Another Gardening Year

A new season has begun and with that comes a new Season of gardening.  So happy to have my feet and hands in the dirt again.  Trying to grow many things from seed this year, which I started in February.  Now that I am home full time, I have more time to give to my gardening and sustainable living endeavors.  So, I must learn how to make the best use of my time. 
We have also started maintaining our own fields and those that we rent for the planting of corn and/or soybeans so we have invested in a few new pieces of farming equipment to help with that.  Robby is having a great time learning about this part of farming and is quite happy with his "new to us" purchases from auctions.
I will try and keep up with posting new photos of the gardens as they are growing and new things go in.  It is helpful for me to go back and look at over the years to compare.
I am also starting a new on-line workshop through Heather Bruggeman, at beauty that moves, called Whole Food Kitchen.  It will highlight many of the practices I already incorporate into our daily lives plus teach me many new things and ways to make the best use of the produce I will be growing this summer as well as our fresh meat and milk that we have.  So looking forward to that starting tomorrow!!!!

Peas just starting to come up.

Peas growing bigger.

Asparagus just starting to break through.

Few days later and they just keep coming and growing.

Now we harvest daily and incorporate into at least one meal a day.

Lettuces in lettuce box sprouting.

Now their true colors are showing.

Kale beginning to grow.

Georgia Sweet Onions planted.

Tomato plants grown from seed getting a little real sunshine.

French Breakfast Radishes starting to grow.

Me in my element with a garden of dirt waiting to be planted.

New toys to make life easier in the fields.

A "new to us" disk.

And a "new to us" cultipacker.

Time for Happy Hour while we watch chicken litter being spread on the fields.  Life in the country at it's finest, hahahaha.

A long overdue Stay-Cation!!!!!

I love stay-cations!!!!  I actually love them more than vacations.  I love to travel, but I always end up missing home and my comfort zone.  Usually when I go away some place, it is pretty special and I end up getting inspired and want to rush home to do whatever it is that has inspired me.

Thanks to blogs and all of the amazing creative people I have discovered because of blogs, I now don't have to go anywhere to be inspired.  I am able to see into the homes, gardens, kitchens and creative spaces of so many people and it gives me so much inspiration.

So this stay-cation is going to be spent taking photos with my camera and not just my I-Pod, gardening and getting my feet and hands in the dirt and a touch of sun on my face, make some fun art for myself, do some creative cooking, hatch more peeps AND celebrate Robby's and my 3 year wedding anniversary:)

So without further adieu, here are a few of the photos I have taken.  I'm off to go make some pulled venison tacos for dinner and use lettuce from our garden and our last onion from last year's harvest for some of the toppings.

Have a fantastic night and a terrific Tuesday.  And please say some prayers for the poor people in Oklahoma who are going through such a devastating time.

XXOO

Iris or Flags as my mother-in-law calls them

 Joseph's Coat Climbing Rose

 Peonies are a little behind this year.  But that's okay, I just get to enjoy them longer.

 My little succulent garden waking from a cold winter's sleep.

 Someone help me out here, because I cannot for the life of me remember what this is called!!!

 More Iris......

 and more.

 Columbine in the front, Japanese Maple in the back.

 Oh yeah, that would be......more Iris.....

 and another, similar but not the same.

 They have no scent, but they are still pretty in their own simple way.

Knock-Out Roses

 Did I mention I have some Iris?

 My Wisteria is so close to blooming.

 One of the 3 Robin's nest around the house, built in the corner of the arbor where the Wisteria grows.

 Robin's nest number 2, built in our Redbud Tree.

My favorite one, built under the umbrella on our deck.  Last year was her first year building a nest here and she came back again this year.

 

A little blurry, but these are the 4 eggs that are in the nest under the umbrella:)

 Papa Robin from the Redbud Tree nest, hanging with our bunnies who also have a nest in one of my flower beds!!!  Such a little haven here for the wildlife!!!

 I just love this little statue.

It makes me wonder what they are saying to each other!!

 A little bit of shady lushness. (is lushness a word?)

 

 

 

 













Friday Morning Garden Picks

This is a gorgeous Friday morning.

Walking out and around my gardens.

I was inspired to snatch up a few blooms

for a few casual bouquets,

snip some lettuce,

baby kale leaves

and

a few baby spinach leaves.

And of course,

the chickies always leave me little lovely gifts.

The birds are singing,

the sun is warm,

the breeze is gentle

and for the moment,

all is right in my little piece of the world.

Hope your Friday brings you moments

to stop and marvel at all that is around you.

Have a beautiful day filled with plenty of special moments.

My Seven Beauties of the Morning

Left to right:
Kale and baby spinach leaves
Hydrangeas
Lettuce leaves getting dirt rinsed and bug a boos rinsed off
Pretty Pinks for the bathroom
Multi color beauty
Little bouquet of lavender, lilac and Johnny Jump Ups
Beauties from my Chick-a-Poos



Finding the Balance

Two feet firmly planted on the ground, or so it would appear.  At the very moment this picture was taken, yes, I felt very grounded and balanced.  But in a moment's notice, it can all change, right?  I know this for a fact now, thanks to many things that have happened over the past 7 months.  I mean, I guess I actually already knew it, but the past 7 months have made it painfully clear to me. 

Change is not always welcomed nor is it something we can always have control over.  What we can control is how we react to that change.  That is something I have not been controlling very well lately, and I have decided it is time to change that.  Yep, the time has come. I am breaking out the BIG GIRL PANTIES!!!!!

Okay well maybe not this big of Big Girl Panties, but you get the idea.  But there are a few changes that are going to take place in my life.  I am not going to spend an entire post writing about all of them at one time.  There are probably 3 major changes and I will talk about each of them on separate posts.  So, here goes:

Number one is taking back control of the food that goes into my body.  I have really slacked up on my eating habits of late.  Winter is usually filled with comfort foods to begin with, but then you throw in some sadness and depression, a heaping measurement of grieving and you have yourself the perfect recipe for how to gain an unwanted 10 pounds and that feeling of sluggishness (is that even a word?).    Being able to plant veggies and having access to fresh food daily always makes it easier to eat better.  That is why i love Spring.  The whole renewal and fresh beginnings thing is sweet.  Even though I am not a vegetarian and certainly not close to a Vegan, (hello?  have you heard me talk about my CHICKIES and my fresh EGGS?) I am all about eating a ton of fresh locally grown, preferably organic fruits and veggies.  If not from my garden and property, then from some place real close by.  A vegetarian lifestyle lends itself so freely to Spring/Summer eating.  It's easy to not want to bog down my gut with meat, but not so easy to not bog down my sweet Robby's gut.  He is a meat loving, eating, craving kind of farmer guy and there is NO changing that, and I don't want to.  But he plays along with me and eats all of my crazy concoctions, okay maybe not my green juice and smoothies, but everything else and I just give him his meat right along side of it all.  It's a Win-Win situation:) 

Right now I am following along with this e-course put on by the amazing Heather Bruggeman.  This is the course

This is one of the best e-courses i have ever taken.  So much material to print off.  I have a binder filled already with amazing recipes, pantry organization tips, food storage and prep tips, whole food eating, buying and preparing tips.  This could not have come at a better time for me.  A time when my head has felt so clouded and foggy with negative feelings, emotions and thoughts.  I have gone off of my anti-depressant medication and feel better equipped to deal with life's little struggles and curve balls.  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he told me he felt I wasn't depressed, just still grieving and that that was okay and perfectly normal.  Cool, sounds good to me, I'll take it.  I may not be following this to the T, as i do like my eggs now and again, but for the most part I am. 

I was asked by a great friend to make some Vegan dishes for her for a lunch she was having last Sunday.  Some friends were coming in from out of town and they are hard core Vegans and have some unusual food allergies too.  I was honored that she asked me to do this for her and met the challenge with gusto.  I came up with 4 Vegan dishes and from what she reported back to me, they were all a huge success.  Cooking is my way of showing my love to people.  I didn't know the people I was cooking so specifically for, but I know the person who asked  me this favor, and so much love was poured into those 4 dishes and I think it showed. 

Fresh herbs from my garden used in the dishes.
Cilantro, spring onions and chives.

A spicy Indian Inspired Fresh Pea Soup.
I loved this soup and will make it for us.
Lots of nice kick to it and so fresh tasting!!!!

Fresh pineapple used in a Pineapple Rice recipe.

Individual Multi Grain Basil Bread rounds.
Used fresh basil from the garden for this vegan bread.
Very dense but oh so yummy and tasty bread.

Surprisingly enough I did not take pictures of everything I made, hmmmm, don't know how I made that mistake.

So yes, my feet are getting firmly planted on the ground.  I may strike a Tree Pose every now and again and then I will only have one foot planted firmly on the ground, but hey, that just means I am even more balanced than I thought, right?  Tomorrow I will explain another change I am making to keep that balance. 

What can you do in your life to maybe make things a little more balanced for you?  They may be real subtle changes or major life altering ones.  Care to share?

Another way i balance myself!!!
Feet are not anywhere close to be firmly planted on the ground,
but I am BALANCED!!!!!

My Life In Pictures

So much that I am loving right now.  The best way to share it, is to show it the way that I see it.  So tonight I am sharing what I see in the lens when I look at my life through my camera.  It always looks so perfect when it is viewed through a little hole in the camera.  You get to focus on the perfect and leave the imperfect out of the picture.

Life As Deb Knows It this month of May.......

And that's just the first week.  Can't wait to see what the rest of the month has for me:)
Happy May everyone.  Focus on the little things, and you too will find beauty in your everyday life.
I promise:)
XX