Mother Earth News Blog #2

I wrote a short piece on how to stay physically and emotionally healthy during the busy season on the farm. Here is a link to the blog: http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-livestock/staying-power-zbcz1506.aspx 

Mother Earth News Blog #1

Wow, what a thing. I get to blog for Mother Earth News.
Here is a link to my first post: http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/6-steps-to-creating-a-community-farmers-market-zbcz1506.aspx 

Alternative Fruits 2015

There is more to life than apples, pears, cherries and peaches. I know this may sound like blasphemy given that much of the economic success of our region is dependent upon these four crops.  Come harvest time, we all know a neighbor or a friend of a friend who will give us a great deal on a case of one of these staples. Often the quality is better than what we are capable of growing ourselves and certainly the price is worth the time and labor that we are saved from having to squeeze in the pruning, watering, care and maintenance that it would personally take to harvest that same box of fruit. This abundance also means that home gardeners are free to experiment with lesser known and hard to find fruits.

Our climate makes growing berries and other bush and tree fruits relatively easy and problem free. We don’t have to worry about humidity related illness, such as mummy berry, which can be a crippling problem in Western Washington.  Here are a few alternative fruit crops that do well in our region and are prized globally for their flavor. Often, if we do not travel abroad, we are unaware of some of the world’s most popular foods since they do not fit into our regional paradigm or cultural customs.

Honeyberries- These are a honeysuckle derived fruit common in the northern hemisphere of both Asia and North America. Honeyberry is confusingly absent from the West Coast of both regions.  To date, Russia has spent the most effort on breeding programs and the fruit is regularly harvested from wild growing plants.  Honeyberries are ready for harvest a full 2 weeks earlier than strawberries which puts them several weeks ahead of traditional blueberry harvest.  This is a good item to work into your garden if you have adequate sunlight. They can be grown in a wide range of pH soils and cultivars can be found that are hardy to zone 1! You will need at least 2 varieties planted close by for good pollination.

Hardy Kiwi- Hardy Kiwis are a perennial native to Japan, Korea, Northern China and Siberia.  They are grape-sized fruits that are similar in flavor to traditional kiwi fruit but are often sweeter. These are a fast growing vine that will require trellising. There are both male and female plants. You will need at least one of each for pollination. Although the plants themselves can be hardy down to -30F, they do require approximately 150 frost free growing days for fruit development. However, late freeze events are okay provided that there is a gradual cooling-off period beforehand to allow for acclimation.

Mulberries- The mulberry is a swift-growing deciduous tree that can reach a total height of 30-50 feet at maturity. They are loaded with elongated pale to dark purple fruits that have a delicate sweetness.  They are commonly found in the Middle East, Northern Africa and the Indian subcontinent. In this region, they grow exceptionally well in the upper valley with little to no supplemental irrigation. Their fruits are very attractive to Cedar Waxwings and Western Tanagers making them an excellent choice as a wildlife forage species. They are highly productive but require netting if you hope to have any fruits left to harvest after the birds have discovered the tree.

Gooseberries- This is another native to Europe, Northwestern Africa and Asia. This moderate sized bush can be heavily laden with quarter sized maroon berries.  They require some irrigation but are fairly hardy and naturally occur in low nitrogen environments. The fruits are prized for jams and jellies.

Have fun experimenting with something different in your garden this season and Happy Gardening!

Elemental Life

Why does life form?
A better question would be, Why doesn't it?
Why does Iron form?  An elemental bi-product of the inevitable chemistry of the universe.
Life is an element. An inevitability that arises like a phoenix from within the universal rules of chemistry and physics. Life abounds in all places. Life abounds where we cannot yet see. We have never been alone. We are not alone now.

existential

I don't know much about life after death but I may believe in life after life.
*****
what do you see when you look at yourself? do you know that person well? can you look them in the eyes? who looks back?
*****
I used to turn myself around and around, in front of a mirror, trying to understand.
My mother hinted that I may be vain....a mortal sin. What I could not explain to her, in my child's voice, was my curiosity as to who I was. This shell that I inhabit must be very different from the last. Who grows up thinking that they have been placed inside the wrong body? Who physically feels their eyes becoming windows....not made of glass but a set fashioned from thin sheets of Muscovite; ancient and milky?
*****
A friend and I have shared the same dreams. Not a hypothetical dream for the future or the ephemeral dream to someday be a writer (although we do dream that dream together)  but the dreams of the unconscious soul. Dreams of lilacs blossoms blowing on the breeze, dreams of dead friends, dreams of the divine. He once explained to me that he can no longer meditate because he is afraid of what he will find. He has found the way....the tunnel that leads to light. He found the way and the one on the other side shot out of the darkness and delivered a hard right hooked punch to his gut. He will not meditate now; the pain was too real.
Many of us have found this place and are afraid to enter. We are not taught to know what to do when we arrive and so we flee. But we are drawn here, over and over, to stand at the gate and to let the wind howl past. The buzzing and crackle and the alignment of neural energy....if you have been here you may know how startling this discovery can be.
*****
I do not believe in who I am...Meaning, I do not believe that this is all I am meant to be. I have been more and I have been less. I have purpose and with luck, my life will have meaning to others. After I pass, I may return as a swallow, another woman, a man, or your cat. I may be the ant who is tortured by children or the peasant who is tortured by circumstance.
I will not return as a demon....one of the unconscionable souls tending the alter of economy, persecution and power. Hell is very real but its dimension exists now. Demons exist but they wear the skins of sharks and prey upon the poor. Damnation is often a choice.
*****
Are we animal or are we human? Do you know the difference? Lost Souls, you are not lost. You have only forgotten the way. The path is laid out before you, now walk forth and exist.

summer skin

I stand naked before the mirror and admire the return of my summer skin;
pale pink above my breasts and bronze in over lapping layers of straps and sleeves. Muscles form and re-form in a progression down the length of my arms.
The silt washes off in a torrent of mud mixed with the sweet scent of soap;
my hair once again bright as the moon; casting off the dullness of the day in its many layers of sweat, grime and sunshine.
My toes will not be clean again until the leaves fall from the trees in their cascade of relief and exhaustion, as summer wanes and autumn embraces us with darkness.
Next to the sink, I study the black of my hat. Its surface a rainbow of textures;  an oil soaked and sleek band fades into bleached and brittle edges. A history and a reflection of my unconscious habit of removing it and reapplying it over and over as I struggle to shield my eyes from the light....my fingerprints are nearly visible on the brim. Like my toes, my fingers will bear the burden of the season; rough and frayed corners, calluses, and healed-over blisters.
From head to toe, I am amused by my appearance and I contemplate Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. I remember my mother, grandmothers, great-grand mothers. I look into my own eyes and see eternity laid out before me.
I am the one that arrives with dirt in the cuffs, spots, stains and small tears.I am a woman of beauty; a creature of struggle, persistence and undying optimism. I am the light that is not seen and only felt. I am starlight and madness. I am the womb of creation. I am all of these things. I am dust.

Welcome to the Farmers Market 2015

Summer living, here we come. After a milder than usual winter and an early spring, it feels like we are jumping into summer a little ahead of schedule. Already, the apple blossoms have come and gone; the wildflowers have arrived in a profusion of color, while the drier hillsides have turned from dormant brown, to lush green and now to red as the wild grasses make their way through their annual life cycle. And finally, after a long break, the Farmers Market season has begun.  The weather has been favorable and many crops are weeks ahead of schedule.  Already, visitors to the Market have been able to find radishes, rhubarb, bok choy, salad mix, arugula, spinach, turnips, napa cabbage and asparagus. Over the coming weeks, expect to see the arrival of early carrots, baby beets, young garlic, spring onions plus much, much more.

Master Gardeners will be on hand at the Wenatchee Farmers Market, The Leavenworth Community Farmers Market and the Chelan Market and are happy to answer your garden related questions. This is a great chance to get some much needed advice on your home garden and to become familiar with the Chelan/Douglas Master Gardener Program and the classes and events they will be hosting throughout the summer.

Below, are the operating dates and times for four of our best local markets.  If you can’t make it to a market, Sage Mountain in Leavenworth and Rhubarb Market in Wenatchee make local, seasonal produce available year round to their customers and often honor special requests.

·         The Kittitas County Farmers Market in Ellensburg opened on May 2^nd and will be operating every Saturday from 9 AM -1 PM, May-October.

·         The Wenatchee Farmers Market opened for the season on Saturday May 9^th and runs from 8 AM-1 PM.

·         The Chelan Farmers Market will begin its market season on Thursday May 21^st from 4-7 PM.

·         The Leavenworth Community Farmers Market is slated to open on Thursday June 4^th from  4-8 PM. This season, they have added a kids-only vending booth beginning on Thursday, June 25^th and running through the rest of the market season.

And, if you have ever considered becoming a vendor at one of your local markets, don’t wait. Now is the time to contact them directly about special vendor days or hosting a regular booth. Whether you grow flowers, fruits or veggies, participating in your local market is a great way to meet your neighbors and join a community of like-minded gardeners. Happy Gardening!