my city garden........

I'm not a gardener. I know little about it. As a child I grew up with a garden and really took no interest in it. It was just something that my parents did. When I married I moved to the city and never wanted to go back to the country.....ever. Things change though.....and I've changed. Now, I would love to move back to the country, but until that happens I am a city living  'gardener' with a small vegetable patch. I guess I'm coming of age. I have to smile when I write that only because I'm not really sure what that means. I don't consider myself old, but sometimes my ability to embrace a good thing takes a while. Although I have to go easy on myself because I have not had a yard in the city that was able to have a vegetable garden and that was a choice I made. My yard is a perfect picture of beautiful and graceful landscaping and that in itself is very important to me. It is my 'zen' space that feeds my soul. But aahh...... a 'food' garden is a different thing. I have had a passion about good food and cooking for a long, long time and understand the need for us to take care of ourselves in terms of good nutrition. My body knows when it is given good food and performs better with it. My body can 'feel' good food not unlike it can 'feel' bad food. With my involvement in the Community Garden project I am now able to have a small plot of land and grow some of my own food. It is turning out to be more than I ever expected. I am smitten with every bit of it. The small amounts of food that I have already brought home to my table have delighted not only my palette, but also my soul. I tasted our romaine lettuce and it was nothing like the 'store' variety. Last week I brought home the first kohlrabi and to me it was like biting into butter, it was so very tender. I made tasty, tasty pesto last weekend and the color of it was the most divine thing I have seen lately. There is so much to taste and see and smell and experience!! I am truly enjoying the garden more than I would have ever thought. I knew it would be a beneficial experience, but it has turned out to be so much more. 

again my garden............



the 'heart' of my garden.....

I know that I have written about my garden before, but it always bears another sharing here as the summer moves on. I sat out into the evening the other night and as the sky changed from day to night the light of the moon began to cascade over the garden and weave itself in between the clouds. I gazed at my trees and the leaves were at rest not unlike myself. The garden was quiet and it was so soothing to the soul. For me there is nothing like that feeling as I sit outside on a warm summer night and listen to the quiet. 'Listening to the quiet' will only make sense to those that have experienced that. If you have, you will know exactly what I mean. It's just so perfect after a day of being busy doing things that need doing and living life. All those things that need to be tended to and then taking the time to sit quietly whether it be alone or with someone else. It's a great way to let yourself become whole again. To let our bodies come to a stop and rest for a while......like a recharging of ourselves. It's why we sleep at night also....so that our body can rest and restore itself for a new day. Taking time to sit in the garden at night adds to that for me. It takes me to that place of quiet so that I can begin the restoration work even before I fall asleep. Our world and the lives we lead are too busy and full of activities that steal valuable energy from us and we must replace and renew it every day. This quiet time in the garden is one of the ways I can do that........I look forward to my next quiet time in the garden. Namaste...........

my daisies.......

I love my daisies as they show themselves off over the river rocks....

community gardening........

our lovely tomatoes

romaine ready for the salad bowl

teeny tiny peppers coming along :)

I had to watch Brody for a bit this morning and since they don't live far from the Community
Garden site I thought we could walk over and see how all of our plants were growing. Brody loves going for a walk so off we went. The garden plots are all coming along great and harvesting of some vegetables is ready to go. I picked some more swiss chard, basil, arugula and onions and will use these for our dinner tonight. I love the whole thing about 'from garden to table' and can now appreciate so much more what my parents had a garden for. This little garden plot has done so much for me in terms of my own growth. So......as the garden grows, I grow also. It is creating connection for me. Connection to the earth, the plants, to community with others, my daughter who I share my plot with and also a further connection to my grandson who often comes with me when I go there. I believed for a long time that the community gardens would be such a huge benefit in so many ways for so many people and that was where my passion was focused. I was focused on how others would benefit. I love giving people an opportunity to learn and this was a perfect project for just that. I believe it is certainly providing all of those things to all the gardeners and yet its impact for me is the bonus in all of this. I have learned so much already in the short time that we have been gardening together. I look forward to all that is yet to come.

As I said before........as my garden grows, I grow also.......and this is a good thing.

living in pretendia......

my morning walks' bounty

I came across this word 'pretendia' a while back and for some reason it resonates with me in terms of what I create in my pretend mind, but it by no means takes me away from my reality. Just an escape in my mind that serves me well in a particular instance. You might be wrinkling your forehead by now  wondering what on earth I am talking about, so let me explain.

My dream is to have a home in the country. It will be my dream home and will be a place where our children can come to visit with their children and make memories. I will walk the grounds and feel the peace and serenity around me. I see this as my dream and yet if I only focus on that dream then I am not living in my present moment also. So, I live in pretendia too. I live now in a relatively small city and have neighbors all around me. I have lived in this home for 18 years and it is the home that my children know the best. I love my home and it is always a work in progress to have it just the way I want it so that it feels warm and inviting for all. But I pretend that I live in the country :) My garden especially is the place where I envision the countryside. It is small, but it is so wonderful. I grew up in the country and my parents had a huge garden of both flowers and vegetables. Each evening after dinner they would go for a walk and look at all that was happening in the garden. I find myself now doing the same thing. Becoming familiar with each and every plant and looking for new leaves or buds. Maybe there is a new tomato starting to show itself in my container tomatoes or the basil is ready for picking. The lavender was just ready in time for my lavender lemonade experiment. Just several evenings ago the shasta daisies were only budding and ready to burst into bloom and now some of them are arranged in a vase. I took note yesterday of the purple clematis and how it changes from year to year in how it shows off its blooms. All of this is my way of living inside of my country dream before it happens and brings joy to my heart. I don't really know if my dream will ever come true, but I can live parts of it now and smile all the while.


Are you living your dream?

Namaste..........

evidence of early morning rain............

Clematis hosting raindrops

The rain from the night is evident on the fruits of my garden. The raindrops all sit gently on the petals and leaves as they awaken to the new day. Even in the calm breeze of the morning they remain on their chosen host and they playfully swing on the light air. Each raindrop today has it's own life and then as the day progresses it will return to the atmoshere to possibly fall again maybe in another place in someone else's garden. Today I am blessed to find all these raindrops in my garden.

   Thank you........