratifying way to spend your time, a way to combat high food prices, a teaching tool for toddlers. We are so happy to have started our garden in our new backyard.

Jay has been hard at work for months; buying and starting seeds, planning the layout, building the raised beds. In the last few days, we've finally started planting. Its late, to be sure, but a newborn, a toddler and moving houses are all big hits to our productivity level these days!

Luckily, R has been a happy helper and his planting skills are pretty awesome for a 2 1/2 year old. The onions he and Jay planted last week are starting to sprout and the joy in his eyes when he saw the tiny bursts of green in the soil for the first time, and the pride on his face when we told him "you did that!" was amazing to see. He's a diligent little worker - he puts on his most serious face when planting and covering up the seeds with soil. Fiercely independent, its always a challenge to get him to follow instructions, but he's so smart and capable. There's so much for him to learn in this process.

We worked yesterday evening until the last light and although rushed, it was so gratifying to know that this garden will soon sustain us and fill our bellies. We'll have blackberries, carrots, beans, onions, kale, and so much more. More in another post on the process of planning the garden itself.