Manure Connection!

This weekend our garden got a real treat. The ex-lawn site in the backyard was in some need of serious amendment--our native soil is solid hard heavy clay. Nearly impossible to plant into. We didn't love the idea of importing soil, but felt that it was our only option. So Dan got a load of soil mix from a local landscape supplier. When he arrived home, we took a whiff and nearly choked. It smelled of toxic, petroleum, industrial chemicals. We called the supplier, who sent us to their supplier, who assured us their soil is thoroughly tested, comes from reliable sources, nothing to worry about, etc. We went out and hoped to convince ourselves it was fine, took another whiff, and decided to take it back. In the past, we had an even worse experience with imported soil, not realizing that it had been contaminated with shredded asphalt roofing shingles (very toxic!!) until after we had filled our raised beds and planted into them. Needless to say, we had wasted a lot of work, time, and plants before that situation was remedied, and we didn't want to repeat it. 

So..Dan took back the load of smelly soil and I did a little research into other options. This is when I found the Manure Connection! It's a network on the  East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation website to connect people with too much manure and people with too little. I called one of the women advertising free aged manure, had a neighborly conversation, and sent Dan to pick up a load. He did have to drive a bit to get it, but the manure itself was free, beautiful, fluffy, and sweet smelling. And the experience was so positive for everyone involved--we received a much needed organic garden amendment, she got rid of manure needing to go, and we all felt great about it! No mining or contaminants or large industrial systems to muck up the experience. 

Our front beds are coming along nicely, too--the leaves are breaking down and the soil is lighter than when we started. The peas and worms seem to be happy so far!

A good weekend

It's been one of those rare weekends with the perfect mix of hard work, good fun, and happy meetings with friends. No one was sick, we had a bit of sun (and a bit of rain), and no major catastrophes occurred. We are grateful.

Friday night after Miss A went to bed, I sewed up these little pants for a sweet baby girl just welcomed home by some friends of ours:

 

This is my new favorite pattern. It's the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's book Handmade Beginnings.  I don't usually buy books, but I made an exception for this one because it wasn't available at the library. This one pattern has made the purchase well worth the investment. The pants are reversible, with no visible seams to unravel or irritate baby's sensitive skin. And they're quick and simple to sew. I have plans to sew a few more pairs for new babes expected to arrive soon.

Saturday it was Dan's turn to be productive. We decided to take the plunge and tear up the rest of our back lawn to make space for more food. I had been hanging on to it, thinking we needed a place for little ones to play. But after the hundredth-or-so time of hearing myself complain about how we didn't have enough room to plant all the vegetables we wanted, I was struck by the epiphany that the lawn just had to go. We are lucky enough to live within a few blocks of two parks and a school, so it only takes us a few minutes to get to a space where we can run and kick balls and swing from the monkey bars.

I have to say, watching that lawn being tilled up (from the safety and quiet of the house) was exhilarating!  I'm just salivating, thinking of all the tomatoes and peppers and broccoli and beans that will be growing in this space in a few months. The toddler question of the day was "Where'd the lawn go?" And the toddler answer: "Daddy took it away!" Yes indeed. We would have liked to use no-till methods to eradicate this lawn, but we just don't have access to enough organic matter (or time) to cover the entire space and wait for it to break down. So our plan is to till it mechanically once, add compost and a few soil amendments, then hopefully we'll be able to maintain it from now on with minimal tilling.

After the lawn was demolished and the rototiller was returned, Dan and Miss A walked to the park so I could poke through an estate sale down the street. What treasures I found!

These lovely linens all appear to be hand-embroidered, though I really don't know much about vintage linens and fabrics. There was a whole room full of them at this sale, and I felt it my duty to make sure that at least a few of them were given a home where their beauty and craftsmanship would be cherished.

The little seedlings have been productive, too.

Our little hoop house is overflowing! Sunday afternoon turned into family gardening time. We potted up a bunch of seedlings and planted a few more outside.

(that's the newly tilled barren lawn behind us, just waiting to be planted)

Our babies are growing up!

And we have some happy little peas popping up in the front yard.

We were having so much fun outside this afternoon that dinner time came upon us before we knew it!
Thank goodness for quick scrambled eggs.

Thank you happy hens!

Signs of Spring

The last few weeks have been a bit harried...health and moods and weather have all been rather tumultuous. Makes it challenging to find the time and mental space to pause and reflect.  But when Spring suddenly sprang this week, a magical moment presented itself and I ran outside to share it with a few of the blossoms waking up after a long winter's nap.

The red flowering currant is one of my favorite NW native plants--such lovely blossoms, and so accommodating to whatever plot of ground it finds itself in. 

 

Our lilac is about to burst, and our neighbor's pink plum tree in the background has been dropping petals all over  the backyard. Earlier this week I looked out the window and was surprised to see it snowing--then realized that the snowflakes were actually pink petals.

And the first forget-me-not. Soon they will be covering the backyard in delicate periwinkle.

We harvested our first greens last week--oh what a delight! So refreshing to be creating meals from the backyard again--scrambled eggs with spicy mesclun and chives--yum!

A few weeks ago we dug up the last of the parsnips which had started to sprout after dying back over the winter. 

Some of them were monsters, but there were a few just right for eating. I had been meaning to try this carrot parsnip ginger soup and thought that the final parsnip harvest would be the perfect occasion. So delicious! It got rave reviews from the man of the house, and even passing marks from the toddler (who disdains most veggies at this time).

And you? Have you noticed signs of Spring in your neck of the woods?

Lenten Reflections

"You are dust, and to dust you will return." This phrase lingered in my mind today as I shoveled mud and contemplated how to observe Lent in a meaningful way this year.  Thinking about myself as dust used to depress me, but now I take great comfort in remembering my origins and ultimate destination. It is a shared fate with all living things, the cycle of birth and death, decay and new birth. Just look at the compost bin.

 

In our neck of the woods this time of year, a more appropriate rendering of this phrase would be "you are mud, and to mud you will return."  The chickens delight in all the worms uncovered when we expose fresh earth.

Thinking about my dust-ness helps to calm my crazy multi-tasking anxiety about whether I'm getting enough done each day, accomplishing anything worthwhile, or making any headway toward my ultimate goals. I find myself too often frustrated by the daily mundane tasks required of a mother of a small child--"I can't get anything done!!" When I think this way, I know I'm losing perspective. It's so easy to let ambition and worry rob the present moment of joy and contentment.

Today the first daffodil bloomed.

 

Her loveliness brought to mind another phrase, and sent me to our little King James to look up the whole passage: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:28-30).

This lent, I think I will try to focus on "toiling not". Finding contentment in the mundane, appreciating the beauty right before my eyes, loving the people I'm blessed to call family, and the people who cross my path each day. Performing each task with mindfulness and gratitude, and letting anxiety and frustration fall away. 

How will you find meaning in the days of Lent this year?

For more Lenten thoughts, Eileen has a lovely reflection over at Rhythm of the Home. 

First transplants

Today was moving day for these happy little greens!

Spicy mesclun, scallions, butterhead lettuce

Cilantro

Butterhead Lettuce

They have been growing inside under fluorescent lights for three weeks and are ready to venture out to the backyard now. We've set them out in our new hoop house during the day for the last few days to get acclimated to the outdoors a bit. 

In addition to building the portable hoop house above, Dan secured some hoops to one of our raised beds this weekend so that we can cover the tender plant starts and provide a more protected environment during these early spring days.

This is our first year experimenting with season extending in this way. Without the plastic cover, we would need to wait a bit longer to plant outside.

I'm so happy with our new soil block system for seed starting. I've never had such healthy, vibrant seedlings. I think the homemade potting mix helped, too. We used a combination of peat, local organic compost, perlite (which I just learned is a naturally occurring volcanic rock), and an all-purpose organic fertilizer.

To prepare our bed for planting, we let the chickens scratch around for slugs and eat up the nice lush crimson clover cover crop. Then we cut back the remaining clover, put it in the compost, and lightly hand-tilled with a garden fork to loosen the clover roots and aerate the soil.

One of our beds with crimson clover still growing as a cover crop (and garlic sprouting with a straw mulch in the back)

We would have added compost at this time, but didn't have any quite ready. Hopefully we can side dress the plants with compost once we have some ready. We worked in some lime and the all-purpose organic fertilizer (purchased at Concentrates) recommended by Steve Solomon in Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, then popped the little soil block transplants into the bed. No plastic pots to wrestle with!

 

One of the benefits of minimal tilling is that our friends the earthworms (and all the other soil critters) are left in one piece. Now, with any luck, we'll be eating fresh backyard greens in just a few weeks!

Market Bag and Bag It Oregon

I've been meaning to sew up some cloth bags to bring to the store for a long time now. Finally this afternoon, the timing was right, the toddler was playing with dad, and the inspiration struck. I pulled out the thrifted rainbow shower curtain I had set aside for this purpose at least a year ago, found the online pattern for a Market Bag Tote from Denyse Schmidt Quilts, and started cutting. An hour later I was happy to have this lovely, simple bag:

 

After finishing the bag, I checked my email and found a reminder for the event Bag It Oregon. Hollywood Theater in Portland is showing the film Bag It, about our overuse and abuse of plastic, every night March 4-10 at 7pm. There will also be elected officials, music, and discussions about plastic bags and the upcoming consideration by Oregon congress to ban single-use plastic bags.

 

Indeed it does seem a perfect time to be sewing up some nice durable non-plastic market totes!

Birthday Sewing

My little babe just turned two! Some birthday sewing was surely in order for the occasion. Of course she would need a crown...

 

A little dress...

 

And a banner would get us feeling festive...

Some carrot cupcakes would sweeten things up...

Now, when will all those special guests arrive for the party?

 

The guests did arrive, and we all had a lovely time. We're so thankful to have really wonderful neighbors with whom to share day-to-day life (and celebrations!)

A few details on the projects: 

A tutorial for the birthday crown can be found at Frontier Dreams.

The dress is my first attempt at such a garment--I used a very simple $2.99 pattern--McCalls M6261, and fabric I found at SCRAP and a garage sale. It is a little rough (especially the sleeves!) but so fun to actually complete a dress for my daughter. I still have some of the dresses my mom made for me as a little girl, and I so loved wearing them. Unfortunately, my little girl is very particular about her wardrobe at the moment (she'd really rather wear nothing at all), and when I tried to put it on her, she started screaming and wouldn't stop until I took it off. Not even the prospect of cherry pockets tempted her. Nor the puffed sleeves (she doesn't know about Anne of Green Gables yet). Oh well. It's a little big, anyway...maybe she'll warm up to it by summer time. Such are the hazards of sewing for one's children! 

The banner/garland is inspired by several variations I've seen on blogs and in friends' homes. Here are a few of the blogs that inspired me:

Purl Bee Party Garland

Soulemama Birthday Banner 

Sew Mama Sew Scalloped Fabric Garland

I created my version with some garage sale quilt squares, which simplified the cutting--I just cut each square on the diagonal,  sewed right sides together, turned right side out, pressed, and then sewed each triangle into an extra-wide double fold bias tape. I love the fabric--sort of vintage country--so bright and cheerful. The squares have found their way into several other projects, including some little pants pockets and these potholders.

And the recipe for carrot cake can be found here.

Wishing everyone happy birthday sewing in the coming year!