Come See My Basil (Said the 4 Year Old)

Tree planting is always a utopian enterprise, it seems to me, 

a wager on a future the planter doesn't necessarily expect to witness.

~ Michael Pollan in Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

Planting the Bur Oak

It was to be our second day at the farm.* Zelda and I were excited as we packed our contribution to lunch, our gear, and ourselves and followed the map back to Wolfgang's Garden for the day. We were there to talk about tree planting (and plant a Bur Oak). After the planting we would visit and sing, share a meal and a walk in the garden.

WG wasn't sure what to make of Zelda. Our Z-girl LOVES kids, but she can be a little too friendly. WG approached her cautiously and continued to do so for a good bit of time. His caution did not override his manners or his pride in the place. And, since we were early, WG offered to give us a tour of the garden while we waited for others to arrive.

After meeting Charlie, the rooster (who spoke to us only after we spoke to him), we headed out into the field where we saw cover crop, okra, basil and so much more. WG is rightly proud of this garden. I learned which okra changed color when you cooked it.  I "oohed and aahed" over the buckwheat and eggplant. Then I showed him some of the wild things, asters and nightshade.

Do you know that bird? I asked. "It's a dove," he said. It was a mockingbird, but it didn't matter.

A Monarch flew by as we headed back to the barn.

"This is my cover crop. It's okay. You can walk on it and it bounces back." said WG.

A small part of the garden - Zelda was impressed.

Wildflowers still bloom in places.

I had no idea this is what would happen with Buffalo Bur - the "bur" splits and there is a variegated tomato beneath. These nightshades are as interesting as they are toxic.

Something prickly waiting for me to fall in it.

Okra going to seed. They "seed save" here. The seed will be planted for next year's crop.

I spent some time watching the birds (the mockingbird shown here).

This place is luscious - even this late in fall. The birds and pollinators are active in the fields, garden, and orchard.

A red damsel fly.

Leaf-footed bug and fly.

Black said her hello.

As folks arrived we loaded up the hayride. We traveled all around the farm, past the bulls, cows, and babies. We saw the orchard, the ponds, and creek. When we arrived at the tree-planting, TM shared her expertise about location of trees, shape of holes, types of earth and more. We marveled at the history and future of this part of the Blackland Prairie. **

As some carried water from the pond for the newly-planted tree the rest of us loaded up and headed back to the barn for food and fun.

Too soon it was time to go. Zelda and I hugged all around before we loaded up the car.

And another Monarch flew by.

Hayride time

Zelda was in dog-heaven. One young man said he was good with pets. And he was.

Such a lovely group of children!

Z had loads of opportunities to run, but did have to stay on the leash at times. She loved sitting with folks at the bonfire.

WG warmed up to Zelda just fine.*** Off they went for an adventure.

I love barns - they have secret places.

The last of the wild morning glories.

NOTES:

* We were here a week ago to plan the event. But we had not met WG yet.

** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_blackland_prairies

***He began to share MY warning about Zelda - "If you pet her and stop, she will jump on you so you will pet her again."

Filling the Bird Feeder

Do you know how helpless you feel 

if you have a full cup of coffee in your hand 

and you start to sneeze? 

~ Jean Kerr

Friday morning.

Up early.

Things to do.

There's an order: Start the coffee. Start the oatmeal.

Inner voice speaks: If there are to be beans tomorrow, you should sort and soak them now. 

Sort. *

No rocks or tiny dirt clods. I had to have something to show from my sorting efforts so I removed the half beans, as if that somehow rendered them bad.

Soak.

I grew up eating pintos, but I hear that black beans are better for you. We may be feeding lots of people tomorrow. If not, we will be eating beans for a long time.

Cup of coffee.

Meds.

The rest of my brain kicked in - or so I thought. I grabbed the birdseed to fill the feeders that have been sitting empty. Zelda and I walked out into the yard.

Most of the time this would have resulted in a peaceful walk across the yard to the three feeders. We would have listened to the birdsong and maybe played a little hide and seek before heading back into the house.

For one of these easy walks I do not use a leash. Zelda always stays with me. She follows the scents of stray cats and other creatures who have stalked our yard at night. She joins me in the side yard and rolls around, or sits and waits patiently as I slowly fill one feeder after another.

I looked up as I walked down the stepping stones to see our neighbor across the street with Rudy.

Z needed no invitation and shot off like a bullet.

She never gets in the road. She is a street-savvy girl.

But not today.

Zelda not only ran into the street, but then rolled around in the street (!) trying to get Rudy's attention as our dear neighbor calmly walked the two dogs to the sidewalk.

She had ignored all my calls. I grabbed her collar and harness holding her down until our friends were out of sight.

Her heart was pounding. MY heart was pounding.

She is a dog, says the inner voice.

I know. I know.



Note:

* As the dry beans hit the bottom of the pot I saw my mother, sitting at our dining table in the family room. How many times had I seen her sitting there sorting the beans - removing the rocks and dirt - sliding the good beans off the edge of the table and into the pot? It's her pot I have now. I gave mine away to one of the children. I have Mom's.

Change

Change, like healing, takes time.

~ Veronica Roth

The roaring in my ears is not the traffic, not the wind. It is a strange echo as this virus slowly leaves my head and sinus cavities. There is pressure, but no ache.

Zelda and I walked out into the fall this morning. I don't remember the last time I left the house - 5 days?

The seasons have changed.

Oh, yes, it had all started before I fell ill, but the colors and sights were like a small present. The red and yellow leaves welcomed me outside. The fall birds sang from the phone wires and one tiny flower bloomed from the disturbed earth in the neighborhood park.

Zelda acted as if she were stalking squirrels until she saw the children on their way to the bus stop. She is such a sweet girl. She looks, smells the air and then sits and waits as if these children will come to her if she waits long enough. They cannot come today - they cannot miss the bus - they cannot miss school.

We have things to do as well and head home, leaves crunching under foot.

Tiny happy purple flower.

Redstem Filaree

Acorns, oak leaves and galls

Feed a Cold*

Sickness is the vengeance of nature for the violation of her laws.

~Charles Simmons

I thought I was taking care of me. Really. But I started getting a scratchy throat and woke up the next morning under the blanket of a cold/sinus infection - or something. 

The body seems to wait for an opening. Are projects done? Is there time for it? Boom!

Yesterday was a day abed. DH brought offerings of coffee and tortilla soup. 

When he came upstairs for a nap, I deserted the room so my coughing wouldn't keep him awake.

It was a kindness, I suppose that this is the weekend we "fall back" and I get an extra hour to sleep.

<Sigh> Time to go get some soup and meds and head back to bed (or maybe watch just one more sappy holiday movie - no judgment!).**

Get your flu shot people. This mess isn't pretty, but flu would be worse!


Notes:

*https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/08/feed-a-cold-starve-a-fever-could-be-right-scientists-find

**Actually, I am trying to work through the 42 (yikes) draft posts I discovered here. Some are almost completed. Some need text. Some need photos. Some are simply a "title" or a cool quote. I'm down 6 and slowly moving toward my comfort level of 25. Hurrah!

Zelda Meets #9

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. 

The second best time is now.

- Chinese Proverb

It started with a trip to the Hobbit House and led to a few hours of planning in Wolfgang's Garden.

TM and MH were making a repair on the Hobbit House. "Come out to the Hobbit House," TM said.

What's the Hobbit House? It is a fabulous cob constructed* house located in central Texas. It was built by my friends at Terra Living.**

I don't think I realized it would be so big.

TM discusses the "layers" in the growing roof.

They were working on a small repair as well as cleaning up the landscape a bit. I'd never met MH before, but I knew about her family's place - Wolfgang's Garden.*** They provide organic vegetables to a restaurant we frequent.

I got the grand tour - making it in and out of the Hobbit House and imagining things in my cupboards that might make good windows for future houses. Designed for little ones, big people can enjoy it too and I began thinking it would be a good alternative to a tree house (old knees, folks).

A young one had helped build the place and was still enjoying it. It is a place to read and play and dream. It is a place safe from the wind and the rain, where one can watch the geckos shed their skin and listen to the birds singing outside.

The open door echos the moon above while the tree waves a welcome.

The posts are no longer load-bearing. They were placed there for the construction, but have been left in place. I love them.

Conversation moved to a tree-planting event planned for Wolfgang's Garden. It's an opportunity for people to learn proper planting techniques, purchase a tree, and add some love to their own gardens. It is part of a plan - long term - for more cob building, more classes, and fun.

"Let's go out to the farm," they said. "We can look at the space and make plans."

So Zelda and I "geared up" and jumped into the pickup. As far as I know, this is Z-girl's first ride in a pickup and she was excited. Little did she know she would be able to roll around in wonderful smells, run circles in the pecan orchard, and meet MH's favorite cow, Black.

At first Zelda sat in the back seat with me. Once she got comfortable she jumped into the front seat. You can see better up there!

Maybe we need one of these, Mom.

We walked through the garden and around the barn area. It will be a perfect location for the tree planting event. Then we decided to take a look at the location for the cob house. A slab had been poured for a greenhouse that didn't happen. It would be the foundation for future construction (watch for cob house building classes to come). Along the way we saw enough fallen tree limbs to fuel a campfire and we decided not to waste a trip, loading up the bed of the pickup and off-loading at the fire-ring.

Zelda examines the Buffalo Gourds.

I was scoping out the place for the nature hike. There is always plenty to see, but do I know it...like these Buffalo Gourds...

...and these porcupine eggs, um, er, Rough cocklebur (cocklebur is spelled about 5 different ways. I choose this one.)

The leaves on this vine look like Virginia Creeper, but I've never seen the fruit before.

No se. Will have to do a full year at this place to know what is what.

Goldenrod at the site of the future cob house. (That may be why I am sick today.)

The old timer pecan tree.

An Osage Orange tree along the creek. Also known as Bois d'arc. I only "know" it when I see the oranges on the ground.

Amazing lichen growing on the fallen limbs we gathered.

More lichen.

We got a good load of wood.

At one point the herd of Limousin cows decided to say hello. They surrounded the pickup and MH started calling, Black. [As the story goes, MH met Black some years ago. The cow came over and licked MH, marking her. They are family now.] MH told us to watch for #9, aka Black. Suddenly a large black cow came over and stuck her nose in the cab of the truck. Zelda wasn't sure what to think, but we were just getting the full family welcome.

Black was a little drooly. Zelda wasn't sure who or what this was and growled a little.

A beautiful cow, she was interested in getting to MH who was in the passenger seat.

We said goodbye to the cows (and a couple of baby bulls) and headed home.

This is Ginger on the right. I suspect the small bull to the left was her baby.

In two weeks we will spend a few hours planting trees and enjoying the November weather. I'm in charge of a pot of beans and a nature hike for the kids. Oh, and I'll be bringing Zelda. She'll guard the hikers.

MH and TM tried out the playground before we left. I was fading and just took photos.

Isn't this the most welcoming swing?

  
NOTES:

*https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/natural-building/cob-building-basics-zm0z13onzrob

** https://www.facebook.com/Terra-Living-203318843019635/

***https://www.facebook.com/wolfgangsgarden/

****Terra Living's 'If You Breathe, Thank a Tree' Planting Event --
https://www.facebook.com/events/1389884201088094/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%223%22%2C%22ref_newsfeed_story_type%22%3A%22regular%22%2C%22feed_story_type%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D