Tomato seedlings!

Monsoons coming in

Some crazy rain came in on Sunday. Two and a half inches in half an hour. WHen the sky broke there was a double rainbow but this was all I could catch on camera.

Healing hands

Cats have no idea what crutches are. They're as scary as aliens in their little kitty world. When I lay down Pinkie goes into instant prayer position hoping those damn crutches will disappear soon.

Knee Surgery

A torn meniscus is putting a dent in my spring activities. The doc told me I had a pothole on my femur(?). I'll be on crutches for three weeks. The doctor initials the leg when they are prepping you for surgery to make sure they cut the right one!

First BBQ of the season

I had a friend visiting from out of town so Davey loaned me his BBQ and we made buffalo burgers and sweet potato fries. Davey puts the oil in a cast iron skillet right on the coals to cook the fries. Delish!

Espalier

This is a semi-dwarf Gala apple tree I planted in the front yard. I plan to espalier it against this garden wall. As the new shoots take off I'll train them to the plane of the wall in tiers.

No Slow Food?

Almost a new moon

Although the new moon is almost here and I am looking forward to planting some seeds I love this picture from the full moon a few weeks ago.

Nourishing Traditions

I've thought a lot about food and worked on eating what is best for me but I took an amazing workshop this weekend that fed me some great new information. Cathy Hope, an herbalist from Questa, NM, bases her philosophy on Weston Price and Sally Fallon. Sally wrote a book called Nourishing Traditions which explains where we all went wrong with thinking about what we eat. Anyway, check it out. Here we made some tinctures, salves and and liniments and also some fermented food. It's essential!

4-legged Desert Animal

Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

The Gem and Mineral Show in Tucson was a mindblower. It would almost be impossible to see all of the exhibits during this two week event. The exhibitors are literally from all over the world. The USA spelled out in Calcite is from some Moroccans. We saw some amazing rocks and had a great time in the Sonoran desert.

Owl Feathers

A trip out to Palomas Gap to collect rocks for our community herb garden yielded the gift of some owl feathers from the roadside.

Palomas Gap

Uh Oh

Recycled Lotion Bottles

For months I've had the intention of refilling my lotion bottles at the local food coop an hour away. They have a bulk area for cosmetics but many times they were either completely out of my lotion or I forgot the bottles. I was skeptical about getting a good price because this "coop" is ridiculously expensive and I'm a known bargain shopper. I laboriously pumped the lotion in one stroke at a time and was delighted to find out it was indeed a good deal, even compared to the deals I've gotten on this product at more mainstream retailers. I'm softening up on my criticism of these "food coops" since I've lived here realizing they really do help the surrounding communities score decent food. I was just used to the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn which is truly a "working members only" food coop and a model of sheer idealism at work.

Seed Shopping

Even though I have tons of seeds from last years garden and there are many seed swaps planned in the next month or so it's still exciting to read through all the seed catalogs and chase that elusive bean or tomato I want to grow. I placed a few small orders and hope to swap some of the things I got with other growers in my town.

Wild watercress at Monticello Box

New Year's eve I went into the Monticello Box and found it filled with wild watercress. I harvested quite a but and found out after I shared it with friends that you need to be really really careful eating this wild because of parasites. Yikes.

Local Improvised Entertainment

Full Moon New Year

Happy Holidays