The Potager Garden

I had been interested in reading All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew when I saw it recommended (not sure where, or by whom) some time ago. In April, I spied the book at Costco and threw it in the cart. (Somehow it doesn't feel like spending money when it magically appears among the groceries.) Russ stole it out from under my nose and had it read by that evening. He sounded at least a little interested, which was terrific. I needed him on board.

Reading through the book in the next few days, the method sounded startlingly simple. The drawing of my amazing new vegetable garden--not so simple. That might have been when Russ started to go cross-eyed. Nevertheless, he has been a great sport, and I have simplified my expectations for the garden (for this year, anyway. Grin.)

The All New Square Foot Gardening method involvs a special soil mixture, 4'x4' raised beds made out of untreated 2"x6"x8' boards. No tilling, no soil treatments, very little weeding, minimal watering. Sounds good to me.

The book has many helpful references including charts of vegetables--when to plant, weeks to harvest, how long to keep seeds, etc... I would definitely recommend taking a look to see if this is something you might be interested in. The raised beds can be made on patios or porches, so there is no excuse not to have a few fresh vegetables to harvest! It would be a wonderful project to share with kids.


I was additionally inspired by seeing pictures of a wonderful and, in my humble opinion, successful attempt at 'square foot gardening' over at Homeschooling the Doctorate? Check out her progress!

Our project has begun in earnest:

Levi helps dad form the box frames.

Russ attatched weed barrier to the bottom of each box.

He made a fancy hinged wire cage for one of the boxes.

We're not sure if we'll have deer checking out the garden,

but we know we have a rabbit friend in the vicinity.

Our soil mixture.

(Amazon reviews of All New Square Foot Gardening

complain that vermiculite is very hard to find.

We must be lucky. It is available at two local garden supply stores.)

It looks awful, but mint compost is the greatest stuff.

It's readily available here in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

I've been known to put it on my birthday wish list.

(And I've been gifted a load or two by those who know me best.)

We started a compost pile, but won't be able to make use of it

for quite some time.

Box ready for planting.

Bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, French style beans,

and carrots (red, purple, orange, yellow, and white!).

One box for herbs: rosemary, lavender, parsley, basil, thyme, thyme-oregano, and chives!

(Other two boxes were planted with four tomato plants and zucchini. More will be added soon.)

I'll keep you posted as the garden progresses!

Garden as Art

Eight years ago, my sisters, mother, and I embarked on a journey. It was a dream finally coming to fruition for my sister, Shannon, and myself. After years of hoping and planning, we opened up shop. Poet's Garden was born.

We built (or, I should say, the husbands, built) two little cottages on the family property where our childhood vegetable garden previously took up residence. Mom, Shannon, and I spent a week at the Seattle Gift Show picking out treasures to fill the shop. We painted, planted, and created.

Poet's Garden opened in June when the roses were in full bloom. Everything looked magical. We served tea and delicious treats. It was a success! The years rolled along. I had my first son and brought him with me to the shop a few days a week. Shannon started working even harder. We were featured in Victoria magazine. (Absolutely, unimaginably, stupendously amazing for us!) I had my second son. Gone were the days when I could work at the shop. I helped from home as much as I could. (Which wasn't much.) Shannon worked harder (if that was possible). My third son was born last year, and Shannon gave up on me.

My little sister was born to own her own shop. She started her own dried flower business at the age of 11. Poet's Garden is her baby. The gardens have prospered under her care. The roses are currently in full bloom. I took advantage of an overcast day to capture the sights on film. These are my favorites. (More pictures can be found at Poet's Garden Girl.)

Nothing is more completely the child of Art than a garden.
Sir Walter Scott

Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,
and the soil and sky as canvas.
Elizabeth Murray

(I love this picture because the hill way in the background is the backdrop to our new home.)

I need not print a line, nor conjure with the painter's tools to prove myself an artist . . . Whilst in other spheres of labor the greater part of our life's toil and moil will of a surety end, as the wise man predicted, in vanity and vexation of spirit, here is instant physical refreshment in the work the garden entails, and, in the end, our labor will be crowned with flowers.
---John D. Sedding

Flag Day

Let it be borne on the flag under which we rally in every exigency,

that we have one country, one constitution, one destiny.

Daniel Webster

Strawberries and Memory Lane

Throughout my childhood, I wandered up and down this road countless times, but during a short season each year a treat awaited me at the end. Each June, the strawberry stand would appear (I never knew exactly how), and my sisters and I would make a bee-line for the little white building...change jingling in our pockets. We would painstakingly pick out the perfect pint box full of the reddest, most beautiful strawberries we could find.











My sister, Shannon, often rode her bike down to the stand to 'help' the owners sell strawberries. I'm sure she chatted up a storm and charmed each customer into buying even more.





As we grew older, the time came to pick strawberries in the fields. We did acquire some spending money, but I'm not sure it was worth it. A few times, after a tiring day of bending down to pick strawberries for hours in the hot sun, we'd hitch a ride with the truck taking flats of fruit to the strawberry stand. Then we would walk the road home. It was a gravel and tar road. During the hot weather, small bubbles of tar would form on the surface. I can still hear the tiny little 'crackle' sound they would make as we stepped on them. I can feel the hot road under my bare feet.




So, call it 'buying local' or 'buying the best' (which fresh-picked Oregon strawberries certainly are!), I call it 'buying sentimental.'

San Francisco

Photo Credits

The Golden Gate Bridge

Photo Credits

San Francisco Cable Car

Levi and I spent some time last week looking up information about San Francisco after reading Maybelle the Cable Car by one of my favorite authors, Virginia Lee Burton. All of her stories and illustrations are wonderful, but I really enjoyed the history she wove into this delightful story.

It begins with a simple description of how the cable cars work (complete with charming illustrations) and continues with a short history of San Francisco in lyrical prose. The story then centers on the decision to end the cable car services and the citizen movement to save them.

Home went Maybelle...clingety clang...Ringing her gong and singing her song. Good news...ting ting...good news she sang. Our day's not done...it's just begun.

Virginia Lee Burton's stories have captured the attention and love of so many children since Choo Choo was published in 1937. With two sons of her own, she knew just what sort of story would enchant a little boy.

It all started from watching the engines at Rockport Station. Almost every day we had to go down and see the trains come in and go out...and the engines switching the coaches and freight cars around. I always try my stories on the boys first. If they like them, I feel sure other children will.

The Boys, Again

Dirty and Clean

Whose idea was it to let these little children ride on the

leveling grate behind the tractor?

Getting dirty is so much fun.
(Thanks, Dad.)
But getting clean is even better.

Except for mom, who is getting tired
of looking at piles like this.

Up, Sluggard!

Up, sluggard, and waste not life.

In the grave will be sleeping enough.

Benjamin Franklin

St. George and the Dragon

Rafael Sanzio (1483-1520)

St. George and the Dragon

Rafael Sanzio was an Italian Renaissance master painter and architect who was admired by his contemporaries. The inscription on his marble sarcophagus reads (translated): 'Here lies Raffaello who, when alive, Nature was afraid to be won by him, when he died, she wanted to die herself.' What passion.

Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman is a beautiful retelling of a portion of Spenser's The Faerie Queen in which George, the Red Cross Knight, is sent by the Fairy Queen to face a dreadful dragon.

Then dawn chased away the dark, a lark mounted up to heaven, and up rose the brave knight with all his hurts and wounds healed, ready to fight again. When the dragon saw him, he began to be afraid. Still he rushed upon the knight, mouth gaping wide to swallow him whole. And the knight's bright weapon, taking advantage of that open jaw, ran it through with such strength that the dragon fell dead, breathing his last in smoke and cloud. Like a mountain he fell, and lay still. The knight himself trembled to see that fall, and his dear lady did not dare to come near to thank her faithful knight until she saw that the dragon would stir no more.

Which, of course, reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis:

Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.

Yes, I think Levi and I will read St. George and the Dragon again today.

I actually first came across the above painting while looking through an art game with the boys:


Renaissance Go Fish for Art by Birdcage Press is a gorgeous game of art. The object is to collect a set of masterpieces by each Renaissance artist featured. The cards are heavy and glossy. Many of the photographs are details of the artwork.

Birdcage Press has wonderful art and science games. I have a few more on my wish list.

Talk to the Hand

I had high hopes for Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door, and Lynne Truss did not fail to deliver. Just as full of humor as her book Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Talk to the Hand was a refreshing (or would that be depressing?) nonfiction look at the rudeness in the world around us.

Who among us is exempt from contact with rude people? Everyone that I know could easily share an anecdote to support the theory that our world is quickly becoming a disrespectful, unreasonable, selfish, and downright rude place. I think that the average person would relate to many of the stories and conclusions that Lynne Truss shares in this book. Surely the book would also generate a few laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a 'yes, that's exactly right!' moment or two.

If nothing else, I am inspired to go out of my way to be respectful and courteous to those around me when in public places or speaking on the phone.

From The Fifth Good Reason: Booing the Judges

There seems to be an idea that the more disrespect you show towards the rich or famous [...], the nearer you move towards achieving equality, but the effect is quite the opposite: rudeness highlights difference. In a truly egalitarian society, everyone would show respect to everyone else. It is very bad news for our society that overt disrespect is such a big game these days, because it just stirs people up without enlightening them. Mass entertainment that demeans public figures satisfies popular base instincts but leaves nobody better off. Besides, at the same time as it's become fashionable never to look up to anyone, it has become nastily acceptable to look down.

The "end of deference" is about a lot more than the flattening of class distinctions, in any case. [...] Respect and consideration are traditionally due to other people for all sorts of reasons, some big, some small. Here are twenty (mostly lapsed) reasons to show special politeness to other people that have nothing to do with class.

1 they are older

2 they know more than you do

3 they know less than you do

4 they got here first

5 they have educational qualifications in the subject under discussion

6 you are in their house

7 they once helped you financially

8 they have been good to you all your life

9 they are less fortunate than you

10 they have achieved status in the wider world

11 you are serving them in a shop

12 they are in the right

13 they are your boss

14 they work for you

15 they are a policeman/teacher/doctor/judge

16 they are in need

17 they are doing you a favor

18 they paid for the tickets

19 you phoned them, not the other way round

20 they have a menial job

Did I Mention?

Have I mentioned (recently) how much I love living just down the road from my parents?

Or how much I love spending time with my whole family?

'Bambi' (my mom) bringing food to the table.

Ben (Shannon's husband) pitching to my nephew, Drake.

Me. In the outfield.

Everyone getting into the kite flying action.
'Poppy' (my dad) made the kite with Drake and his sister, Ilex.

Moai

Ahu Tongariki Photo by Ian Sewell

Easter Island, Chile is home to the moai, ceremonial statues carved out of compressed volcanic ash. More than 850 heads (and torsoes) have been found, and close to 400 are still visible on the island. They were carved by Polynesian colonizers around A.D. 1000 - 1100.

An interesting audio presentation about the moai can be found here, at History.com

Levi requested that we add the Easter Island statues to our 'places of the world' flashcards after seeing one of the statues in the movie Night at the Museum.

Reading Here and There

You're never too young to have your head in a book.

There are many little ways to
enlarge your child's world.
Love of books is the best of all.
— Jacqueline Kennedy

Levitical Sayings

(Vocabulary:) Beverage, Retract, Hoist, Appropriate, Grumble

Mom! The sun is dazzling on your cheek! (The sun was reflecting off of his tadpole pond and on to my face.)

Why did you say that in such a shrill voice? (No comment.)

I'm thirsty. May I have the remains of my orange juice?

Let me tell you one hundred good things about my day. (On the phone talking to Dad who was on a business trip.)

(While working on his phonics--the word was 'sweet.') Like the water at the edge of the world in Prince Caspian! (He thinks a second or two.) No...it was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (Prince Caspian was aboard.) Reepicheep darted into the water because it was so sweet!

Asian Beef Salad

Check out the recipe for Asian Beef Salad by The Classical Family over at Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding. It's delicious! I used the rice noodles and my family voted against them, so I'll try the spaghetti noodles or Yakisoba noodles next time around. I wish I would have had some red peppers, but it tasted great even without them. Give it a try if you're in the mood for something new.

Summer Reading Challenge

Seasonal Soundings Hosts the Summer Reading Challenge!

Want to join us in making an intentional reading list for the next three months?

For ChocLit Guild:

Little Pilgrim's Progress (John Bunyan/Helen L. Taylor)

Down the Garden Path (Beverly Nichols)

The Richest Man in Babylon (George S. Clason)

Just For Me:

Much Ado About Nothing, Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children (E. Nesbit)

Cultural Literacy (E.D. Hirsch, Jr.)

The Closing of the American Mind (Allan Bloom)

North and South (Gaskell) (finish!)

Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

Daily:

A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) (at Dailylit.com) (finish!)

A Year With C.S. Lewis (continue)

Lord Bless My Child (William & Nancie Carmichael) (continue)

Bible

With Levi:

A Pioneer Sampler (Barbara Greenwood) (finish reading, do activities)

Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (William Anderson)

Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

The Borrowers (Mary Norton)

The Moffats (Eleanor Estes)