Words

Words have meaning.  I try to chose mine carefully.  I, like most, frequently fail.  But one word that has been particularly annoying of late is the word dreary, as it is applied to those days when the weather is not that which is preferred by most living beings.  Even the animal world tends to seek shelter on days like these.

The sky is gray.  The air is damp.  Rain has been falling and will likely fall, off and on, for the rest of the day.  And for many, it is a dreary day which seems to automatically bring negative connotations and feelings of sadness or depression.

Yet, we need the rain.  For many in drought areas this year, the rain would be a blessing.  It clears the air.  It waters the plants. It refills aquifers.  And it refills us.  

The gray sky is the price paid so that rain can come.  It hides the sun, yet it brings us clouds heavily laden with life nourishing nutrients and moisture.  Rain that, as it falls, also cleans the air so that we can breathe easier.  Just as water cleans us directly when we need to be cleansed. 

Here, it is a day to sleep a little later.  To read some maybe.  Or to work on sewing. Or canning. Or cooking.  Or maybe even watching some videos to learn new skills and gain new knowledge.  Time to do all of the indoor things that get neglected when the weather is more accomodating for living beings to be out and about in the larger environment. 

And the soul, even while the body is busy, relaxes and releases.  As if the tears of the planet provide the release that cannot be found in the tears from the body.  As if something is washed away, allowing more room for healing and growth.

The day can be busy.  The day can be slow.  It is no more, and no less, than other days.  It is just different and brings different things.  Things that are just as necessary in life as the sunshine, the wind, the snow.

Sometimes I think back on childhood and wonder when the joy of dancing in the rain disappeared.  Okay, at least warm rain.  A part of me, a large part, desperately wants a covered front porch so I can sit outside and sit with this weather.  

I am looking for a new word.  I haven't found it yet.  But I need a new word for days like this.  A word that encompasses all that the day is.  Not to rid the day of the negative, because to see the positive you have to know the negative.  To see the light, you have to see the dark.  So a word that acknowledge the entirety of these days and the beauty and blessings that these days provide.

More Garden Space, and Gardening

Oh wow.  I lost track of time.  Well, it's been a mixed bag of things getting done.

I started with the decision to put the new vegetable garden bed at the far end of the garden beds.  This is opposite it's original intended space, but the more practical location at the moment.  This is the last raised garden bed that I can stick at this end of the of the raised beds.

Step one was getting the wood in place, and screwed together.  That was slightly more of a challenge than expected because that wood, as old as it is, did not want to allow the screws to enter.  Even with pre-drilled holes.  I might have gotten a bit aggravated and set the drill up to hammer drill in order to get all the screws in place. 

Then I got the area between the new garden bed and the other one mulched for a walk path.

And then I started the filling.  This is taking time because first I have to take a mattock to the dirt pile.  Then I have to shovel everything into the wheelbarrow, while stopping frequently to pull the quack grass, and other weeds and roots.

Once I have a full wheelbarrow, I lay either cardboard or newspaper across the grass inside the frame.  In this raised bed, I'm mostly using newpapers.  Because I'm out of cardboard at the moment.

You'll have to imagine the pictures for the in between day.  I thought I took them, but apparently not. It is what it is.  I'm sure not going to go remove all the dirt so I can take them now. 

Today I finished off the base for that last open corner.  The next few days will actually be filling in to the top.  It will likely take another three or four loads of dirt to top off this raised bed.

And then there will be the top layer of cardboard and mulch, before the winter planting of either onions or garlic.

And during errands, I got an amazing deal on some really nice chrysanthemums.  I want to grow them for a variety of reasons, including medicinal uses.  I also know that this is the worst time of year for planting them.  So the pots got buried in the deep mulch.  I'll keep them watered through the end of season.  And then, when deep cold hits, they'll get thermal mass bottles to help them hold through until spring.  Fingers crossed that they make it because chrysanthemums cannot be found around here in the spring.

Neither can seeds for them.  So I'll also be grabbing a few dried seed heads when the time comes.  Just in case.

I also took the last two elderberry bush babies and dug them into spots in the mulch.  They are going to another home but it's getting to be too late in the season to transplant them.  They should hold fine, tucked into the mulch with a few thermal mass bottles of their own.

And I'm also, a little late, getting the fall garden plants in.  One bed got broccoli.  It will also get greens mixed in between. My son and I always love fresh greens.

There is also cabbage and cauliflower to go in.  I'm currently hunting brussel sprout and red cabbage plants since none of mine sprouted.  Hopefully I can find those this coming weekend.

As for garden beds at the front of the long set that is alongside the driveway, well, two more will go in.  That will give me as many as I currently have, but with the new ones in much better lighting.  One of my original sets of garden beds is now in deep shade due to tree growth.  And barring winning a lottery for $1+ million, I'm not likely to afford what the tree companies want for some heavy pruning.

I'm still deciding what to do with those original garden beds.  There are medicinal plants that will handle deep shade just fine.  I may just pull the wood that forms the sides of those beds and plant those spots with those perennial medicinal and food plants. The wood can be used elsewhere if it's still in decent condition.

I do know that there will be naturally short fruit trees that are going in along the front of the yard.  That will have them far enough forward to get the sunlight they need, despite the Silver Maple monster.

And the plan is for blackberries and raspberries between the fruit trees.  A yummy front yard fence.

Canning

I was supposed to work outside yesterday.  But there were four recipes for canning prepped in the fridge.  And despite trying, I didn't get them handled over the weekend.  So instead of working outside, I got three of the recipes canned.  I now have a dozen jars of Sweet Garlic Pickles, eight jars of Bread and Butter Relish, and 13 jars of Bread and Butter Pickles.  Hopefully, tonight I'll get the Pear Relish done.   

That's all and yet so much.  I was going to leave the B&B pickles as fridge pickles but realized that they would probably go bad before I got around to eating them all.

All of these are "rebel" canning.  Due to health issues, I am on the keto diet.  So the sweetener used in each recipe is a mix of erythritol, stevia, and monk fruit.  There is a commercially available alternative that actually does taste exactly like sugar, but I react badly to the mix.  It has allulose in the mix.  I don't react badly to allulose by itself.  But all four mixed together is something my body does not like at all.  So instead I mix my own.

I normally try to put up enough for two years when I'm completely out of something in the pantry.  And I've been out of homemade pickles and relishes for a long time.  But since this is a "rebel" method and an experiment, I only did enough for a year.

Fingers crossed for success.

If I were just doing keto for the sake of keto, the amount of sugar in the recipes could be shifted to honey, or even just left as sugar.  Used in correct amounts, the carb count isn't high.  But since I need to cut sugar as much as possible, or anything that will be a possible issue for diabetes, I'm trying alternates.  I won't use any of the other sweeteners because of things learned over the years.  I am hoping to eventually be able to grow my own stevia and monk fruit.  Then I will work out a flavor balance between just those two.