Friday Favorite: Quotes
I’m a huge fan of quotes, though I’m sure this comes as no surprise to you given that each Sunday I post one. There are quotes scribbled on pieces of paper on my fridge, jotted down in the notebooks, copied and pasted into text files, and stuck to my computer with post-it notes. I even have a Pinboard dedicated to them over on Pinterest. Pairing quotes with photos is also one of my hobbies and you’ll find me often make them up in my spare time. Here are a few of my favorites:
Do you have a favorite quote?
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Quote of the Day: Van Gogh
“It is in looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper understanding.”
Van Gogh (found in Provence: A Country Almanac)
I’m an observer, especially when it comes to gardening. I think patient observation is one of the most important skills for a gardener to have.
When you slow down and spend time simply watching how things work in the garden you can learn a lot because things aren’t always what they seem at first glance. The area I’ve gained a deeper understanding by doing this is in the insect world.
The more I stop and watch, the more I see it as a complex system where each insect is a piece of a giant puzzle. Removing one of them, no matter how pestiferous, leaves the puzzle incomplete.
You might notice a “pest” one day and be distraught. If you are patient and keep a close watch, you will most likely see a predator move in. If the predator does not appear during this cycle it will probably appear during the next. You will also have gained a better understanding of the life cycle of that insect.
Our gardens are really a very complex system, the more we sit back and observe the more this comes into view. Every bird, insect, plant, and microbe is an important piece in the web of life. Even we are pieces, hopefully ones that fit in perfectly! What we choose to do and refrain from doing in the garden can make a big difference in what the final picture looks like.
Is there anything you have noticed in the garden because you took time to slow down and spend some time observing?
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Feeling Footloose
Humans are among the most footloose of species. Pilgrimages seem to be almost instinctive, or at least derived from behaviors now so ingrained in our species that it’s difficult to distinguish between genetic and social origins. Of all the animals that migrate, we are surely among the most restless. But humans retain the influence of the geophysical habitat in which they pass their formative years. And often, it seems, we are drawn back to our childhood homes–if not physically, then mentally; if not out of love, then out of curiosity; if not by necessity, then by desire. Through such ramblings we find out who we are.
John Janovy, Jr in Vermillion Sea found in A Year In The Maine Woods by Bernd Herinrich
In late July I started to long for a camping trip to the mountains. Perhaps it’s a response to all the busyness in my life at the moment. Whatever it is, the need to get away and disconnect is quite strong at the moment.
There’s no time in my life for such a journey, instead time was spent looking through all of my images from a few of our previous trips.
Mr Chiots and I have been talking about where we will end up on our next trip. A journey to the Southwest is in our future, as well as a long trip to Alaska. Hawaii is also on our travel bucket list, not so much for the tropical aspect but there are a few national parks on the islands.
With the big move this year, we’re not sure any of these are going to be feasible this coming year. Good thing the Catskills are right in the middle of our new home and my parent’s house here in Ohio. Perhaps a couple nights there on our trips to/from will cure our travel fever.
What locations are on your travel bucket list?
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Quote of the Day: Bernd Heinrich
“I had not realized how varied and vibrant green, the color of life, could be.”
Bernd Heinrich A Year In The Maine Woods
The longer I garden the more I appreciate texture and what it brings to the garden. I’m starting to move away from plants with blooms in favor of those with different leaf shape, shades of green, texture or other unique features.
‘Hakone’ grass, it tops the list of my favorite green plants. With it’s bright variegated leaves, flowing shape, it almost looks like I have a waterfall flowing into my pond. When I purchased this plant it was a tiny slip with just a few green leaves. Now it’s a focal point at the edge of the pond. You can be this one is coming with me in the moving truck!
What’s your favorite all green plant?
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It is August now
It is August now. There are currants and gooseberries to preserve, tomatoes to tie up and watch anxiously for the first ripening, potatoes to rob of the smallest, most succulent tubers, cucumbers to take when they are as slender as a finger, the last few pods of peas to eat raw as we gather salads for every meal. It is August, and the garden is paradise.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
These guys live in Vermont, so their gardens are a little behind mine here in Ohio. I’d have to categorize June/July as the paradise months in the garden. Though the tomatoes don’t really come on until August so you have give August some love for that reason.
Peas are long gone here in NE Ohio, they quit producing when the temperature starts heating up in June. They’ve been replaced by beans, both bush and climbing. Only have handful of beans have been harvested so far, but soon enough I’ll be picking them by the bowlful!
The salad plants are also a distant memory except for a few pungent arugula plants that are still hanging on. I quite like very peppery arugula so we’ve been enjoying it on sandwiches.
The peppers are leafing out nicely and just starting to bloom. A few small Thai pepper plants have a few fruits. Luckily I scored a few green peppers from a local farmer at the market last week. Those were cooked up into sloppy joes.
Potatoes have been coming on for over a month now. Yukon Gold and a red variety (most like Cranberry) have been gracing our plates. In a few weeks my Kennebec will be ready to harvest and tucked away in the pantry.
The garlic and about half of the onions were harvested. They are being replaced with a late planting of beans, beets and various herbs. The red onions will be ready to harvest this week and a few late plantings will be harvested next month.
My mom’s potager is doing really well this year. All of the years she’s spent building the soil is really paying off. Her soil retains water better than most because of all of the organic matter she adds each year. Check back Saturday for a tour of her garden when I was over last week.
What’s the best month of the year for your edible garden?
