August 09, 2010
out of control: my life and the August garden
Teresa: thinking that mama taking a picture of her picking her corn is dorky, but indulging me because of her very good heart
Mama: Teresa picked the corn she grew in her own little plot! So cute! So endearing! So mighty! OK, I'll stop now.
I've got a few time lapse pictures of the garden at La Casa, to show you how a well-behaved little garden can turn into a jungle very quickly with the kind of rain and heat we've had. It's very surprising to me how much space vegetables need!
I think it's more interesting backwards, so the first set of pictures is from late July, the second from late June, the third from mid May, and fourth from the beginning of April.
Northwest corner:
From the garden bed gates (west side):
As for my life being out of control, I'm learning the following skills this summer: organizing silent hours so I can work with the kids at home, serenity without much time for quiet reflection (mostly from re-thinking household chores as times to let the mind wander), implementing an organic fruit tree spraying schedule (so our fruit trees will actually bear fruit, as the name would suggest), organizing a 3-5 year old class at Heartland Baha'i School, teaching a neighborhood virtues class, dealing with gardening in summer heat, learning how to pick things when they're ripest (which takes more patience than I have on an average day), being a food processor: canning jam and vegetables without expiring from the hours-long steam bath, figuring out sun-dried tomatoes, steaming and blanching pumpkin, green beans, chard and squash, making pickles. It's been beautiful, exhausting, and full of a million little details and delights.
Also, my dear friends and study circle buddies, Frank and Naifen, that I've relied on for two years to give me a forum for spiritual discussions, are moving on in their illustrious academic careers, all the way to beautiful Pennsylvania, and I don't know how to learn to cope with that loss of steadying influence yet. I get really, literally nauseous when I think about it too much.
So let's move on to lighter topics: I easily picked up the habit of hanging out with my sister all the time, since she lives so close, and she has become one of my favorite new recipe testers because she's always so appreciative and encouraging. Yeah for Layli!
I learned what's involved in supporting a child through a summer theater production (a lot of time commitments and driving and hair curling and excitement and nerves and a happy, exultant Georgia).
(with Georgia still camera-resistant, this is the best I could get, but I think others may have better ones- hint, hint!)
I've learned to work through the fear of the unknown vegetable (or storing method) with the great U of I Extension website (http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/directory.cfm), Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and all the great natural foodie/west coast chef bloggers that rave about the flavor of fresh, picked-from-your-garden goodness. I've learned about the taste explosion that happens when you let ripe tomatoes and goat feta cheese meld and marry in a salad together. I never realized how much they NEEDED each other before.
That's all for today, but, you know, once I start talking, it's really hard to stop. Thanks to everyone that reads this webble for checking back over this summer writing hiatus. I'm awfully glad you did. And Grandma, do you like these pictures better than the chocolate tart you've been forced to look at for months? Gardens and grandchildren are good, right?