And there's not much to say, so I'll tap my foot

I spent today scratching things off of my to-do list. Things I'd been meaning to do for weeks. Months even. It felt very, very nice.


This is my favorite song right now. It will not leave my head.

Garden Anywhere!

On Saturday afternoon Joel and I went to Powell's, filled our arms with as many books on vegetable gardening as we could hold, plopped them down on a table in the cafe, and started reading. And guess what? It turns out gardening (or at least getting started as a gardener) is not as difficult as we may have led ourselves to believe.

My favorite of all of the books we found is Garden Anywhere: How to Grow Gorgeous Container Gardens, Herb Gardens, Kitchen Gardens, and More - Without Spending a Fortune. The title says it all. The book includes lots of tips on how to make cool containers for gardening (out of wine crates and milk crates and olive oil tins) and really straightforward information for those of us who are just learning about sowing seeds, building compost bins, etc.

Alys Fowler (the author) is someone I would like to be friends with. In the section on scavenging for containers to grow plants in, she includes step by step instructions on how to get into a dumpster, and includes photos of her dumpster diving in a dress. Just my style.

So, if you're looking to learn how to garden and would like a nice lady to guide you through it, read this book.

Neckties decorated with asparagus spears

Yesterday evening, I ate asparagus for the first time in almost a year. This was a very long time in-between eatings, especially considering my intense love for the delicious pretty green spears. Why did I refrain from eating asparagus all winter long? Well, it all started with reading a section on asparagus in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:

Pushing a refrigerated green vegetable from one end of the earth to another is, let's face it, a bizarre use of fuel. But there's a simpler reason to pass up off-season asparagus: it's inferior. Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form of holiday. In the Netherlands the first cutting coincides with Father's day, on which restaurants may feature all-asparagus menus and hand out neckties decorated with asparagus spears. The French make a similar party out of the release of each year's Beaujolais, the Italians crawl over their woods like harvester ants in the autumn mushroom seasons, and go gaga over the summer's first tomato.


I thought a lot about waiting to enjoy food after reading Kingsolver's book. I tried to think of a locally grown vegetable that I had ever spent a year of my life waiting for. I couldn't come up with anything. I tried to think of an annual holiday centered around the celebration of a just-harvested crop. Again, nothing. I felt like I was really missing out on something. Last summer I picked strawberries in Ferndale, WA and could NOT get over how much better they tasted that the ones you buy at the store in December. I decided that I would wait for spring to eat a few things in particular: berries, melons, tomatos, and asparagus.

The funny thing about giving up some of my favorite fruits and vegetables during the winter is that it was in no way difficult. I did not spend my winter unable to resist picking up containers of strawberries at the grocery store and then forcing myself to put them back. I am not the least bit tempted to spend money on a tomato that is not heriloom, or flimsy and flavorless asparagus from China. After realizing how much better these fruits and vegetables taste fresh, there was no going back.

Waiting was not frustrating; it was actually quite exciting. Instead of dreaming of spring and summertime foods, I was falling in love with squashes and beets during the cold months. The kind of foods that warmed me up and left me thinking, "of course this is what I'm supposed to be eating in December."

Joel picked me up from work yesterday and we went to the co-op to find food for dinner. When I saw asparagus, my heart seriously lept. I looked at the tag below the basket full of asparagus to find that, yes, this asparagus was from California. Not as fresh as possible, but only a state away! We decided to steam asparagus for dinner. And we did. Not only was the asparagus delicious, but the meal felt symbolic and meaningful. It was a delicious and satisfying way to spend the evening before the first day of spring.

This spring I am going to create some new holidays centered around eating just-harvested fruits and vegetables. In the Netherlands they wear ties with asparagus on them; perhaps in Oregon we will wear paint strawberries onto our faces while eating our first fresh strawberries of the season. Or something like that. I just came up with this idea while writing this entry, so the brainstorming session has only just begun.

Photo taken by my wonderful little sister

I have a terrible cold (I know I just raved about not getting sick all winter, but I've spent the last week working full-time with very young children, and I guess when you're around snotty-nosed kids, there is only so much your immune system can do) but this is not going to stop me from spending the first day of spring sowing my first seeds (!) and spending some time in the sun.

Spicy Eggplant Stew..

...was as good as it looks. If you like the sound of it, here's the recipe.

*Cilantro is the one of the only foods I've ever felt an aversion towards, but lately I have been giving it a chance. I might only be eating it because I like the way it looks piled on top of soups and guacamole. Or maybe I'm learning to like it. I just can't tell yet.

Security Envelopes

People are doing all kinds of fabulous things with security envelopes lately. I've started to keep my eye on the security envelopes that show up in the mail, and holy cuss, there are a lot of different patterns. I'm excited to have found another free material to make pretty things out of.

Behold, my first security envelope project!


I cut up some envelopes and construction paper and decorated the front of a sketch pad that I gave to Joel for his birthday. Hearts and bird are way cuter when they come in patterns.

Mmmm, dirt!

This afternoon I explained the way food grows to a few two and three year olds.

"You know carrots? Well, they grow underground, and when people pick them, they yank them out of the DIRT!"

Of course, they thought that was disgusting. Food and dirt? No way.

Except for one of them, who seemed to like the idea. With a huge smile on her face, she picked up a handful of dirt and shoved it in her mouth.

Picture from http://orcagarden.wordpress.com/2009/10

Is it a good thing?

Every house that I move into, I always tape this 3x5 note card to my bedroom door.


I picked up the note card from Tender Forever's merch table at a show a couple of years ago. It has become one of my most prized possessions, because it keeps me in line, and acts as a kind of mantra.

Oh, and yes, I did just move into a new house. I'm in Portland now. Subletting before finding a more permanent residence. It's exciting to be in a city. And the cherry trees are very much in blossom.

IWD

Happy International Women's Day!


Photo from The Guerrilla Girls.

How to Become a Beekeeper: Part 1

So I wanna be a beekeeper.


I've decided that I'll need to find someone else to partake in this new hobby with me. So I've started with flyers.

Dear Portland, please send me a new friend who has a space in which they would like to invite some honey bees to live.

Ben's B'day Exchange

Way back in December, Ben gave me one of the coolest b'day presents ever: 2 frames. One of them for me to keep, the other for me to make pretty and then give back to him.

Ben's picture looks like this:


Kind of creepy, also awesome.

I finished mine up and gave it to him in February, and it looks like this:


He used sheet music for "If You're Going to San Francisco" as his backdrop and he gave me a Key to Dicotyledons to make my art on. I added some dried flower petals, to go along with the flower theme. I think it worked out quite nicely.

Thanks Ben! Birthday presents that not only encourage, but FORCE the recipient to make things are the very best.