Just as I committed to blog more, two rather massive and messy projects at work got dropped on me, which meant I was back to working nights and weekends. That, along with some other commitments I had made proceeded to suck up all my time, and then my daughter decided to get her two year old molars, and we went into a few weeks of nosleeparanza.
Needless to say I sat here and stared at the screen a few times, started more than a few posts, and then went to bed.
The combination of life with a toddler, lack of sleep, a commute, tons of work, life in general and endless snowstorms made my brain shut down for all but the most basic day to day tasks. It wasn't quite of the 'drool from the corner of the mouth' variety of shutdown, but close.
But then yesterday I read a blog post on Slate about women who outearn their husbands, and it caught my interest, and switched my brain to the 'on' position, even if just briefly. This coincided with some interaction between my absolutely wonderful husband and my absolutely wonderful father-in-law (okay, slight edge to my husband, as I tend to think he's about the greatest guy on the planet, give or take the Dalai Lama and a few others). See, my father-in-law is fabulous, without a doubt one of my favorite people. But he's a leeetle old fashioned, and the idea that my husband and I are dependent on my income tends to make his palms sweat in fear.
It's not that he's not proud of my husband, quite the opposite. It's that, like many men, much of his identity is wrapped in the idea of 'provider'. And for him to be jobless at my husband's age, with a family and a mortgage would have been an absolute crisis. So I think he's having a bit of trouble wrapping his brain around the idea that not only are we fine, but we're better than fine. We're even, um, good. Really good.
Sander would love to be back at work. He misses it - a lot. And he's looking hard. Signs that the tech sector is easing up and starting to hire are around. That's good.
But in the meantime, I feel extraordinarily blessed to have a husband who takes being a father as seriously as he does. Without a doubt, I have a complete co-parent at my side (if not even a better parent, I often admit), the kind that other women profess to want. I married a renaissance man, and the trade off of that is that our roles are not traditional ones. Which is just fine with me. Really fine.
I should probably admit that I am probably more well-positioned to accept our non-traditional roles than most. Raised by gay "moms", gender roles were never my strong suit, given that toilet-fixing and other male-type roles were being done by women. I was a US Marine, and I can tell you right now that the suggestion that I wasn't a full equal to my male counterparts wouldn't go well for the suggester. I had two female and two male attendants for my wedding, and got just a teensy bit pissy when the pastor suggested they process in male/female pairs with arms linked during our rehearsal - I was only going for it if my husband's all-male attendants left the church with arms linked as well. Needless to say, I got my way. It's not that I cared so much about how they processed so much as I was annoyed at the idea that they should be paired because they were mixed genders. If I'd had 4 female attendants it would have never come up.
So, I have pretty strong feelings about gender equality. And that includes who should be the breadwinner. If women want to be equal, it must cease to matter, and we must acknowledge that our families financial well being is as much ours to ensure as our husbands. That's not to say that all women should go into the workforce -far from it. But rejecting the automatic equation of male as breadwinner and woman as nurturer is the only way things should be is one way women win equality. And that means that those husbands who earn less or not at all aren't 'losers' or 'unmotivated' - they are equal partners working towards that family's well being.
And the idea that a man's value is defined by his ability to generate income has to go too. It isn't that no one should move towards a well-paying career, and I'll be the first to admit that there is real satisfaction to be gained from work. I happen to really like my job, and when I do something well, I love it. But the role of men has to be broadened in our minds. If someone wants to sign up for the traditional arrangement, great. Just support our slightly different one to the same degree - societally, legislatively, and so on.
Women are often great nurturers, and men are often great breadwinners, but neither of those things are the measure of their genders. Far from it. And I for one would take my husband, currently curled up with my daughter watching Sesame Street than any old master of the universe.
I am one lucky woman.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
My Daughter, Myself
In just a 17 days, my daughter, the adorable one, turns 2. There's a lot of twoishness going on - pickiness about nearly everything, from what she eats and wears to whether she wears anything at all, temper tantrums, the ever-enjoyable turning into a limp noodle-being and sinking to the floor when she doesn't want to go somewhere, and a whole big lot of the word 'no'. Pretty normal for an almost 2 year old, all things considered.
I love to watch her though. She's curious about pretty much everything, and she's convinced with the right balloon she could fly. She's outgoing, and seems to have an idea about people - more than once she's provided a hug to someone at exactly the right time. It's like she has a 6th sense about that kind of thing. I both love to watch her grow right before me, and pray that she doesn't grow too fast. I get the empty nest thing now, I know I will be both proud, and deeply saddened when it's her turn to fly off.
Motherhood has changed me. It's inevitable, really - parenthood starts when a rather smallish little dictator is delivered to unsuspecting parents. Babies are adorable dictators, but dictators still. All of a sudden, you go from being all about you - albeit not as svelte a you as perhaps you were accustomed to being before the advent of the whole pregnancy thing - to being all about someone other than you.
But that's not the surprising part. I sort of expected that part, although the sheer brutality of 12 months without a single night of more than 5-6 hours of sleep (and often less) would startle anyone.. anyone who could work up the energy to be startled, that is. To be honest, I still don't often get a good night's sleep. But even that isn't the really big surprise.
The really big surprise is that not only did parenthood change my focus, it changed the way I see the world. If I had empathy before, but it's nothing like now. Kids who are hungry, in need of medical care, or heck, just winter boots - are deeply upsetting to me. Our giving, both planned and ad-hoc, has gone up exponentially in this area. To the point where Sander occasionally attempts to remind me that saving the world is beyond our means.
But in many areas, it's also crystallized my feelings. I think some things to me are more fixed and firm than they were before. I'm open minded about some things, and about most people, but I'll never be able to vote Republican. I tend to think that motherhood forced me to become a more ruthless editor of my life - tossing out once and for all the possibilities that likely will never fit me so that there's room for the possibilities that may. There's that cliche about never saying never, but I think it's okay sometimes. I've made it to 37 years old and still don't like lima beans, I'm comfortable saying that they will never cross my doorstep. The only way you are getting lima beans down my throat is if it's 50 years from now when I'm drooly and in the old folks home. Because by then I might not care, or be able to tell the pureed lima beans from the pureed peas.
Motherhood has also helped me to understand loss. To have a child is to forever have that little finger of fear in your heart. I know enough people who have either lost a child or children who have lost a parent while they were still young to not feel vulnerable. And a recent loss of our own over Thanksgiving, of a baby in the first trimester brings that possibility of loss much more in the present. I literally thank God every day for keeping the adorable one healthy and safe.
Parenthood has made my marriage infinitely more solid...and infinitely more fragile. It took a while for us to adjust, but we're more of a team than we've ever been, and rediculously happy to boot. That said, I'm now so much more aware of what could go wrong.
And I even now get why someone like Michelle Duggar keeps doing the baby thing. It's hard to look at your child as a blessing and not see more as a blessing too. Not going for 19, not even more than 2 - but I do understand it.
I get what it means to love someone just for loving your child.
I get why parents will give up everything and anything to ensure their child has what he or she needs.
Motherhood is a funny thing. It takes what you think you know about the world and upends it on it's ear. But you don't really mind, and after a while it starts to seem rather normal..after a while, you wonder how you could have ever seen the world any different.
My daughter is about to turn 2, and it's a milestone for me too. There's no Peep and the Big Wide World party for my milestone, but that's okay - it's one any mother or father could recognize.
I love to watch her though. She's curious about pretty much everything, and she's convinced with the right balloon she could fly. She's outgoing, and seems to have an idea about people - more than once she's provided a hug to someone at exactly the right time. It's like she has a 6th sense about that kind of thing. I both love to watch her grow right before me, and pray that she doesn't grow too fast. I get the empty nest thing now, I know I will be both proud, and deeply saddened when it's her turn to fly off.
Motherhood has changed me. It's inevitable, really - parenthood starts when a rather smallish little dictator is delivered to unsuspecting parents. Babies are adorable dictators, but dictators still. All of a sudden, you go from being all about you - albeit not as svelte a you as perhaps you were accustomed to being before the advent of the whole pregnancy thing - to being all about someone other than you.
But that's not the surprising part. I sort of expected that part, although the sheer brutality of 12 months without a single night of more than 5-6 hours of sleep (and often less) would startle anyone.. anyone who could work up the energy to be startled, that is. To be honest, I still don't often get a good night's sleep. But even that isn't the really big surprise.
The really big surprise is that not only did parenthood change my focus, it changed the way I see the world. If I had empathy before, but it's nothing like now. Kids who are hungry, in need of medical care, or heck, just winter boots - are deeply upsetting to me. Our giving, both planned and ad-hoc, has gone up exponentially in this area. To the point where Sander occasionally attempts to remind me that saving the world is beyond our means.
But in many areas, it's also crystallized my feelings. I think some things to me are more fixed and firm than they were before. I'm open minded about some things, and about most people, but I'll never be able to vote Republican. I tend to think that motherhood forced me to become a more ruthless editor of my life - tossing out once and for all the possibilities that likely will never fit me so that there's room for the possibilities that may. There's that cliche about never saying never, but I think it's okay sometimes. I've made it to 37 years old and still don't like lima beans, I'm comfortable saying that they will never cross my doorstep. The only way you are getting lima beans down my throat is if it's 50 years from now when I'm drooly and in the old folks home. Because by then I might not care, or be able to tell the pureed lima beans from the pureed peas.
Motherhood has also helped me to understand loss. To have a child is to forever have that little finger of fear in your heart. I know enough people who have either lost a child or children who have lost a parent while they were still young to not feel vulnerable. And a recent loss of our own over Thanksgiving, of a baby in the first trimester brings that possibility of loss much more in the present. I literally thank God every day for keeping the adorable one healthy and safe.
Parenthood has made my marriage infinitely more solid...and infinitely more fragile. It took a while for us to adjust, but we're more of a team than we've ever been, and rediculously happy to boot. That said, I'm now so much more aware of what could go wrong.
And I even now get why someone like Michelle Duggar keeps doing the baby thing. It's hard to look at your child as a blessing and not see more as a blessing too. Not going for 19, not even more than 2 - but I do understand it.
I get what it means to love someone just for loving your child.
I get why parents will give up everything and anything to ensure their child has what he or she needs.
Motherhood is a funny thing. It takes what you think you know about the world and upends it on it's ear. But you don't really mind, and after a while it starts to seem rather normal..after a while, you wonder how you could have ever seen the world any different.
My daughter is about to turn 2, and it's a milestone for me too. There's no Peep and the Big Wide World party for my milestone, but that's okay - it's one any mother or father could recognize.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Is There Enough Oil To Fuel The Economic Recovery We All Want?
Allow me to direct your attention to Jeffrey Rubin's very interesting question here.
I'm not saying he's right or wrong. But I thought it was a fascinating, and prescient take on our current economic conundrum.
Is there? No idea, but it will be interesting to find out.
I'm not saying he's right or wrong. But I thought it was a fascinating, and prescient take on our current economic conundrum.
Is there? No idea, but it will be interesting to find out.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Disconnecting
This year, for the first time, I took the week between Christmas and New Year's off. It's a good week to take off in the corporate world - there is little going on, and most people take at least some vacation.
We didn't go anywhere - we've been on the road a lot this year, between weekends to visit family, our 1200-mile road trip this summer, a few trips up to Moosehead Lake, where my husband and his parents have cabins, and some other random trips, so some time home was a good idea.
Still it was busy - a good chunk of time was spent on the perpetual tidying-up wheel as a steady stream of visitors came through last week, starting on Christmas day and running up until New Year's Eve. Okay, one of those visitors was my mother, who came over for a few hours so that we could have a date - we even achieved the holy grail of parents with a toddler, seeing a movie...in the theater. Yes, folks, it can happen (it only took us 22 months) Alert the media.
But we spent a lot of time relaxing and doing stuff as a family, which was great. I think the greatness was augmented by the fact that with a few sanctioned exceptions, when I needed to remote in to work, I totally disconnected. I read the news online in the mornings, but that was about it. Whole days went by when I didn't even check email on my blackberry.
The end of November and all December was a bit like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for me, and as a result, for my husband and daughter. I had a fair amount of work and non-work commitments, and to top it off, I ended up stepping in at the last minute for a major transition in my - not my client - company unexpectedly in early December, when the person who owned the work I took over had a double family emergency. By the time I came up for air from that, the holidays were in full swing, and we were not ready. So we headed in to Christmas at a dead run, which wound down oh...about 9:15 am Christmas morning when I got the turkey stuffed and in the oven. While a room full of people was waiting for me so that they could open presents.
Fun, right?
So I owed my family some time, after long workdays followed by weeknights and weekends of 'I just need a few hours to...' . Disconnecting meant some requests didn't get answered in a timely manner, and that I punted on a few things I probably should have stepped up for. But it was worth it, because I managed for the first time in a while to put my family first, above all the other stuff going on. And wow, did they need it. So did I.
My life - and many others around me - have become about 24/7 contact. Texts are expected to be answered in minutes, not hours. IM is the norm at work, which is a mixed blessing. It saves me from endless conference calls, but it is a pain in the butt, and has interrupted more work than I prefer to think about. I used to go days without answering email, but now I answer it daily. Our new normal is to be available...always.
And I think it's a really mixed bag. Sure, instant information is handy. But the constant flow of texts, emails, IMs and alerts means that few things happen uninterrupted these days. There's always something external that needs paying attention to, and opportunities pass by those who don't stay on top of the stream of data that flies our way. But relationships are the best thing in my life.
Because I disconnected, I got to fully enjoy introducing my daughter to real, live penguins at the aquarium without distraction. I got to spend a full hour talking to my 90 year old great aunt about her experiences as a nurse in the Phillipenes during World War II when I visited her in the hospital while she recuperates from a fall. I spent long hours talking to my husband about everything and anything. I played blocks, dinosaurs and chase with my daughter, minus the almost ever-present feeling that I should be doing something else. I slept in, took naps, and read.
My life doesn't often afford me the opportunity to sign off for a few days. But I think I'm going to make it an annual goal to do so every year at the holidays. It's far too easy to overlook the really important stuff when the texts are flying.
We didn't go anywhere - we've been on the road a lot this year, between weekends to visit family, our 1200-mile road trip this summer, a few trips up to Moosehead Lake, where my husband and his parents have cabins, and some other random trips, so some time home was a good idea.
Still it was busy - a good chunk of time was spent on the perpetual tidying-up wheel as a steady stream of visitors came through last week, starting on Christmas day and running up until New Year's Eve. Okay, one of those visitors was my mother, who came over for a few hours so that we could have a date - we even achieved the holy grail of parents with a toddler, seeing a movie...in the theater. Yes, folks, it can happen (it only took us 22 months) Alert the media.
But we spent a lot of time relaxing and doing stuff as a family, which was great. I think the greatness was augmented by the fact that with a few sanctioned exceptions, when I needed to remote in to work, I totally disconnected. I read the news online in the mornings, but that was about it. Whole days went by when I didn't even check email on my blackberry.
The end of November and all December was a bit like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for me, and as a result, for my husband and daughter. I had a fair amount of work and non-work commitments, and to top it off, I ended up stepping in at the last minute for a major transition in my - not my client - company unexpectedly in early December, when the person who owned the work I took over had a double family emergency. By the time I came up for air from that, the holidays were in full swing, and we were not ready. So we headed in to Christmas at a dead run, which wound down oh...about 9:15 am Christmas morning when I got the turkey stuffed and in the oven. While a room full of people was waiting for me so that they could open presents.
Fun, right?
So I owed my family some time, after long workdays followed by weeknights and weekends of 'I just need a few hours to...' . Disconnecting meant some requests didn't get answered in a timely manner, and that I punted on a few things I probably should have stepped up for. But it was worth it, because I managed for the first time in a while to put my family first, above all the other stuff going on. And wow, did they need it. So did I.
My life - and many others around me - have become about 24/7 contact. Texts are expected to be answered in minutes, not hours. IM is the norm at work, which is a mixed blessing. It saves me from endless conference calls, but it is a pain in the butt, and has interrupted more work than I prefer to think about. I used to go days without answering email, but now I answer it daily. Our new normal is to be available...always.
And I think it's a really mixed bag. Sure, instant information is handy. But the constant flow of texts, emails, IMs and alerts means that few things happen uninterrupted these days. There's always something external that needs paying attention to, and opportunities pass by those who don't stay on top of the stream of data that flies our way. But relationships are the best thing in my life.
Because I disconnected, I got to fully enjoy introducing my daughter to real, live penguins at the aquarium without distraction. I got to spend a full hour talking to my 90 year old great aunt about her experiences as a nurse in the Phillipenes during World War II when I visited her in the hospital while she recuperates from a fall. I spent long hours talking to my husband about everything and anything. I played blocks, dinosaurs and chase with my daughter, minus the almost ever-present feeling that I should be doing something else. I slept in, took naps, and read.
My life doesn't often afford me the opportunity to sign off for a few days. But I think I'm going to make it an annual goal to do so every year at the holidays. It's far too easy to overlook the really important stuff when the texts are flying.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Should You Have New Year's Resolutions?
I set new year's resolutions every year. Sometimes I keep them, sometimes I don't. Sometimes, around April or May of a given year, I find myself racking my brains to even remember what those resolutions were.
It's a process.
But I plan to keep making resolutions, and here's why:
I think setting goals and not meeting them is better than no goal-setting. I also believe that writing down one's goals (note to self: writing them on post-it notes you then proceed to lose is not a good methodology) helps you achieve those goals, even if you never look at that piece of paper or blog post again. I am a case in point, see my note to self above. I couldn't tell you why that works, but it does.
Whether you set those goals on January 1st or August 14 doesn't matter. It's the setting of them, writing them down, and then taking specific actions to move in the direction of achieving them that matters.
So what are my goals for 2011? I have a few, in a few different categories.
Blog-Related
1. Blog more. I certainly did better than in 2009, but I'd like to manage 5-7 blog posts a week. I think it's achievable, but it will take a commitment to do so.
2. In conjunction with that, a redesign of my site and a concerted effort to move more traffic to it.
Personal
1. Spend more time in the garden. This is also a way to add focused family time to our lives, as well as increasing our food yields and improving our landscaping.
2. Exercise more. Between work, which is rarely just 40 hours, commuting 2+ hours a day most weekdays, family life, friends, and external commitments, this is just one thing I have not managed to fit in. But I need to figure this one out, because it's having a detrimental effect on my life.
3. Less TV. Because we're so tired so much of the time, TV is the default entertainment most nights. Because of that, we've pushed off other things that may be just as enjoyable. I'll shoot for 1 night a week free of TV.
4. Spend more time with friends. Sadly, because of the reasons in #2, friends often get bumped to the bottom of the list. I need to work on that.
Professional
1. Start work on my PMP. It's something I've pushed off
2. Use my network to continue to try and drum up both clients for my company and work for my husband
Sustainability
1. Plant more fruit trees and perennials, such as berries.
2. Enlarge the garden
3. Insulate and re-side our house, which will help with how much heating oil we burn.
4. Grow and/or find more sources of local food, and spend more time preserving it.
Well, it's a long list, but even if I only get it half done, that's pretty good. It will be interesting to see how the list turns out.
Happy New Year!!
How about you? Do you make resolutions? Why or why not?
It's a process.
But I plan to keep making resolutions, and here's why:
I think setting goals and not meeting them is better than no goal-setting. I also believe that writing down one's goals (note to self: writing them on post-it notes you then proceed to lose is not a good methodology) helps you achieve those goals, even if you never look at that piece of paper or blog post again. I am a case in point, see my note to self above. I couldn't tell you why that works, but it does.
Whether you set those goals on January 1st or August 14 doesn't matter. It's the setting of them, writing them down, and then taking specific actions to move in the direction of achieving them that matters.
So what are my goals for 2011? I have a few, in a few different categories.
Blog-Related
1. Blog more. I certainly did better than in 2009, but I'd like to manage 5-7 blog posts a week. I think it's achievable, but it will take a commitment to do so.
2. In conjunction with that, a redesign of my site and a concerted effort to move more traffic to it.
Personal
1. Spend more time in the garden. This is also a way to add focused family time to our lives, as well as increasing our food yields and improving our landscaping.
2. Exercise more. Between work, which is rarely just 40 hours, commuting 2+ hours a day most weekdays, family life, friends, and external commitments, this is just one thing I have not managed to fit in. But I need to figure this one out, because it's having a detrimental effect on my life.
3. Less TV. Because we're so tired so much of the time, TV is the default entertainment most nights. Because of that, we've pushed off other things that may be just as enjoyable. I'll shoot for 1 night a week free of TV.
4. Spend more time with friends. Sadly, because of the reasons in #2, friends often get bumped to the bottom of the list. I need to work on that.
Professional
1. Start work on my PMP. It's something I've pushed off
2. Use my network to continue to try and drum up both clients for my company and work for my husband
Sustainability
1. Plant more fruit trees and perennials, such as berries.
2. Enlarge the garden
3. Insulate and re-side our house, which will help with how much heating oil we burn.
4. Grow and/or find more sources of local food, and spend more time preserving it.
Well, it's a long list, but even if I only get it half done, that's pretty good. It will be interesting to see how the list turns out.
Happy New Year!!
How about you? Do you make resolutions? Why or why not?
Thursday, December 16, 2010
7 Web Sites to Help You Become Someone Else
1. You want to master Italian cooking
Go here: Vincent Scordo's blog is nothing short of brilliant, and his recipes are the real deal. Be prepared to develop an arancini addiction.
2. You want to learn how to think like, or become, a CEO
Go talk to Eric. At the very least you'll be entertained by his narration of his Acela trip to New York City. I can relate -back in my public transport days, I must have had a sign on my back that read: If you ate too much garlic for dinner last night, and it's eking out your pores, plus you like to elbow people when you turn the pages of your newspaper, sit next to me! I really don't miss that. I'm all for public transport. Hold the garlic.
3. You want to be prepared for the Apocalypse, or at least become one of those mountain man types
Actually, some of the articles and information on Backwoods Home's website is quite good. And if you are looking for an all-camo wardrobe and a 5-year supply of freeze-dried food, these are the folks that can help with that.
4. You want to become a consultant
Years of watching consultants work at your firm have convinced you that the lifestyle is one of travel and glamour. (PSA: travel is often a yes, glamour not so much) Go read Consultant Journal. Good blog, good information.
5. You want to escape the Rat Race
If you want a career change, or to retire early, there's a lot of web sites out there to help. But the most thoughtful and well-written article I think I've ever read on the topic is here. For help with executing an early retirement plan, try here.
6. You want to develop the next cool mobile device app - but don't have unlimited funds
Go here first. Then do some googling. Even if you don't, reading Business Insider is a good idea.
7. You want to be the next reality TV star
Think Mike Holmes has nothing on you? Have more kids and better hair than Kate Gosselin?
Go here to learn how to get the cameras trained on you. But be careful what you wish for...
Well, there you have it. Just remember to tell all your future fans that you learned it here.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
How Does My Garden Grow: 2011 Planning Edition
Today I skipped right past the holidays, ignoring the fact that I still have a gobzillion presents to wrap and baking to do - and ordered some seeds for next year's garden.
Since I haven't done a full seed order in a couple years, nor have I kept track of the age of my seeds (PSA: most seeds increase, instead of decrease, germination year over year for a period of several years. Onions and the rest of the allium family are an exception), it was time for a new seed inventory. I promise to keep better track of this one.
My seed orders have improved over the years. For one thing, I have a better handle on what we don't have success with, and what will get eaten vs. passed over once picked. Do not talk to me of the nutritional value of rutabagas - I don't like them, and to paraphrase a former president, I'm 37 years old and I don't have to eat them if I don't want to. You can mail my portion of rutabagas to the hungry children in Africa, okay?
I'll even provide the envelope.
So there.
But despite that, I still get sucked into descriptions of French heirloom winter squashes (note to the squeamish, those bumps are created by the sugars in the pumpkin, which means it's sweet and tasty), tomato breeds created by Thomas Jefferson, beans bred by my own ancestors, the Cherokee, and so on. If it says old and rare, I probably want it.
Because growing Reisentraube tomatoes, Vert Grimmpant melons (don't you just love the name Grimmpant? If we ever get a pet we're totally naming him or her Grimmpant. If I get my way, that is.), and Yok Kao cucumers is totally cool. Would you like some Bleu of Solaise lettuce? Doesn't it sound like it needs to be in a salad with blue cheese, candied walnuts and maple-roasted pears?
I do. But maybe I'm just hungry.
We'll also grow some things the adorable one can enjoy - she's already planted last year's garden with us, and has become an expert at raspberry picking. We can't seem to convince her to wait until the tomatoes are actually ripe to pick them, but what's a few cherry tomatoes sacrificed on the alter of learning to love being outdoors? So this year we'll add miniature pumpkins, birdhouse gourds, and more annual flowers. All the flowers, too, are old school - sweet peas, bachelor's buttons, love-in-a-mist, pansies, bells of ireland, and my personal favorite:
Kiss me over the garden gate.
The name says it all, does it not?
When the adorable one is a little older, say, in a year, we'll add Four O'Clocks too, and I'll read her the poem by my favorite unlikely poet about the naughty Four O' Clocks who refused to have their faces washed.
We're also going to add apricot trees, a couple Cornelian cherry trees, and some blackberries. I'd like to put in more apples and some peach trees, but we have to take down some trees first.
I'd love to have some nut trees too, but space and the layout of our land do not permit it at the moment.
Oh well.
I'm in no rush for the holidays or winter to be over. But gardening is important, and not just because I love to do it. The number of people in this country that are food insecure is rapidly increasing. Kitchen gardens are one way to solve that problem - perhaps even the best way.
Chew on this from 1943-45:
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 20 million victory gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables. So, the program made a difference.
We grew, during WWII, 9-10 million tons of food in our front and back yards.
Imagine what knowing we could, with just a few minutes a week, produce 9-10 million tons of fresh food from our back yards would do for our national optimism, which, quite frankly, could do with a bit of a bump. What it might do for those going hungry. What it might do for our own health and weight. Imagine the wonder that kids have when they grow a pumpkin themselves, or make a birdhouse out of a gourd, or run through a field of giant sunflowers. Imagine it's your kid.
It could happen again - one Quadrato D'asti Rosso pepper at a time.
Since I haven't done a full seed order in a couple years, nor have I kept track of the age of my seeds (PSA: most seeds increase, instead of decrease, germination year over year for a period of several years. Onions and the rest of the allium family are an exception), it was time for a new seed inventory. I promise to keep better track of this one.
My seed orders have improved over the years. For one thing, I have a better handle on what we don't have success with, and what will get eaten vs. passed over once picked. Do not talk to me of the nutritional value of rutabagas - I don't like them, and to paraphrase a former president, I'm 37 years old and I don't have to eat them if I don't want to. You can mail my portion of rutabagas to the hungry children in Africa, okay?
I'll even provide the envelope.
So there.
But despite that, I still get sucked into descriptions of French heirloom winter squashes (note to the squeamish, those bumps are created by the sugars in the pumpkin, which means it's sweet and tasty), tomato breeds created by Thomas Jefferson, beans bred by my own ancestors, the Cherokee, and so on. If it says old and rare, I probably want it.
Because growing Reisentraube tomatoes, Vert Grimmpant melons (don't you just love the name Grimmpant? If we ever get a pet we're totally naming him or her Grimmpant. If I get my way, that is.), and Yok Kao cucumers is totally cool. Would you like some Bleu of Solaise lettuce? Doesn't it sound like it needs to be in a salad with blue cheese, candied walnuts and maple-roasted pears?
I do. But maybe I'm just hungry.
We'll also grow some things the adorable one can enjoy - she's already planted last year's garden with us, and has become an expert at raspberry picking. We can't seem to convince her to wait until the tomatoes are actually ripe to pick them, but what's a few cherry tomatoes sacrificed on the alter of learning to love being outdoors? So this year we'll add miniature pumpkins, birdhouse gourds, and more annual flowers. All the flowers, too, are old school - sweet peas, bachelor's buttons, love-in-a-mist, pansies, bells of ireland, and my personal favorite:
The name says it all, does it not?
When the adorable one is a little older, say, in a year, we'll add Four O'Clocks too, and I'll read her the poem by my favorite unlikely poet about the naughty Four O' Clocks who refused to have their faces washed.
We're also going to add apricot trees, a couple Cornelian cherry trees, and some blackberries. I'd like to put in more apples and some peach trees, but we have to take down some trees first.
I'd love to have some nut trees too, but space and the layout of our land do not permit it at the moment.
Oh well.
I'm in no rush for the holidays or winter to be over. But gardening is important, and not just because I love to do it. The number of people in this country that are food insecure is rapidly increasing. Kitchen gardens are one way to solve that problem - perhaps even the best way.
Chew on this from 1943-45:
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 20 million victory gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables. So, the program made a difference.
We grew, during WWII, 9-10 million tons of food in our front and back yards.
Imagine what knowing we could, with just a few minutes a week, produce 9-10 million tons of fresh food from our back yards would do for our national optimism, which, quite frankly, could do with a bit of a bump. What it might do for those going hungry. What it might do for our own health and weight. Imagine the wonder that kids have when they grow a pumpkin themselves, or make a birdhouse out of a gourd, or run through a field of giant sunflowers. Imagine it's your kid.
It could happen again - one Quadrato D'asti Rosso pepper at a time.
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