Everyday Co-Creativity » soil garden

Part of the 3%

annesailer — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:09:30 +0000

Listening to NPR this morning, I discovered that mine is one of the only 3% of United States households that compost food scraps. I’m happy to be part of that 3%! We have a Green Cone composter in our backyard, into which we toss banana peels, gone-bad lettuce, eggshells, melon rinds, garden sorrel leaves half-eaten by slugs, and so on. Not only does our kitchen garbage can smell much better and fills up much slower than before we started composting, but this feels like excellent co-creative action. We’re using our food to its fullest, from start to finish, and we’re returning our food to the Earth, where it can make new soil — soil that we turn back into the garden next year to grow more food. I love that cooperation.

The NPR reporter also noted that composting is on the rise, so I’m hoping that 3% tics up quickly to 4%, 5% and higher. What I know for sure is that our household will continue to be a part of that percentage, no matter what the number.

Zone 1, Round 1: Seeds Are In

annesailer — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:40:33 +0000

This sowing seeds business is taking me longer than I expected. The first round of seeds for Zone 1 (broccoli, butternut squash, flat-leaf parsley, yellow bush beans, and giant sunflowers) are now sown. I have eight more beds to go (three in Zone 3, one in Zone 4, and four in Zone 9) — and that’s just for Round 1 of planting! In all fairness, I’m also laying out twine grids to accurately see the square-foot planting areas and cutting wirecloth into temporary critter-deflectors (giving the seeds a chance to germinate before they become dinner or a late-night snack.

Speaking of a late-night snack, I think I’m due for one now. After all, I’ve got to build up my resources for tomorrow’s continuing seed-sowing extravaganza!

Tomorrow, Planting!

annesailer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:37:19 +0000

I’ve spent weeks and weeks planning, charting, ordering, mixing, tilling, building and waiting, and now — tomorrow, planting! I will begin the two-week cycle of sowing seeds in the nine raised beds. This week, 43 seed varieties will go into the freshly mixed, prepared, blended and fertilized soil. Next week, I’ll sow the remaining 23 seed varieties and transplant the few seedlings I have in the house. I am “wowed” by the magnitude of this next step in co-creating the Lindisfarne valley Garden…

Sharing: Plant/Mineral Testing List

annesailer — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:17:50 +0000

By consolidating plant lists from four seed companies and adding Machaelle Small Wright’s mineral testing list from the Perelandra Garden Workbook I, I’ve created an extensive (and very useful) testing list for the early stages of co-creative soil garden planning. And, I’m sharing it! Click here to download my Plant/Mineral Testing List>>

Devic Group Action

annesailer — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:05:54 +0000

I am conferring with over 40 individual plant devas in planning my soil garden — and that’s just for the plants in the square-foot raised beds — so repeated communications are a bit daunting. This weekend, I spent some time conferring with nature in various and sundry situations, and a new planning tool has emerged.

I’ve already identified all the plant varieties and the seeds are on order (the Burpee ones have arrived!). The next step is connecting with all the plant devas to determine whether the seeds are to be sown directly into the garden or in flats and then transplanted later, and also to schedule when the seeds or transplants are to be planted in the garden. With individual devic action, it feels like it’ll be July before we’ve got this all planned out — yet alone planted. Enter a new idea (at least for me): devic group action.

I will open a working connection with the Deva of my garden and with the Devas of each of the over-40 plant species in the garden; I will request that the Devas speak with one, unified voice; I will ask that each Deva “come forward” when I am asking about that specific plant; and then I will ask my series of planting and timing questions. Now, I know that I will still be opening more than 40 Devic connections, but the idea of opening all the connections in one combined nature request seems far easier than opening-and-closing, opening-and-closing, opening-and-closing — and on and on. I’m hoping to start using this tool tomorrow afternoon. I’ll let you know how it goes!

In Praise of Friends and Drills

annesailer — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:36:46 +0000

Thanks to my good friend, Maria, my family, and all three of the power drills in our home, the Lindisfarne Valley Garden is now outfitted with NINE raised planting beds! My arms are a little sore (especially my drilling arm), and I am thrilled. I built one of the raised beds from recycled brick pavers (left over from a neighbor’s patio project), and we built the other eight using Trex engineered lumber. Now, here’s the marvelous part: I conferred with the Deva of my garden about what lumber to use and where to purchase the lumber. When I called the Deva-preferred lumberyard on Saturday morning, I joyfully discovered that Trex (the Deva-preferred lumber) was on sale at 50% off. Thank you, nature! I packed up my family and we hustled over to buy that 50%-off Trex. Thankfully, the lumberyard guys cut it into the three-foot and four-foot lengths I needed. Phew. The beds are gorgeous and awaiting soil and plantings. Up next is conferring with the Deva of Soil on how to fill those beautiful beds. Time to rest my drills and get some compost underneath my fingernails, I believe.

(P.S. Thank you, Maria…)

Zone 9

annesailer — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:28:19 +0000

Garden Chart -- Zone 9 (2009)

As promised, I’m starting to post my co-creative soil garden planning charts (only the square-foot, raised bed charts). Here’s Zone 9 (click on the image above to see a larger version, where you can actually read the names of the plants!). The planning process has been a wild ride. In the past, I’ve connected only with the Deva of the garden when working on what to plant and where. Suddenly, this year I read in the Garden Workbook that I’m supposed to connect with the Deva of each plant when selecting plant varieties. Talk about an increase in connecting-and-muscle-testing workload! After a while, I started to think of the connections as making phone calls to the Devas — open a connection; hi, how are you?; ask for information; thanks!; close the connection. Sometimes, if I forgot to ask something, I’d “call right back,” and say, “Oops! I forgot something!” I imagined the Deva was smiling, patient with my absent-mindedness. The fascinating thing is how I started to feel the connections opening and closing in a way I hadn’t before — right in the center mass of my body, somewhere between my gut and my heart. This is an amazing development in my bodily connection with nature. Thank you, nature, for lining up all those phone calls for me!

Anyway, I’ve ordered about $200 worth of seeds. The cost is far less that buying seedlings for this many plants, and my intention for the garden states that it will provide produce to feed my family (at least supplementally), and I expect we will save far more than this intial $200 investment over the course of the growing season.

I’ll post the remaining three charts in the next couple of days…

100 Square Feet!

annesailer — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:53:01 +0000

This coming weekend, I plan on having a couple of marathon garden planning sessions with devas galore. My garden charts are almost complete (I’ll post images next week, once the planning is finished), and it looks like my “Lindisfarne Valley Garden” will have 100 square feet of veggies, herbs and flowers (and that’s in addition to the various and sundry side beds with hosta, day lilies, sedum, rhodies, and more). Nature has asked me to use the Square Foot Gardening method as the baseline approach for the newest plantings in my garden, and there are so far a collection of 3′ x 3′, 4′ x 4′, and 3′ x 4′ raised beds scattered throughout the garden chart — yielding 100 one-foot-square “boxes” in which to plant. It’s exciting…and, I’ll be honest, a little daunting! I’ve managed to pull myself out of the anxiety mode that invites me to come in, stay a while, and freak out. This weekend, I’ll calmly and happily work with my nature-partner to select and position on the chart the 40-or-so plants that will bring this garden into energetic balance. Stay tuned…this chart promises to be a wild one.

“Lindisfarne Valley Garden”

annesailer — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:01:42 +0000

My soil garden deva let me know that my garden now has an “official” name: Lindisfarne Valley Garden. I’ve done a little research on “Lindisfarne,” and it’s quite interesting. Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the coast of northeast England, also known as “Holy Island.” Large parts of the island are protected to safeguard migrating birds, and the name means, essentially “river retreat.” The island plays a role in ancient Christianity and was the site of a major holy battle between the Vikings and Christians. There’s so much potential meaning to explore, and it’s fascinating to think about the various reasons that my co-creative garden shares this name.

For now, I’ve decided to tackle a (marginally) easier question and work for a bit on a fancy logo to celebrate the garden’s new name. (I’ll happily take votes and suggestions!)

What We Might Be Planting on The Farm This Year…….

annesailer — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:14:11 +0000

Farm Wish List (courtesy of my son)

Here I sit, with my almost-nine-year-old son at my left, brainstorming what we might be planting “On The Farm” this year. Hmmmm. How exciting! The list of “wants” (so far) is:

corn
flax
barley
melon
watermelon
tomatoes
sunflowers
pumpkins
lamb’s ears
tulips
roses
potatoes
carrots
sugar snap peas
soybeans (edamame, for his sister — what a great big brother)

Of course, we’ll start with this list and then consult with Nature on what’s balanced to plant in The Farm (Zone 11, for those interested in my various zones…). After all, we might think growing flax (or sugar snap peas, or carrots) is a fine idea, but that might not be a crop that’s in the greatest good for our Farm this year. We’ve got to always remember that Nature is our equal partner in this gardening business. (And no, I say to may son, Nature is not The Boss…but, then again, neither are we…)