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May 24, 2015 · 9:16 pm

RAIN DELAY

This town is baseball crazy.

We have the most amazing ballpark

Of any town our size in the country.

That’s not just the Chamber of Commerce talking

It’s actual fact.

Once again we are hosting the

National Junior College Division II World Series.

At least that was the plan.

It’s been raining virtually non stop

Since the moment it began.

Can you imagine keeping an entire team of college boys

Entertained in a motel room waiting for the rain to stop!

Yikes!

But just like the baseball tournament

I’m experiencing my own rain delay.

A gardening rain delay.

There has been very little gardening happening this week.

I did manage to get the three bare root Annabelle Hydrangeas in the ground.

And I gave the wisteria its first of many summer haircuts.

But other than that I’ve watched from the inside

As the garden gets greener and greener.

Debra has been texting me pictures of her visit to Ireland

And it looks a lot like my backyard!

OK except for the house make that abbey.

This part of the world has been at some stage of drought

For the last 4 or 5 years.

Newspapers across the state print the monthly drought map.

Much of the state has been living on the verge of the most severe category.

Then came May.

It has rained

And rained

And rained.

Henry & Harper watching the mountain rain.

The ground is saturated.

Farm ponds are full

Creeks and rivers are rising out of their banks.

Lakes are overflowing.

Yet no one is complaining about the sunless days.

I’m taking that as a good omen.

And hoping that it means

That we’ve all developed a deeper respect for water.

That we will take this gift of rain

And not squander it.

That we will voluntarily cut back on our consumption.

That we’ll join Californians in their enforced 5 minute showers.

That we will ration our use without the city insisting on it.

That we know that it takes more than a month of good rains.

To replace what has been drained from our water table.

That we have learned that water is a most important resource.

That we are called to be good stewards of this generosity.

Enjoy the rain or sun wherever you are.

Gail

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May 18, 2015 · 2:23 am

AWE

The rains have continued this week.

So much so that even wooden shovel handles

Are sprouting mushrooms.

Which means the colors just keep getting better.

With the cool cloudy days.

The intensity seems as if we have dialed it up

A notch or two.

One of the things I love about this house and garden

Is that I look out onto the garden

Off and on during my day.

From both the first floor and

My second floor office.

I see if from afar inside the house

And up close as I putter away.

And putter is what I’ve been doing these days.

Still planting

And transplanting.

Deadheading roses and iris and the other early bloomers.

And there is always weeding.

Which I actually enjoy.

I’ve been gardening now for decades.

And every time I walk through it

I’m in awe.

A garden is a place of miracles.

Tiny ones

And great big show offey ones.

And I’m not responsible for a single one.

Enjoy the sunshine and rain.

Gail

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May 11, 2015 · 1:45 am

RAIN…FINALLY RAIN

My part of the world

Has been in a drought

Not a California kind of drought,

But we have been considered Severe or Extreme

For years.

We got our first 3″ rain

Around the first of May.

A rainy day view from the garden house door.

And it’s been raining off and on ever since.

We are now somewhere north of 7 “.

Farm ponds, creeks even lakes and rivers are filling up.

Roses and peonies are blooming wildly.

The vivid colors of iris fill the garden

Cassidy and Sloan came over

To make surprise bouquets for their mom.

Hard to catch these two without one of them being silly…or both.

Next door hundreds of praying mantis were born

To the amazed eyes of a child.

It’s a new beginning.

A second spring if that’s possible.

And what more appropriate weekend than Mother’s Day.

For a new beginning.

They are there at the start of our lives.

Queens of second chances.

But the truth is we don’t get to pick our moms.

I got really lucky in this category.

She taught me well

And was tons of fun along the way.

Mother and Elliott in the early 80’s.

Another mother you don’t get to pick

Is the mother of your grandchildren.

That was Elliott’s choice.

He did good…no great.

Kristina and Elliott have been married almost 11 years now.

They’ve survived graduate school for both of them.

The normal stresses of early marriage

And lots and lots of real life.

They have thrived.

Now they are parents.

Busy parents.

When babies come in twos

It’s all hands on deck

All the time.

Kristina is a wonderful mother.

She is patient

She sees joy in her children

And she’s relaxed

Which is huge in my book.

Motherhood is tricky territory.

It is not what Hallmark wants you to believe it is.

It is demanding, exhausting and rewarding.

The rewards keep coming long after the sleepless nights fade from memory.

But in the trenches that’s far down the road.

So this Mother’s Day

I wish for you Kristina, and mothers of young children

Not a single day, but days and years filled with real life.

Days of joys and challenges and giggles and growth

And love

And peace.

Gail

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May 4, 2015 · 1:18 am

WHAT CAN I SAY…IT’S MAY

I love my perennial border

For all the color it brings into my life.

The back of my house looks onto my garden

So I look at it off and on all day.

But color in a perennial border

Can be a tricky thing.

You see, unlike annuals

Perennials don’t bloom all summer.

Most bloom for a few weeks

A month

Or maybe several weeks

If I’m attentive to dead-heading.

So summer is a bit of a dance

With colors coming and going.

But May!!!

May is such a gift.

Color everywhere.

Columbine is one of the first to appear.

Then big blousy peonies.

And the flush of rose bushes.

Starting with Katy Road Pink

Followed by Aloha

Belinda’s Dream

And a host of others whose names escape me.

And of course, Iris have their brief but glorious moment in the sun.

With a few Dutch Iris thrown in amongst the lot.

Then there’s this tiny little orchid looking flower

With intense orchid color

Orchid is the Pantone color of the year for 2015

So I’m glad mine are putting on such a show.

Diversity.

It’s one of the keys to a healthy garden.

It’s one of the keys to a healthy world.

Enjoy this glorious week.

Gail

Coming color

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April 22, 2015 · 12:00 pm

THE REDBUD TREE

When I was growing up

My father had a love of Redbud trees.

They are native here on the plains

Growing wild along the creek beds.

It’s a breathtaking site as you drive the countryside in early spring.

That’s probably why it was designated the official state tree.

Which gave Daddy the perfect opportunity to spread the love.

He gave away hundreds of Redbud saplings.

In his official capacity representing Oklahoma.

They say you marry your father.

In the case of Redbud trees that is true for me.

Each spring when they bloom.

John heads to the nursery

And buys one….or two.

So it is that he has planted 6 in the 10 years we’ve lived here.

Even this week he mentioned that he had been looking around!

Where would we plant it I asked.

He just smiled.

The truth is we’ve spent the last several years

In fear that the one native Redbud that was here when we moved in

Was dying.

Each springs big chunks would fail to leaf out.

We knew it was near the end of it’s natural life.

So we were excited a few years back

When we noticed sprouts coming out of the base

And the side of the trunk.

We’ve babied them over these years

And they have responded.

Our hope was that they would grow strong and tall

So that when all of the branches of the original tree were gone.

It would have replaced itself.

And it did.

Last week John took down the old tree.

Bit by bit he pulled down the remaining branches.

Then he cut out the trunks

Staked the new branches so that they could grow straight and tall

Into a new tree.

It’s gut wrenching to take out old mature dying trees.

They leave a hole in the landscape

And in your heart.

But this time it was less painful.

The cycle of nature continues

With just a little help from us.

Gail

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April 19, 2015 · 9:50 pm

FAITH FARM V.2

Last year I wrote about a new gardening project.

It’s a small city lot

Filled with raised beds.

Faith Farm is a production and teaching garden

For Loaves & Fishes.

A food resource center feeding over 800 families each month.

In our inaugural year we grew 3,000 pounds of fresh organic vegetables.

That were picked fresh and given to the clients at L & F.

WOW!

What fun we had.

So much so that we’ve re-arranged and added 8 new beds

Which should increase our production significantly.

Yesterday was Family Volunteering Day

At Loaves & Fishes.

We do this every other month from February through October.

It’s a great way to introduce people to our program.

A sponsor is found for each month.

They provide the lunch and a great t-shirt.

Thanks 1st Presbyterian.

Volunteers do all kinds of things that don’t get done

In the normal course of things.

Deep cleaning, painting & 0rganizing.

A lucky few

Get to go to Faith Farm.

I was one of the lucky ones.

I love this place.

And it’s great fun to see not only the vegetables grow.

But also the people.

Yesterday was no exception.

We happen to have several volunteers from the air force base here.

So we had natives of

North Carolina,

Portland,

D.C

And England.

Along with Andrew from Maryland.

Andrew is the minister at 1st Presbyterian.

He grew up a city boy in Baltimore.

In addition to being a minister he’s also a gifted pianist and organist.

Those hands hadn’t spent much time in the dirt.

Until he moved here.

From that first fall he’s been working in the yard of his home.

Yesterday he helped chop leaves

And spread them on the bed for mulch.

Then he planted carrots.

And he was hooked.

Before sunset

He texted that he when he got home he planted

Lettuce, carrots, beets and radishes.

He also reports that Loaves & Fishes

Is a blessing to more than just those who need food.

And that’s the thing we are hoping for.

Spreading the word about hunger

And how we and many like us across the country

Are feeding our hungry neighbors.

You can help us.

We are in the middle of a contest to win a $20,000.00 grant

From Seeds of Change

For Faith Farm

Just go to http://www.seedsofchangegrant.com to vote.

Search Faith Farm.

Please vote everyday between now and April 27th.

We’ll use the money to grow more to feed more.

And we’ll teach clients and pilots and ministers and neighbors

About growing their own vegetables along the way.

Gail

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March 23, 2015 · 2:45 am

Good Soil

What a glorious weekend.

For me it was the official beginning of the gardening season.

And so I began at the beginning.

Soil

Good soil

Improving soil is likely the most important thing I do in my garden

Without this continuing act of love of God’s good earth

My garden would slowly

But surely

Be less and less.

So what is this process?

It’s really more of a circle.

So let’s jump on board of this cycle last fall.

I have two composting areas in my garden

One is my giant Mantis twin composter.

This is where the process begins.

Kitchen scraps go here to break down.

It’s enclosed and keeps all kinds of critters

From dining on the garden’s leftovers.

To this I add cuttings from the garden

Mostly green.

And some of the brown stuff – mostly leaves

That are always hanging around.

Once the food scraps are no longer edible

I transfer this across the yard

To stage 2.

Under an old cedar tree

Atop the now defunct cellar

Is a small berm

The only undulating part of our yard.

It’s where I’ve been stashing tons of leftover leaves

Since creating my garden.

I layer it all here.

Eventually it turns into the most wonderful deep, dark, rich soil.

So why all this

To create something

That all ready exists?

There are many reasons for me.

I hate sending things to the land fill.

Always have

And when you can turn them into something good

All the better.

Soil is truly the beginning of a garden

Without rich loose healthy soil

Plants will not thrive.

They may survive

But they will not thrive.

Something else that we have in common

Plants and people.

The need to be rooted in a rich healthy environment.

One where we can spread our roots

Grow new branches

And reach for the sky.

Gail

P.S. I realize these pictures are a bit random but it’s what’s blooming now

and they are prettier than dried leaves and my compost tumbler!

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November 3, 2014 · 12:55 am

THE BASIL RITUAL

There’s a rhythm about fall that seems to be well, common.

At least among my friends.

With our first freeze predicted for Halloween

I began cutting basil on Thursday

And again on Friday.

Buckets of basil.

I always plant too much

Which means I have basil to spare

For months on end.

I use it during the growing season.

But by October it’s giant and going to seed everywhere.

Yet I feel that none of it can go to waste.

I either have to dry it

Or make pesto

Or find it a home.

Pesto is my first plan of attack.

So on Friday

When the weather men were issuing their threatening forecast.

My sister Ann called and said.

“So I’m guessing you’re making pesto.”

And I was.

She’s in the same place I am.

With way too much basil.

But she has the advantage of being able to feed her extra.

To her bunnies.

I on the other hand

Do not have hungry bunnies living at my house.

So when a friend dropped by with a cape for Coco to wear for Halloween.

She was rewarded with bonus basil.

Others who dropped by were also given the chance

But most declined.

I thought of bagging it up in little bags and giving it out

To the 400+ kids who came trick or treating.

But there might be potential for misunderstanding there!

I’ve now made 3 batches of regular pesto

3 C. packed fresh basil leaves

1/3 C. grated parmesan cheese

6 cloves chopped garlic

6 T toasted Pine nuts

4 T olive oil

Put all ingredients into food processor.

Pulse till well chopped but not a puree.

Spray ice-cube tray with non-stick cooking spray.

Freeze. Then store cubes in plastic bag.

It’s about a tablespoon or 2 of pesto.

And a couple of roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato pesto.

3 medium red bell peppers 0r 1 jar .

12 sun-dried tomatoes – soaked and drained

1 clove garlic chopped

3 T roasted pine nuts.

a handful of fresh basil leaves.

A handful of fresh Italian parsley

Juice of 1 lemon

2 T grated parmesan cheese.

Prepare like basil pesto

I’ve also been roasting and freezing the last of the ripe tomatoes.

All of which is giving our house

A rather Italian aroma.

Now…what to do with all those

Peppers and green tomatoes.

And in the end

It didn’t even freeze!

Gail

The other fall ritual I love

Is sharing plants with friends

Kay and Tori came by on Saturday morning.

To dig the last of the ferns.

New plans for this area

Come spring.

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October 12, 2014 · 12:28 pm

FAMILY VOLUNTEERING DAY V.2

Yesterday was time for fall clean up

At Faith Farm.

It’s been an astounding first year of

“Gardening for Good”.

We will soon surpass 3,000 pounds of fresh organic produce

Grown for Loaves & Fishes

And given to our hungry clients each week.

Freshly picked, organic produce

Given to people who otherwise might not have food on the table.

Week after week, Charity and a small group of volunteers

Have harvested literal 1 1/2 tons of food.

And it’s a good thing

Since July was the busiest month ever at L & F

Serving 954 households…YIKES!

But we want to do more

With the space we have.

So yesterday we began a simple transition

From less ornamentals

To more raised beds.

We moved some from L & F

Over to Faith Farm

And set them in place

With the help of Jim

Our perennial volunteer

And a couple of friends from the Air Force base.

We were also joined by a group of young women

From the 2020 club at Chisholm Middle School

They’ll graduate in the year 2020

Which gives us lots of time to train them

As gardeners.

They have great potential

Because even a big ole tomato horn worm

Didn’t scare them.

Instead they were fascinated.

Gotta love girls who likes bugs!

They were all great help

So I hope they’ll be back

Another day

For another installment

Of this great adventure.

Feeding the hungry

Fresh, organic vegetables

And lots of love.

Gail

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Tagged as organic produce

September 28, 2014 · 11:51 pm

CHANGE

Fall arrived last week.

It’s the reason I abide summer.

You can’t fully appreciate

These cool crisp sunny days

Unless you have lived through summer.

It’s the same relationship

That spring is to winter.

One of the reason I love life here on the Great Plains

Is that we experience all four season.

Some years

Some seasons more than others.

It’s the change that seems to appeal to me.

And since I spend many days outside

I consider myself to be

An observer of those changes.

So as the season comes to an end

I carry a list of changes

I want to make in my garden in my head.

This weekend I began to work on the list.

John and I both have wanted a lilac for some time.

We’ve planted one

But it seems to be suffering from

“Failure to thrive”.

In this case it’s a lack of sunshine.

I’ve found it a sunnier home

But there’s a rose bush there.

Or at least there was.

This particular rose bush

Is very finicky.

It only blooms

If it’s not too wet

Or not too hot.

Or I threaten to murder it.

So yesterday

After years of fiddling to make it happy

I cut it down

And dug it up.

I know

It’s not a very friendly thing to do.

But I need its sunny home

For the lilac bush.

And there’s time in the fall

To make these changes.

Their lackluster performance

Is fresh on my mind

In the fall.

If I wait till spring

To do the dastardly deed

That “hope of spring” thing

Will fog my fall reality.

All this digging and moving around

Has me thinking about changes in my life as well.

There are times when one thing must end.

In order for something new to have a place to call home.

That’s the trick as life lumbers on.

Making room in your life for change

For the things you learn

And people you meet.

Change brings growth.

If you let it in.

Gail

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