A Day to Recharge
As an introvert, being around a lot of people wears me out both physically and emotionally. One of the reasons I really enjoy gardening is because it’s a great way for me to get some quiet time alone to recharge. After a busy week last week with lots of trips out and about, I was sorely in need of some quiet time. Mr Chiots was heading out for the day to cheer on some friends that were running a race, so luckily I had a day to myself. I thought about working in the garden, but I had been doing a lot of that all week and needed a bit of a rest day out of the sun.
I checked We Took to the Woods out of the library a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to find any measurable amount of time to sit down and get through more than 10 pages at once. I decided to make the most of my day by spending it sitting on the front porch in my little folding chair finishing up the book. There’s nothing like a good book and a few hours of uninterrupted reading to restore the soul. Now I’m ready to take on the week!
What’s your favorite way to recharge?
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Quote of the Day: J.W. von Goethe
Happy it is, indeed, for me that my heart is capable of feeling the same simple and innocent pleasure as the peasant whose table is covered with food of his own rearing, and who not only enjoys his meal, but remembers with delight the happy days and sunny mornings when he planted it, the soft evenings when he watered it, and the pleasure he experienced in watching it’s daily growth.
J.W. von Goethe (the Sorrows of Werther)
found in The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook
In spring I can’t help but be so ever thankful for having a bit of earth in which to cultivate some of the food for our table. At the moment we’re truly enjoying fresh green salads topped with whatever edible flowers are blooming and the yellow strawberries that will be bearing all summer long.
The asparagus is almost finished and will be replaced on our plates by those beautiful golden peas I planted a few months ago.
The strawberries are finally in full swing and every evening we’ll be enjoying a bowl of shortcake covered in fresh raw milk from the farm (recipe to come later this week). It’s the perfect late dinner on a hot day!
The peas and strawberries will give way to zucchini, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes as the summer days grow hotter. Then before we know it we’ll be craving warming stews filled with squash and venison and a side of crusty bread in the cold months of winter. I don’t know if I have a favorite season when it comes to eating homegrown goodness, I’m learning to appreciate the different flavors and textures they each bring to the table.
Do you have a favorite season for eating fresh from the garden? What’s your favorite item in each season?
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Happy Memorial Day
I’ll be spending today in the garden, as many others will. Memorial is kind of the unofficial kick-off to the gardening season around here. Everyone uses this weekend to weed and mulch their flowerbeds. I’ll be working on that new garden area. Hopefully planting beets and carrots. I’m also liberating another large chunk of the front lawn.
I am very thankful for all of those who are currently serving and have served in our armed forces on this Memorial Day Weekend. I’ll be thinking about: my grandpa – who served in WWII, my brother – who spend a tour in Korea and two tours in Iraq and Mr Chiot’s cousin, who spent two tours in Afghanistan.
How will you be celebrating this Memorial Day weekend? Do you have any friends or family who are serving or who have served in the armed forces?
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Quote of the Day: Thomas Jefferson
“And our own dear Monticello, where has nature spread so rich a mantle under the eye? mountains, forests, rocks rivers.
With what majesty do we there ride above the storms? How sublime to look down into the workhouse of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain thunder, all fabricated at our feet?
And the glorious Sun, when rising as if out of a distant water, just gilding the tops of the mountains, and giving life to all nature?”
-Jefferson to Maria Cowsay, 1786 (Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello)
I’ve been thinking about this quote as I’ve been noticing the garden bursting forth in fresh green leaves and colorful blooms this spring. Every morning when I head out to walk around the garden something new is blooming and a new plant is emerging. Here’s the rich mantle of my garden this past week.
What a wonderful time of year indeed after the long dark dull months of winter here in the North.
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Poison Ivy
We have poison ivy growing all around the property here at Chiot’s Run. We’re surrounded by woods, so it has the perfect habitat to thrive. I don’t mind so much because it is a beautiful plant and thankfully I’m not allergic and neither is Mr Chiots.
Poison ivy (toxicodendron radicans) grows throughout most of the United States and Canada. It is mostly found in wooded areas and along the edge of the woods, although it can grow in open areas as well.
Learning to identify poison ivy is quite easy. It is a good idea to learn to identify this plant even if you never hike or think you’ll be exposed to it. Look for three shiny smooth almond shaped leaves fanning out to form it’s distinctive trifolate shape. The leaflets alternate on the vine. The poison ivy that grows in my gardens emerges in the spring with beautiful tiny shiny red leaves.
I don’t aggressively try to eradicate poison ivy from my gardens. I believe all plants have a purpose and a place. I do pull out any plants that grow close the house, or along the walkways where people might come into contact with it just in case. I would hate for a visitor to go home with a terrible allergic reaction.
Poison ivy is beautiful in the fall, it turns a lovely shade of red and yellow. That’s one of the reasons I leave it in the surrounding woods.
Are you allergic to poison ivy? Do you have any growing in your gardens?
