a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Author: theMan

  • Early Summer – Dreaming of No Waste


    Today’s clouds are a welcome relief from the early heatwave of the past few days which gave us a taste of July and August in May. The yellow dandelion flowers have turned into fluffy white balls, which float away with the slightest breeze.


    You’d never know that the woods are full of chickens, their favorite place to be. It’s not until you hear their alarm calls, that you even know they are there.


    The cherry blossoms have become baby cherries. Another month or so and they will be plump, sweet, and irresistible.


    I’m getting bountiful rows of pulled weeds clearing the garden beds. They should make good potato beds. I’m covering them with gunny sacks with holes cut out for the potatoes to grow through. Come mid summer I’ll find out how well this works.


    Working in the garden and woodland, I’m in awe that nature never has any waste. There are no garbage piles in nature. Everything that is made can be reused, recycled, composted.

    There is a small town in Japan, Kamikatsu (no English on the town’s home page, but fun to click through anyway), on the island of Shikoku, which has a goal of becoming a no-waste town by 2020.


    They recycle 80% of all their waste. They have a recycling center where the townspeople bring their waste, and sort it, not into simple categories like paper and plastic, but into many categories. For example, there are 9 categories just for paper products. There is a chart of 1,152 items, from aluminum-coated paper candy wrappers to whiskey bottles to dresser mirrors, listing which bin to put each item.

    Try as they might, they can’t yet get down to 0% waste because of the way products are manufactured. To get to 0% waste, they need companies to rethink how products are made and packed, and to design 100% recycling into the products before they leave the factory.

    It‘s inspiring to see a small town in the mountains of Japan taking on the goal of reducing waste to zero. Their efforts have attracted attention from around the world. How different things would be if producing zero waste was taken for granted, and it was the way everything was made. Nature does it. Why can’t we?

  • Hints of Summer


    There are hints of summer in the air. The kale has gone to bloom, sending sprays of yellow flowers higher than I am. Their stalks are tender and sweet. All it takes is five seconds or so in simmering hot water to turn them into a feast.


    The ducks are grateful for the hours I’m spending weeding the garden beds. They waddle away, their bellies full of earthworms and bugs. What all they are eating, I don’t know. They seem to see tiny insects I can’t see. Anything that moves they gobble down.


    What’s left from weeding are rows of green, which will turn into soil by summer’s end. Much of it is buttercup. I was aghast yesterday when I saw an article of some plant breeder in England showing off a new variety of buttercup. People breed these things? Buttercups are hellbent on world domination. Left alone, they and the blackberries would smother all other living things.

    As much as I lament buttercup, it is a wonder plant. I notice that the creatures in the soil love it. Amongst its many roots, earthworms and soil creatures thrive. On my knees, using a small, sharp hoe, it actually digs up rather easily. Have the right tool, and any job is a piece of cake. The rich biology buttercup nourishes with its roots makes for soft, fertile garden beds, so even though it takes hours of toil to rip it out of the garden beds, it does leave behind a good bed for planting vegetables.

  • First Potato Celebration


    I celebrate the sighting of the first potato sprout. Yes, this will be a good year, comes to mind when I see new potato leaves. They are a sign that it is time to start gardening in earnest.


    A lot of things are in full bloom by the time the first potato leaves poke above the spring earth. Elderberries with their space-age white odd spiky flowers.


    Before they turn their salmon colors, salmon berries are green. Even ripe, they can have a bitter bite. Eaten at this stage, they might make you cry.


    The trilliums are carpeting the forest floor with their big, green leaves. Most of the trilliums here are white, so the pink ones are always a surprise.



    I never know what awaits me in the coop. A hen trying to tell me she laid a dozen eggs. Three hens crowded into two nests, one on top of the other. It’s impossible to be bored.

  • Goodbye Frost


    Looking at the weather forecast, it’s safe to say that yesterday’s cold morning was this spring’s last frost. There was just a touch of frost on a few low-lying leaves. A soft, goodbye kiss as frost walked away. In the fall when it returns, the first frost will bring as much joy as it always does. Strange how something can happen every year, and still be wonderful.



    I like tulips in the morning when they are still asleep, all bundled up. I’ve never paid attention as to when they close at night. Do they wait until it is dark to close, or are they bundled for the night’s sleep by the end of dusk? Do bees ever get trapped inside a tulip for the night? No matter how old you get, there is always more to learn.



  • Joy in Dandelions


    Bees find joy in dandelions. So can we. What’s not to like about dandelions? You don’t have to plant them. They come up every year. They have beautiful yellow flowers. Bees love them. And their seeds float with grace.


    Sven is an old rooster now. He spends a lot of time sitting and enjoying the spring air. Even though he’s old and no longer king of the hill, he still has hens who adore him.


    Joy is finding the first rhododendron in bloom.


    Joy is the powder fresh fragrance of Yaezakura, double cherry blossoms.



    And joy is finding the first lilac in bloom. For northern, cool climates, few fragrances soothe the soul like the sweet perfume of lilacs. If it takes all winter for lilacs to distill their intoxicating perfume, it’s worth every frost and snow.