Quote of the Day: Wendell Berry
“Soil loss…is a problem that embarrasses all of our technological pretensions. If soil were all being lost int a huge slab somewhere, that would appeal to the would-be heroes of “science and technology,” who might conceivably engineer a glamorous, large, and speedy solution – however many new problems they might cause in doing so. But soil is not usually lost in slabs or heaps of magnificent tonnage. It is lost a little at a time over millions of acres by the careless acts of millions of people. It cannot be saved by heroic acts of gigantic technology, but only by millions of small acts and restraints, conditioned by small fidelities, skills, and desires. Soil loss it ultimately a cultural problem; it will be corrected only by cultural solutions.”
– Wendell Berry found in The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers–With information on building … feed, and working with poultry in the garden
I’ve always thought that gardeners grow soil not plants. Without soil, we wouldn’t have gardens. Since I inherited no soil at our previous place and spent 10 years building it up to a nice rich earth, I know what at it takes to climb back from ‘ground zero’.
It takes a lot of hard work, lots of manure, rock powders, humus and other inputs to grow mere inches of topsoil. I probably added a foot of inputs each year to gain a few inches of soil over the course of 10 years.
This is one of the reasons I’m always encouraging the use of mulches and cover crops instead of letting the soil lay bare. Also the reason I advocate for a no-till system and permaculture. Preserving our soil is one of the most important things we can do for future generations!
What soil preservation technique is your favorite: cover crops, mulch, compost, etc?
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Getting an Early Start
It was a matter of course that the lucky one whose holiday (birthday) came around could expect a present from everyone in the house; and of course, one didn’t just go to the store and buy with cold money something turned out by a factory with no relationship at all to the young sister or brother. A loving heart and gifted fingers can produce a wonderful of little miracles.
Maria Augusta Trapp from The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
While reading through this book (which is fantastic by the way, if you’re looking for great winter reading material add this to the list), I came across so many wonderful little quotes like this one. So true that the best gifts we will likely receive this year are those made with a loving heart and gifted fingers! Like these lovely stepping stones my nieces & nephew made for me.
We like to celebrate a homemade Christmas with my family, which means it’s time to start thinking about getting to work. I have a few great ideas, which I can’t share here since my family does read the blog, I’d hate to spoil the fun. We have a lot of options including home roasted coffee, what coffee drinker wouldn’t want that?
I’d like to encourage you to think about making a few gifts this year. You’ll save some cash and no doubt they will be greatly appreciated.
Do you make any gifts? What’s the best handmade gift you’ve ever received?
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Friday Unfavorite: Feet
I must admit, I have an aversion to feet. Not my own feet, I don’t mind them. Other people’s feet however kinda make me cringe. Not all the time, just if they get too close to me. If Mr Chiots’s feet accidentally tough me it sends a shiver up my spine.
It’s not that feet gross me out or anything, I simply do not like them. It’s even more strange since I’m a barefoot kind of person.
Do you have any aversions like this?
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The New Digs
Yesterday, Jaye asked about how all the other cats were doing and I realized I’d only talked about Dexter (he is my favorite after all *ssshhh* don’t tell the others). Samson & Soafie, our two indoor cats have adjusted well. They did their share of exploring in when we first arrived, now that it’s home, they’re back to sleeping all the time.
The Sweets, our little feral cat, is also adjusting well. We kept her in the house for a week with us, though she is not an indoor cat and does not have indoor cat manners. She’s very sweet, but she’s still feral and prefers being outside. We moved her up into the garage and kept it closed for a few days and even left Dexter up there with her.
She now seems to be fully acclimated to hew new larger digs. At first she was leery of coming outside, but she’d follow Dexter on occasion. She’s obviosly back to her feral self as she’s got her little stash of various trophies in a corner of the garage. Looks like no mouse will survive if they enter into the garage or the area around it. No doubt she’ll do just fine.
She’s a very smart little cat and seems to have a good grasp of how to survive in the wild. If you’ve never heard her story, read “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, it’s quite amazing. We’re thankful everyone adjusted nicely without too much trouble. All the cats seem back to their normal selves, I guess the same could likely be said for Mr & Mrs Chiots too. After a month, we feel like we’re finally settling into a routine.
How long does it usually take you to adjust to new situations?
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The Hot Box
Nothing makes a tough outdoor cat go soft and want to spend his days inside like a fire in the wood stove. We decided that the cats call it “the hot box”. Some mornings Dexter will even come in and look at it like he wishes it was on.
We’ve had a couple chilly mornings here, the house was down into the 50’s, so we lit a fire in the stove to warm it up a bit. It’s so cozy to stand by it drinking a cup of coffee. Dexter is loving it as well, if there’s a fire he’s in front of it until it cools down. No doubt, he won’t be much of an outdoor cat this winter.
We’re looking forward to heating with wood, something we were in the process of implementing at our house in Ohio until we decided to move. One of these days I’ll do post on the big wood fired furnace in the basement that will also heat our water in the dead of winter.
Do you, or have you every enjoyed warming up by the fire on a chilly morning?
