A Day in My Garden

I had a lovely day in my garden today. I paused from daily chores to enjoy the sun's warmth on my face and noticed bumble bees, birds and the two resident rabbits enjoying the sun as well. True happiness. Fortunately, I had camera in hand and took a couple of photos, which I will add here. I believe nothing in this world gives me more pleasure (besides spending time with my husband and family) than to be outdoors. I feel it is important to pause from the everyday nonsense and rigmarole that so often takes a hold of us and which can slowly drain a person of energy. Take a breather - get outdoors and spend a moment, or two, to observe what is around you - the singing bird, the bumble bee immersed in a flower, the colour of the flower, the blue sky. This was my day today. Oh yes, I did manage to do a little gardening!

Here are a couple of photos I took this afternoon. Thanks for viewing! Michelle

Collecting and saving food seeds

Just a quick blog entry here as I would like to share this website with those interested in saving plant seeds. These short clips come from Salt Spring Island. It is a beautiful February morning here on the west coast and I have some gardening to do today - I must take advantage of our sunny weather. The weather man said this is the warmest winter we have had in approximately 130 years! I love it! Not good for the Vancouver winter Olympics though.

Here is the website mentioned above - please click on the left-side links to see the short video clips. Enjoy! Thanks for viewing. Michelle

Seed saving videos from Raven

As Winter Sighs Its Last Breath...

"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream."
- Barbara Winkler

Edible Weeds

It's the time of year when I am thinking about our garden and all the work that needs to be done to prepare it for the season ahead. Phew, I am exhausted just thinking about it!! I have been reading some interesting literature about gardening, growing foods, saving plant seeds, and edible weeds. I came across an interesting website that lists some edible weeds - I find this subject quite fascinating and want to learn as much as I can. My feelings have changed towards those invasive dandelions, cleavers, thistles and other weeds which I considered to be a nuisance and would spend hours of my precious time yanking out of my flower beds. I am aware of the importance of these 'invaders' and how they are a valuable source of food, nutrition and healing - they could save a life in a dire situation where no food would be available (in an extreme situation). One needs to have knowledge of which weeds are safe or noxious. I am not about to run out to my yard and start chomping on thistles, or serve them for dinner to our guests - yet. I would like to add here one website for those who may be interested in weeds. Who knows, you may enjoy having them pop up in your garden - and save yourself hours of work yanking them out! Let them live! Edible Flower Plants of the Pacific Northwest.

Another great little book I recently purchased is Food Security for the Faint of Heart by Robin Wheeler (from B.C.), this book has loads of information on how to grow your own food and what supplies one needs in the event of a crisis.

Our First Nations people were able to live from the land, their food supply came from the earth around them - they did not have a local grocer or supermarket. Makes me ponder - how would we survive if we did not grow food locally or have our supermarkets to drive to? By growing food locally and not driving a great distance to our local supermarket, we certainly would save on fuel costs and lessen our carbon footprint (I know for many folks there are no other options). Health problems that are plaguing society would be less of a problem through proper nutrition and healthy lifestyle. Lots to think about. Back to my garden......I am buying veggie and herb seeds now, I have a long list of goodies I want to plant. The dandelions will present their yellow heads and we will not disturb them - the two rabbits that have taken refuge on our property will chomp their merry way through hundreds of them (maybe leave a few for us ?) and will hopefully not catch sight of our lettuce patch!

Thank you for visiting my journal. I will keep you posted on how our weeds are growing. Michelle