a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Category: Reflections

  • So Much Happens in Just One Day

    NoTrespassing

    So much happens in just one day, it’s enough to make your head spin around. Biking home, I noticed a “No Trespassing” in the middle of a flooded field. Is trespassing really a problem in this case? Maybe people are launching boats to go duck hunting in the field.

    FallenLimbs

    Nature is the consummate producer of disposable items. One wind storm and a thousand used-once branches come flying out of the trees. The good thing about the items nature throws away is that they are all compostable.

    NewMapleLeaves

    The maples are putting out this year’s leaves. In six to eight months, they’ll be worn out and falling to the ground. Better enjoy them why I can.

    DancingPlums

    There’s less time to enjoy the plum, cherry, and pear blossoms. A few weeks and they will be just a memory.

    DoubleCherries
    PearBlossoms
    DustBathingHens

    From dust bathing hens come the world’s most delicious eggs. These won’t last but a few days.

    EggsInHand
    CherryRootsInCedarA

    So much happens every day, that it’s taken me ten years to notice these wild cherry roots growing down an old cedar stump. Ten years! And I’ve walked by this cedar stump a million times. I wouldn’t have noticed them either if my husband hadn’t asked me to help him gather up fallen branches. So if someone asks you to help them do a little chore, don’t say no, you might see something worth seeing that you’ve missed for ten years.

    CherryRootsInCedarB

  • No Shame

    BleedingHeartLeaves

    The bleeding hearts are spreading their lacy leaves. This morning their leaves are jeweled with yesterday’s raindrops. Before long, their pink flowers will dangle gracefully. Back in 2006, when we brought BB and Echo to live with us, Echo had his first encounter with bleeding hearts. His smile and playful, wagging tail are no longer with us, but the fond memories of him sniffing the bleeding hearts still delights.

    EchoAndBleedingHeart

    I’m laughing frequently these days reading Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution. His insight into nature and the ridiculously complex systems we’ve made to feed ourselves is a good read. I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.

    “The world used to be simple. You merely noticed in passing that you got wet by brushing against the drops of dew while meandering through the meadow. But from the time people undertook to explain this one drop of dew scientifically, they trapped themselves in the endless hell of the intellect.”
    Excerpt From: Masanobu Fukuoka, Larry Korn, Wendell Berry & Frances Moore Lappe. “The One-Straw Revolution.”

    One of our cherry trees is in full bloom. There are just a few shy buds working up the courage to expose their delicate petals. Even cherry blossoms have personality. Some are unabashed tarts, too eager to show their wares. “Tickle me, tickle me,” they sing with no shame. The modest ones need to be coaxed to furl their skirts open.

    CherryBlossoms

    Below the cherry trees, the chickens wait. You won’t read about this in chicken handbooks, but cherry blossoms are a spring time treat for chickens. In a few weeks as the cherry blossoms fall as thick as snow, the chickens will feast on them. If you close your eyes and taste their eggs during this brief time, you can pick up the hint of cherry blossoms on your tongue.

  • Do Nothing for a Change

    RosemaryFlowers

    Rosemary blossoms are among my favorite flowers. Small and whimsical, clown-like really, they must attract insects with a sense of humor. The white Satsuma plum blossoms are far more formal. The serious insects pollinate them. You’d want to put on your Sunday best before landing on them.

    SatsumaPlumBlossomsB

    This morning I started reading The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka 福岡正信. He is well known for advocating farming methods that rely on working with nature. He is also known for his insights on life. I enjoyed this tidbit near the beginning of the book:

    “If you think there is life on this side, then death is on the other. If you want to get rid of the idea of death, then you should rid yourself of the notion that there is life on this side. Life and death are one.”

    I’m reading an English translation of the book this morning, and am looking forward to getting my hands on the original Japanese version so I can read his words as he wrote them.

    His take on modern agriculture made me laugh. It is so true about much of modern life. People seem to be busier than ever, running around in circles faster than their legs can carry them, or sitting in traffic, getting mad at not getting to somewhere they’ll want to leave soon after arriving.

    The usual way to go about developing a method is to ask “How about trying this?” or “How about trying that?” bringing in a variety of techniques one upon the other. This is modern agriculture and it only results in making the farmer busier.
    My way was opposite. I was aiming at a pleasant, natural way of farming which results in making the work easier instead of harder. “How about not doing this? How about not doing that?”—that was my way of thinking. I ultimately reached the conclusion that there was no need to plow, no need to apply fertilizer, no need to make compost, no need to use insecticide. When you get right down to it, there are few agricultural practices that are really necessary.
    Excerpt From: Masanobu Fukuoka, Larry Korn, Wendell Berry & Frances Moore Lappe. “The One-Straw Revolution.”

    MushroomsOnALogA

    It’s a quiet, drizzly morning. Along the wooded driveway, mushrooms are in bloom. I didn’t have to do anything for them to display their beauty. They’re blooming on fallen logs, or gently lifting the decaying leaves of last autumn as they push up out of the soft humus. Do nothing for a change and let nature show you how beautiful it is.

    MushroomsPushingUp

  • High in the Tree

    FirstCherryBlossoms

    High in the flowering cherry, the first buds have opened. One clump of blossoms opened two days ago. All the other flowers on the tree are waiting, waiting for the sun’s warm rays to pop open. What was it about that one clump that made them bloom earlier than all the other buds?

    CherryBuds

    On the ground, the rhubarb is springing up. I’m salivating thinking about the sublime sauce those first new stalks will make. Good food is just around the corner.

    Rhubarb

  • In Onion There is Strength

    OnionStarts

    When you’re a child, it’s a given that adults are crazy, have a feeble grasp of reality, and are prone to pronouncing illogical edicts at the drop of a hat. Even so, I wasn’t prepared to learn out how batshit crazy the founding fathers were when I was reading a chapter in American History back in grade school. It was the first time I saw the word “union” in print, and read it logically, the way it was spelled: un-i-on, or the same as “onion”, another word I hadn’t seen in print yet.

    George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and I believe Paul Revere, were all going on and on about how “in onion there is strength.” The USA was founded by onion worshippers? I wasn’t impressed. In my mind, they were as crazy as the Israelites complaining after fleeing Egypt, that at least in Egypt they could eat onions and leeks, as if that was anything to complain about. Not having to eat onions and leeks, well, isn’t that something to be happy about?

    Fast forward five decades, and here I am planting spades of onions. What could be possibly more delicious than onions and leeks, slow roasted until they are sugary sweet? What soup or dish doesn’t improve with onion? My husband has been known to suggest, not complain mind you, that just possibly, from time to time, I may use too many onions when I cook. It just goes to show that people change. In onion there is strength.