This is arugula, planted last weekend. While I love Jon at Blue Moon Farms in Urbana, and I think local growers deserve a fair price -at the very least - for what they grow, I thank the stars that I’m growing my own this year.


[I’m also grateful that my neighbors don’t eat much asparagus out of their patch and that they are v v generous with it]


But what’s this risky behavior I’m talking about?


Well, after a lovely afternoon chez Tumbling Blocks, Lil and I dashed home and got to work planting out tomatoes and a whole bunch of other stuff. The seeds I started had somehow morphed into rootbound true plants and it was time. Ed Kieser said it was OK.


Now it’s Monday morning, and while I enjoy my job a great deal, it’s still Monday morning. And I haven’t gotten out of the house yet. Uh, I’m not even dressed.


Must dash!

Not all my stuff, but needs doing nevertheless:




Lilly’s soccer game (they lost, 3-2, in an excellent effort) Cody to library for notarizing passport Cody to University for day-long session Jim to work (le sigh) Groceries Laundry - dry on line Re-pot seedlings for Tumbling Blocks Re-pot all most seedlings, actually Weed gardens Start remaining garden prep Mow lawn Vacuum Clean stove Rollerblade (?)

After what happened to my seed collection last year (I left an uncovered box of seeds out in the rain, totally forgot about them, and only remembered after, uh, smelling them.. this was several years’ effort in seedsaving), it’s never going to happen again:







******



Here’s just a smattering of what’s uuuuuup:



- my internet connection is slower than local honey. Could it be my modem? Too many users on the node? ???? Gah! Please help! - I am totally loving Lisa Anne Auerbach’s site, Steal This Sweater. Check out the blog! I feel like J the Accidental Texan hipped me to this awhile back, but perhaps not…? - I totally want one of these, because then I’d ride my bike to work every day, even though I’d be courting death-by-angry-auto in the process. These bikes and trailers are freaking COOL and can haul GROCERIES. Work, for me, is a pretty good haul (and we don’t have showers on-site, so it would suck in the summertime), but… hmm. HMMMMM. - I’m having a monster pain flare-up due to incoming bad weather. - an acquaintance works for these guys. Lest you think this organization is actually The Man in sheeps’ clothing, it’s actually all about acknowledging the existence of The Man, but also convincing The Man that sustainability is profitable, better for the planet, and totally cool and forward-thinking. These people are subverting The Man’s dominant paradigm. - Speaking of, I have a new project up my sleeve, and it involves, well, school lunches. Have you eaten a public school lunch in the US lately? No? You should go try one and then tell me what you think.



That’s it for now, methinks. The rainy days will force me indoors while not at work, which means that maybe I’ll tackle that huge pile of clothes on the chair downstairs, or read some work-related stuff that is not crucial to my current projects but is still germane, or bake some bread, or help Lilly with her clothes problem (she is quite clearly my daughter), or…

You can tell it’s Monday chez B-K because the activity level at this hour is far different than it’s been over the past two days at the same hour - alarms going off, dryers being restarted (while cussing under breath because the restarting was forgotten the night before), teakettle hissing because it’s also been forgotten, teenagery feet stomping around upstairs, coffee grinder, outside spigot, Jim brushing his teeth. On weekends, I’m the only one up this early.



Here are some photos from the weekend, and I apologize for the spacing because I just cannot figure it out!!:









My two remaining chickens, Mae Brussell and Emma Goldman. They just started laying eggs again, which means Jim will stop accusing them loudly of “freeloading” every time he tries to pet them.











Two things: the weather this weekend kicked serious ass AND we had issued ourselves the Spend No Money For Several Days Challenge this weekend (long story, but the upshot is that I hate human error, but I hate our bank even more), so I spent a lot of time in the yard prepping garden beds and planting while Jim cleaned out the garage and in the process discovered all sorts of useful garden crap I’d forgotten about and now do not have to purchase! Neighbor Stan brought over some extra regular old irises, some super-bonus Japanese irises, peonies, and killer prairie grasses they were dividing, so those got planted. Thanks, Neighbor Stan! Lilly and her friend T threw a bunch of flower seeds into a bed in back, and I planted carrots, chard, a ton of herbs, lettuces, and broccoli. Peas, beets, and spinach are up. Every year I’m convinced nothing will germinate so I overplant, and within 8 weeks I’m all, OMG, I cannot deal with all these plants, holy cow, ugh, FORGET IT!! My plan is to Get Back There every day after work for a half hour or so, maintaining. It’s the Maintain Yer Damn Garden Challenge! Who wants in?





My hands are torn up from the digging, but my backyard will rock. There’s still a lot to do - the back fence needs weeding and planting, I need to find a couple crappy old wooden ladders to use as trellises for those cute little Potimarron squashes and the cucumber seeds Kelly sent me (I swore at the end of last year that I was not going to do the viney plant thing because the vine borers get my stuff every time, but I’m a huge sucker and an eternal optimist, at least when it comes to curcurbits), and I need to make the teepees for the beans and the climbing flowers, and I need for the Farmer’s Market to start so I can buy the herbs I’m not growing myself and I need to plant flowers in containers for the front patio. This year’s flower is every possible weird variety of nasturtium I can find. The one I’m most eager to see is this one, mainly because it’s a climber. I have a thing for climbing flowers.











These’ll be planted out in early May. Peppers, babies. Hot and sweet.











Longtime readers know I’ve been a clothesline devotee for many years. Few things delight me more than laundry on the line - it’s sustainable, it’s practical, and it satisfies my Inner Nosy.



*****





I guess it’s time to go to work. It was a year ago tomorrow that I was offered my current job, and it’s a good one, so it wouldn’t hurt me to get in there before 9 AM. Before I go, here are some links:



- Survive LA looks completely freakin’ awesome. Thanks to my friend Jen in Canadia for the tip!

- Oregon’s governor is doing a “food stamp challenge”. While I admire the idea and think it’s a start for people who have no experience digging change out of the couch for bus fare and a loaf of bread (ahem) and maybe I will even hork this idea for my own work purposes, I’m just not sure a week is long enough. A month might be more effective.

- Experts are gathering outside Washington, D.C. today for a two-day meeting to collectively scratch their heads about the Colony Collapse Disorder, aka ‘Where have all the honeybees gone.’



-If the US is the so-called “Greatest Country on Earth”, then what the hell is this? Methinks we have a long way to go before, uh, true greatness.



Happy Monday!

I plan on writing more, after I’ve enjoyed this absolutely, gob-smackingly, sinfully, totally RAD spring day, but I’ll leave you readers with this:

I don’t like talking about work (outside the home!) very much here except in the broadest sense, but I have to say that I’m really excited about my job, about some of the changes happening at my organization and within the community, and about my place, personally, around it all. It’s been really amazing and excellent.


The same can be said for watching my children blossom this year - Cody in particular. He’s been interviewed on the radio about his activism in the community, has had his work published in a local independent newspaper, and is planning a trip (if he can raise the money) to the Dominican Republic this summer. *****






This photo was taken a few months ago, I think, when I was Really Going To Clean Off My Desk. I had already unearthed about two inches of paper.


O, Julie Morgenstern! I’d avail myself of your services if you would take me on as a charity case. You know, now that I think about it, I’ve said that a lot about people like Julie Morgenstern and Martha Stewart. I’m always thinking, well, my house is eensy with next-to-no closet space and I keep my clothes in a vintage egg incubator - chew on that! or but I don’t have$300 to spend on fancy storage that fits my needs and besides, I don’t think they make storage that fits my needs, but I wouldn’t know because I’m not exactly sure what my needs are on any given day or I’d like to see you guys get my house together on my budget, not yours.


I tried to love the idea of being “organized” the way the books have it laid out, with all their zones and areas and seemingly common-sensical methods and re-trainings, but as I get older and my kids get older and we all get more entrenched in our work and our hobbies and family life and otherwise really getting down to the business of living, I find myself redefining what “organization” means.


Every time I hear the word “organize” lately I think of protest, of bringing together groups of people to create change, of education, of pulling things together (and I like all that!) - not of rigid rules and regulations and schedules, things that take so much time to create and even more to adhere to. My definition of organization has to include lots of wiggle room. It has to include clutter. Not the damaging kind (it’s a relief to be [mostly] finished with the days of losing bills and then forgetting to pay them, and…well, who likes mice? Or bugs?), but the kind that is a constant reminder to me of what’s going on.


There’s order within that - the aforementioned bills are filed away and scheduled on the ol’ B-K family gCal, I make shopping lists based on (mostly) physical inventories of the fridge, cupboards, and pantry, I am reliant on my handheld device to stay in sync with my work schedule, and when you live in a tiny house, there has to be some sort of system, however loose, in place to ensure you don’t end up in this situation - but those are things that have fallen into place as our family has navigated the immense changes of the last year. Little time for thrifting or garage sales + still-frugal mindset = less stuff coming into the house. There are other little adjustments in underlying philosophy that I won’t bore you with here, but those adjustments are the underpinnings of us (mostly me, because when I was the stay-at-home parent, I was the one who “controlled” how things were “structured”) looking at home life/work life in a different way. It’s about survival, yes, but also about enhancement - I’m using what works and what I have time for/inclination toward, and am not freaking bothering with stuff that doesn’t apply.


To summarize: the taxes aren’t done yet (but they will be), everything isn’t in its place (but everything has one), and somehow, we all have clean underwear (though not necessarily folded).


*****


It sure would be nice if it would stop behaving like November for a few minutes so I can see if anything I planted two weeks ago actually germinated.

I kinda feel like I’m spamming myself, since I’ve posted this elsewhere:



Hey, y’all: I’m wondering if you guys, off the tops of your virtual heads, can name me and films/documentaries dealing with poverty/hunger in the US as a central or general theme. Hunger would be excellent, but poverty in general is OK too. I ask because my favorite local video store has offered to create a window display and an in-store display of said films for Hunger Awareness Day, which is happening nationwide (and in Canada) on June 5, 2007. In the US Canada Hunger Awareness Day, in my burg anyway, is going to be a big deal, I think - I’ve set up quite a workload for myself, so any contributions you may have would be terrific! xo

<


Last weekend, when the trees were all flowering and spring really looked like it was here to stay, no fooling, I decided to prep and partially plant the early bed. When I got to my compost pile I was delighted to see hundreds of little red worms living there. While I’m not fond of worms, generally, I’m thrilled to have them in the garden. I get over being squicked out by them every spring. Anyway, after I turned over the earth and pulled out all the weeds and fashioned a pea trellis, I dumped a bunch of compost onto the bed and worked it in.


Then I planted. I planted spinach, beets, and peas. I thought about chard and arugula, but decided to wait until this weekend.


Then, around Tuesday, I heard the weather was going to take a turn for the chilly. The very chilly. By yesterday, my favorite local meteorologist had the audacity, the nerve - no, the BALLS - to say that my town was not just going to experience below-freezing temperatures… not just a hard freeze… but a complete and total 100% kill-everything freeze. 19 degrees, people. Tulips, daffodils, magnolias, and - worst of all - grapes, apples and cherries will all suffer hugely if the temperature goes that low. Never mind my dumb little seeds rotting in the ground now - I can always replant. But the thought of not being able to glean the cherries off a neighbor’s tree is slightly unbearable - OK, completely devastating - to me. It’s 28 degrees right now.



OK! That’s enough bitching about the weather. God.








I don’t know how to crochet and I have yet to find a suitable (read: extremely easy) pattern for knitting those damn Granny Squares (I know, not authentic, but while I’ve always loved Grannies, crochet has forever been counterintuitive for me), so I squeed with excitement when I found the above giant Granny Square blanket while on a impulse thrift excursion this afternoon apres work. I was totally stoked because it reminded me a little of the blanket on pages 42-43 of the Anthropologie home catalog, though it’s not very earth-toney or grown-up 70s. No, my blanket is totally Sid & Marty Krofft 70s, totally Schoolhouse Rock 70s.. I don’t care! I like it all.



Time for a glass of wine and Season Two of Arrested Development. Chaw chee-chaw chee-chaw!

FDA Begins Testing Food With Wheat Gluten


Discussion with lots of links here.