Flower Essences of Fox Mountain

Garden Buzz

April 7th, 2010

My nephew Eliot has been staying with us for the past few days. He’s one of the most fun people for me to hang out with because he’s as plant crazy as I am. We spent countless hours on the kitchen daybed with nursery catalogs spread all around us, debating the merits of different varieties of nut and fruit trees and shrubs. What fun! We also re-planted one of the strawberry beds. The strawberries had spread by runners in all directions for quite a distance. It was time to rein them in and start over so we dug up about a hundred plants, packed them into boxes to give away and then after adding manure to the bed we started bringing straying strawberry plants back to where they belong. There’s still a lot of extra strawberry plants to dig up and find homes for but we got a good start.

The frogs are singing like crazy outside as I write this. It’s late at night and I’m about ready to call it a day. There is SO much to do outside here and I have so many plans of new plantings. I’m hoping to have news of a really big project sometime soon and I’ll share that as soon as it lands in the physical world.

March 20th, 2010

Saturday and we’re planting seeds to grow inside until we plant them outside after the last frost. It was warm outside and we set up a pallet on sawhorses to make a table for all our plant trays. The ground is still thawing so we were standing in wet mud that squished as we moved back and forth to the garden cart with the potting soil in it.

Joseph and I held our connection and love for the gardens as we worked planting. When we opened a seed packet we’d put several of the seeds in our mouths and connect with them, letting the seeds “taste our body” through our saliva so that they could, in their infinite wisdom, grow with the optimal balance of health giving and nourishing benefits for us. Joseph, being Italian , seemed to me to be the perfect choice to do all the tomato varieties. I did the other early start crops like peppers and eggplant. This was all working out fine until I got to the hot peppers. I’m a bit of a spiciness wimp and the Habanero seeds had my tongue burning so Joseph volunteered to the other hot pepper while I did the paprika, frying and sweet peppers.

It was very moving holding seeds in my mouth, feeling the plant in my heart, holding a vision of it in it’s full glory in my mind, feeling the swirling of energy and information as I stood there in the mud, plant trays in front of me, eyes closed and feeling so full and alive, so small in the vast Universe, and so blessed to be right there, right then!

A funny thing happened with the basil seeds. I like to grow quite a few varieties but this year I stuck to 3 types. The first two I noticed that the little black seeds with their white marking, were hard to get off the finger I’d used to get them out of my mouth. They seemed to stick to my finger, almost to have roots connecting them to me. I think this is a mucilaginous coating that was activated with the wetness and I wonder if it helps to keep them from washing away in spring rains. The third variety “Aromatic Basil” was even more amazing. The seed coating was a strong blue color. The black seeds were suddenly blue and had long (1/32”) threads holding onto my finger. I’m still thinking about what it all means and content to acknowledge that I may never know.

A little funny note about mud season here in New England;

Felix is our black cat who loves the spring thaw. He’s convinced that there are mud mice because he hears all the little bubble noises as the frost melts and he even sees little bubbles of air come up through the mud. Felix spends hours each spring watching carefully for bubbles and then rising up on his hind legs and coming down hard with both front paws on the spot that has been bubbling. Splat!! He hasn’t caught a mud mouse yet but he’s hopeful.

March 17th, 2010
It’s March 17th and our snow is finally starting to melt. There’s still a good 12” (30.5 cm) of snow in most of our cleared area and almost 18” (45.6 cm) of snow in the forest still. Still, some small bare patches of ground have appeared on a bit of southern slope near the house and I’m waiting to see which plants wake up first in that garden.

On early spring mornings I walk outside with a hot mug of tea and stroll around the gardens, saying hello to plants that are dear to me, noticing what is greening and which early bloomers have buds. We have 3 cats and they love having company on their early morning romp. Their play usually involves some show off ambushes of each other, chasing each other up trees and eventually some requests for patting. If there’s a dry place I like to sit for a while, hands cupped around my tea mug for warmth, contemplating the beauty of the moment.

Although there’s not enough bare ground yet for spring garden strolls, the cats are happy to be out and romping and I am working to finish up my winter indoor tasks to ready myself for the intensely busy growing season that is coming.

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