Digging in the Earth

            It’s that time of year again—time to get my hands dirty and grow some things. It’s such a thrill to see daffodils blooming and tulips coming up. My lilacs are starting to bud! Everything’s ahead of schedule because of the mild winter, though I hope this doesn’t mean we have a scorching hot summer.

            A couple years ago we built four 4 by 8 foot raised garden beds and started a vegetable garden. This is something the kids look forward to and love. Most of us  probably live on suburban lots, so what’s great about raised beds is that they’re compact and pretty much an instant gratification thing sinceit only takes a couple of hours. Plus, it’s cool to eat food you’ve grown yourself. My kids think it tastes the best.

            I encourage anyone to try their hand at growing some of their own food, especially families with kids. Did I mention my kids LOVE it?

            Let’s start with building a raised bed. We built ours in a sunny spot in the yard with cedar boards and got some soil from GreenCycle to fill it. Building raised beds may sound like a lot of work, but I’m actually a lazy gardener and didn’t want to dig up all that grass (and then deal with where to put it). I laid down thick piles of newspaper, put the bed ‘frame’ on it, and filled it with soil. Voila! The grass dies and the newspaper composts. Raised gardens also dramatically cut down on weeds, which sounds good to the lazy gardener.

            Now, what to plant? I recommend carrots, tomatoes, peas, and/or beans. Herbs are great too. We started seeds indoors last week, so if you go that route now is the time to do that. I always buy heirloom seeds or plants, so that I’m not giving my money to companies that grow GMO crops.

            And if you buy seedlings later in the spring, also look for heirlooms. I like to buy from independent nurseries, especially Garden Thyme, who sells heirloom tomato plants in the summer.

            Since I’m a fan of keeping it simple, some of my favorite gardening books are those written for kids, like Garden Crafts for Kids and Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, both covering ways to get started on your gardening adventure, composting, and easy projects to do with your kids. Happy Gardening!

Grounded in the Earth

           When my old house was on the Historic Home Tour several years ago, I had one of those ‘light bulb moments.’  It was the first time I met fellow column writer here, Holly Lindzy, as she traipsed through my yard taking pictures and then came up to me and asked, “are you the gardener?”  I looked back at her blankly, thinking “am I the what?”  Then I guess I mumbled that yes, I was the gardener. 

            And from then on, in part thanks to Holly’s confidence in my humble little garden and the fact that I could clearly see I was actually growing things, I’ve known I’m a gardener.  I love having my hands in the dirt, turning the soil, sticking in plants and seeds and seeing what happens. 

            I love my flowers and how right now my flowerbeds around my house are a sea of wildflowers—white Shasta daisies and purple coneflowers, that divide and spread with no effort from me. I’m also growing fruits and vegetables, and it’s such a thrill for me and my children to go pick some tomatoes—organic of course—right from outside our back door.           

            More and more people, it seems, are forgoing the grass, making gardens, and growing some of their own food on their urban or suburban land.  I’ve always preferred gardens to grass. A couple of months ago I was at a party and met two fascinating women that have transformed five vacant city lots on the near Eastside of Indy into a certified wildlife habitat, orchard, and organic heirloom gardens, complete with native plants and installation art. 

            I can’t wait to take a trip down there to visit, and just a couple weeks ago I was at (another) party at my friend Linda’s. Her backyard is gorgeous and inspiring, from the fairy swing hanging from the maple to a brick patio made with reclaimed bricks from her sidewalk that was replaced to a large vegetable garden and flowers throughout the winding paths.

            All of this makes me want to go get grounded in the earth, to plant more, to be the caretaker of something that is beautiful and thriving.  It’s good for the earth and good for the soul.

Lazy, hazy days of summer

I got together with my hippie chick friends last week to celebrate the solstice, and we each tried to bring food that had ingredients that came from our growing gardens—lettuce, kale and herbs were a few.  We ate, we hooped, then we read some summer poems and had a campfire.  The wind blew (but it didn’t rain!) and we lingered outside till the darkness at the edges crept over us.

June is my favorite month—the month when school is out, when “fireflies turn on their electric wills,” when plans are made and carried out for living life to the max.  June may also have once been my favorite month because my birthday happens to fall within it, though I’m not quite as thrilled at being yet another year older anymore.

I started thinking about what I’m loving in my life right now and what’s making the summer of 2011 special:

Hooping. If you see a crazy bunch of people at Forest Park on a Saturday between 4:30 and 6:30 pm doing crazy things with hoops, welcome to hooping.  We love to share the love of hooping, which is why we bring extra hoops. It’s for adults and kids alike, and I think of it as my playtime.

Bancroft Moscado at Mr. G’s (tell Bryan I sent you. He’ll know). I tried this wine recently for the first time and now it’s my ‘go-to’ wine for bookclubs and get-togethers. It’s light and fruity, perfectly refreshing on these summer nights.  And it’s only 5.99 per bottle, perfect!

My native Indiana coneflowers and Shasta daisies, which require no special care and are just starting to bloom. 

My strawberry patch and heirloom tomato garden.  We harvested strawberries from our little patch earlier this month, and my tomatoes are taking off.  Looking forward to a toasted tomato sandwich—coming up soon.

Happy Summer to you.

*Firefly quote from a poem by Stacy Cassarino