Amie’s drawings of a flower and Amie in the garden
Plant. Did that!
First planted the hoop house frame, sewed the row covers together for the quick hoops (3 5×10′ covers make 1 10′ x 15′ cover), and ordered more row cover from Johnny’s.
Started sprouting fenugreek as an experiment – that count as planting, right? – and love it: so easy and yummy, a mini-garden right in my kitchen.
Planted Farmers Market peach seeds (Canadian Harmony) in a bed that will be mulched in Winter – whatever comes up in Spring will be transplanted into a pot.
The big one was transplanting into the hoop house beds the winter harvest seedlings: spinach, several lettuces, broccoli, kale, chard, purslane, parsley, mizuna, and mustard greens. Also the big broccoli plant, the two largest kale plants, and the chard plants from other beds. There also sowed more of the same plus claytonia, mache, tatsoi, and other hardy veggie seeds. Covered all these up with my row covers. I hope the clamps arrive soon so I can put the plastic up.
Harvest. Still chard, kale, carrots, green beans, lima beans, peas. And fenugreek sprouts:
Preserve. Canning has slowed down since my Farmers Market closed. The last apples went into two quarts and two pints of unsweetened apple sauce with peel (a beautiful pink). Froze more vegetable stock. I got our tiny chest freezer going, stuffed with flour, rice and sugar, and tomorrow when it’s really cold will transfer to it some of the foods from our overstuffed over-the-fridge-freezer.
Waste not. We finally wrapped our hot water boiler. We also got a big load of beautiful and well-fitting Winter clothes for Amie from a friend (thank you!).
Want not. Split more kindling. Ordered 10’x 500′ of row cover (that’ll last us a couple of years).
Build community food systems. Our hoop house is extremely visible from the street :)
Eat the food. Ate everything we harvested and the freezer food is getting good rotation. I’m so tempted to open one of those peaches in syrup jars. We did order a take-out pizza one evening, though. Also drank our first glasses of raw milk.
Hello,
I have had a closer look at your interesting and well written blog – nature is really important in my life too.
I am not comfortable with one thing, though. It looks nice how you are close to your daughter, but do you not think giving her so much attention (even on the net) and totally letting her into your very private life (like the co-sleeping) can be problematic. Also, I do not see the link with living honestly and naturally.
greets! Julie
Hi Julie,
I’m not sure I understand the comment/question/criticism. All I can say is that we practice attachment parenting because we believe that because of that our child will feel more secure and self-confident and be more autonomous. Honest and natural living are simply values we’d like to pass on to her…
What I mean is that kids have a life of their own. You seem to live very attached in a small family and in the end of the day, you take your baby with you in bed. In the West, children sleep separately (they do not like that, they cry and moan, but we make them go through that), because it is part of the difference between being a kid and being an adult. In return, adults have a private life of their own: adult relationships are romantic (which is not everywhere the case). So I do not say in what your approach would make a kid more secure, since it is never on its own. It seems profoundly confused, that is all. But whatever, it is your kid.
I guess, Julie, that we have a difference of opinion. I don’t think this is the place to discuss it, and I also don’t think that addressing insinuations can be constructive. So let’s leave it with “whatever”.