I’m supposed to be writing copy for this guy to read on the air for The Big Event next Tuesday, but instead I’m posting a photo of what I found in the alley:







More stuff at the Flickr photoset here.

I’m looking forward to the weekend, which starts this evening at 6 PM (massage) even though I work tomorrow. I’ve got



a barbecue with friends a rock show, possibly, with my husband a movie with my family strawberry picking hauling excellent dirt from my boss’ house to mine



to look foward to.



*****



Here’s me at work:







Here’s the ultimate in Urbana Parkway Gardening:







More local gardens have been added to the Flickr photoset here.

The local food season has gotten underway in earnest. Our farmer’s market started on the 12th; we’re eating salads out of the garden (the arugula is by far the most vigorous of the greens), I’ve pilfered (with permission) and eaten so much asparagus out of the neighbors’ patch that I think I might actually have had enough, and just about everything has been planted for the moment (except for the little orange Potimarron squashes and some cucumbers). There are plenty of tasks to do in the garden, for sure - the weeds, for starters, are pretty obnoxious already despite the relative lack of rain - but stuff is basically in. Anything else that gets planted is either viney or cosmetic.



That, my friends, means I can go pick some strawberries late this coming week - sans guilt and weather permitting. The berries at my preferred U-Pik survived the last cold snap (though the stone fruits didn’t, which means it might be a crappy fruit summer, we’ll have to see).



I like to go to Lisa’s place (those are berries from her farm above) to pick. The berries are little, sweet, and overall totally effing excellent (especially with shortcake), plus the price is right and I love hanging out at her farm; it’s a working farm with a lot going on. People are hot and sweaty and grubby and busy and pretty much leave you to your picking business. Lisa doesn’t hover; she just wants you to weigh yourself out and leave a check or some cash by the scale in the shed.



I don’t grow strawberries right now because I haven’t gotten around to dealing with fruit production yet (I’m all talk and no action in that department), but they’re on my “someday” list. I’ve always been a picker, so I suspect having a few measly plants won’t satisfy my need to pick multiple flats in one go - I’m going to need a significant amount of space. When I was a young teenager in Minnesota back in the early 80s, I was my mom’s strawberry picker of choice. We’d pick flats and flats (o, to have a young back) and then come home to process them into freezer jam and sugar packs. We did the same with blueberries once, too - when we lived in northern FL before moving to MN, my mother got wind of an abandoned blueberry farm about 15 miles north of where we lived. We piled into the VW van one spring day in search of this place and actually found it. The blueberry bushes seemed as big as trees; the berries themselves were ginormous. I didn’t like blueberries much when I was a kid (tiny gritty seeds!), so I just picked and picked. I think we’d moved by the next spring, so we never got to pick there again. I bet it’s been sacrificed to the Great God Development anyhow.
Aaaaanyway.



I pick blueberries locally now, but the Japanese beetle infestation destroyed almost 60% of the pickable crop last year, not to mention that getting beetles down your shirt and in your hair is distracting at best. Two years ago, FlitKnits and I took the kids out to pick and it was beetle-y AND disgustingly hot. I think it was about 98 degrees by 11:30 AM with 15368% humidity. None of the kids were that interested in What Ma Ingalls Would Do after about 20 minutes or so, but J and I persevered.



I miss J. Picking alone at Lisa’s - both kids will still be in school and I’m kicking out of work early, I think - will be meditative and productive, I’m sure, but… well.



******







I’m sad to report that Mae Brussell the Chicken, also known as Goldie, passed away yesterday. She’d been a little off all spring. She hadn’t laid a single egg, though she gamely ate grubs and brown rice when they were around, and she’d been pretty quiet, especially after the last cold snap in late March/early April. She didn’t seem sick and I still don’t think she was; my first clue that maybe she was just too damn old and tired to get through another sweltery summer came on Friday, when she settled herself down into some fresh straw and Would. Not. Get. Up. You were a damn good chicken, Mae Brussell. Thank you for your years of service.



****** Well. OK. I’m out to spend another delightful day - 82 degrees, low humidity, and plenty of sunshine - here in the midwest.

Work has sort of taken over my life. A plan for two events, back to back, that seemed effortless - nay, whimsical - to pull off for June back in early March has recently become, well, not so effortless and whimsical. I am who I am, and that means it will “go” and it will “go” well and it will be awesome, but GOD.



What I’m saying, I guess, is that my appearances here will be sporadic at best (watch - now I’ll post, like, every day for the next three weeks) while I midwife my children through the last few weeks of school, pull off these two huge projects at work, get Cody ready for his trip (my baby!), and plant beans/cukes and pull weeds in my garden. I also plan on smooching my husband and getting a couple of massages or something.




******



I told my friend Mike that I’ve noticed more gardens in town than I ever have before. I’ve been prowling my neighborhood in the early AM for three solid springs now, so I know what I’m talking about. Here’s an example:







These people have gardened in the parkway - that space between the sidewalk and the curb! Brilliant. The kale in the cold frame looks divine, not to mention the garlic. Anyway. People are gardening creatively in new spaces. People who have lived in their houses for years are gardening for the first time, like our Cool Scientist Neighbors to the South. I love it. I love seeing people give it an optimistic go in springtime, when failure - and there is always a failure in the garden, every single year - is still an abstraction.



Go here to see a few more photos of these new gardens. There are many more, & I’ll add to the collection as I take them.



******



I am having weird germination luck, but fortunately, the spinach has resisted the urge to not sprout:









I’m off to bed.

If you sent something to Cody, you’ll be hearing from him personally very soon, but he wanted me to pass this along in the meantime:

Dear Friends, Thank you so much. Your donations are making it possible for me to go to the Dominican Republic next month and experience a totally different culture from what we have in the United States. I look forward to meeting and helping people while I am at Batey Libertad. I will take lots of pictures, I will write in my journal, and I will probably be videotaping most of the two weeks I am down there. When I get back I will transfer my journal entries onto a blog for everyone to see. Again, thank you for your generous support, and also thanks to my mom for notifying her friends of this life-changing event I will now be able to go on! Peace Cody

He’s well on his way, thanks to you folks. It means a lot to him, and to me. Thank you.

As many of you know, my son Cody is quite the activist (if you didn’t know, he’s particularly active in the anti-war movement here, as well as dedicated to helping those in Darfur, eliminating crappy school lunches, etc). He does good work, and I’m glad he feels comfortable speaking out and working to help others.



He has a chance to go on a service learning trip with about a dozen other kids to the Dominican Republic in June. While it’s sponsored by the University of Illinois’ Center for Global Studies, it still costs quite a bit of money. After the University’s contribution and parental contributions, Cody still has a shortfall of approximately $600 to make up before the first week of June. Here’s the fundraising letter he sent out to family and friends:


“The trip will be a service learning trip where we will help more than 1,000 local refugees from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They are currently situated on government property called Batey Libertad which is a community composed of families, individuals, and groups (www.bateylibertad.org). The projects I would be involved in would include: building a house, reforestation, clearing land for eventual creation of a community garden, and working with local women on their candle-making enterprise. The group is staying for 2 weeks (15-29th of June). I would be one of 12 students from the State of Illinois, working with the University of Illinois’ Center for Global Studies, and 1 of 2 students from Urbana High School. The group will come together as one to provide these crucial services. UHS teachers, Penny Hanna and Grace Mitchell, would accompany me and another UHS student Kelsey Sullivan.



The group will be residing in Santiago, and will be traveling by bus every day to Batey Libertad, which is situated 45 minutes outside of Santiago. In addition to providing assistance to Batey Libertad’s people, all 15 students will be traveling to the central region of the country to Finca Alta Gracia to visit an organic coffee farm. At the farm, students will examine organic farming, methods, and why they are so important. They will be staying overnight at the farm and will spend the next day working on the farm.



While some of the trip is subsidized by a grant through the University of Illinois, participating students are expected to make up the shortfall. My mom and Jim, as well as my dad and Rene, have agreed to finance part of my trip, but I need to make up the rest. I’m saving all my allowance and doing odd jobs to help pay the way, but I’m also writing to ask for help from friends and family.



Basically, I am very excited about this trip because it combines some of the values I consider important - social justice, helping those in need, and learning about cultures outside the US. I’m asking you if you would be able to provide me with financial support for this trip. I would greatly appreciate any amount, small or large. Any amount I receive above the cost of the trip I will donate to the Batey or to any other charitable organization working in the Dominican Republic. Feel free to email me with any questions at codybralts@gmail.com. If you are not able to contribute, thank you anyway, and consider this a little update on what I’m up to these days. Take care and thank you!”



If you’re interested in supporting Cody’s trip, please click the “Donate Now” button above - you’ll be hearing from Cody soon.



Thank you, everyone! XXs and OOs from Urbana!!

I can’t believe it’s Beltane already. Happy Beltane/May Day etc to you and yours!



Perhaps I will celebrate by going to the bookstore and perusing this book:







I’m celebrating for real by getting a massage after work and roasting a chicken outside after that and drinking beer under the moon with Jim after the kids are ensconced in their nighttime domains.