Friday, April 12, 2013

Go And Grow Something


I stumbled across some pretty intense wisdom tonight. So much of it makes sense, I wonder why I didn't think of this all myself. Maybe on some level, I did, I just wasn't listening to the right voices, I was letting the static of everyday blather get in the way.
At any rate, give the following passages a read, won't you? Listen with your heart and soul.
Then go and grow something. Then go and feed someone.
Thank you.
"Grow comfrey. With four times more Nitrogen & Potassium than barnyard manure, Comfrey mines nutrients from deep in the subsoil, tapping into reserves that would not usually be available to plants. The leaves lack fibre so quickly break down with no Nitrogen robbery as the C:N ratio of the leaves is lower than that of well-rotted compost."
"Blame ourselves not the SOIL --
If you have cold sniveling soil, won’t you look in it for some good. If you insist on blaming it for any shortcoming of growth, consider that it might be you who perhaps invested yourself in a lesser art than soil maintenance. To be rewarded at harvest you should have woven richness in the previous year. Moreover, generous ends can only be met with hard-worked beginnings."


"Gardening is about growing something more than food. It is about growing community.
...Anyone who has ever grown Zucchini and then wondered what the heck to do with them all knows this.
We’ve devalued the occupation of farming --
But also we’ve devalued food. You trading your daylight hours for money so that you can trade that money for carrots. This will inherently make you eventually steer towards compromises (cheaper carrots, or maybe fewer carrots, or maybe no carrots at all). Whereas trading your time directly for carrots draws you to wanting quality carrots and quality time.
Talking about eating local is not that same as eating local --
Identifying as a Locavore without really growing any of your own food makes it easier to compromise at the grocery store when they have only garlic from China -- shrugging and saying “oh I tried” while still identifying as a local food eater does not help.
We each CONTRIBUTE differently to our community -- but we can’t wait for a local food system to be established -- each one of use must act to feed ourselves."


"Just quietly walk away from the grocery store and grow as much food as you can. The peace is in the seeds that you plant and tend -- and it'll spread to every plant, every field, every farm, and every family fed. Our roads will become narrow and slow because they'll be parading for peace down every shoulder. The long honoured acts of good agricultural practice are stuck in the ground for us to find, in furrows only as deep as your hoe will go."
Found on the Soggy Creek Seed Company website, pay them a visit today!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Beans....Beans....Beans!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I enjoy getting the mail this time of year! Yesterday it held a delightful surprise from a delightful fellow blogger over at My Old New House...over a hundred beans! 'Lina Sico's Bird Egg', 'Romano', 'Saskatchewan Dry', Blue Jay', 'Black Valentine', 'Fall Speckled', 'Jacob's Cattle', 'Ireland Creek Annie', 'Black Calypso', 'Littlefield's Special', 'Canadian Wonder', 'Black Turtle', and 'Mrocumiere'.

Over the next few days I'll be researching and logging all kinds of information about these types, and of course sharing it all with you!
Then I shall start deciding which to plant and which to hold back for next year.

Stay tuned for lots of beany goodness!