gardening + spirituality + homesteading + creation care
February 2017 Dear Cameron, I know you are busily approaching Spring 2017 with much excitement and anticipation of a full summer garden. You are dreaming of expanding your homestead even bigger, maximizing sun space and growing plants vertically. You are imagining arms full of… Continue Reading “feb 2017, dear cameron. . .”
I’ve put the gardens to bed and shored up the chicken coop. I’ve stored the tools and stacked the pots behind the shed. I’ve left the last of the coneflower dead heads reaching toward the sky, in case finch and chickadee grow tired of… Continue Reading “wintering”
Last year, I wrote this post on this date and reread it this morning as a reminder for my soul. Five years post surgery in the world of cancer or illness is something to be celebrated with much joy. I am also embracing this… Continue Reading “a milestone to celebrate”
Yesterday, my daughter and I updated our kitchen calendar with events for the next couple of months. In the corner, I noted some projects I have planned for us to complete over Labor Day weekend–paint the bathrooms, steam clean the upstairs, and put the… Continue Reading “lessons learned: putting the gardens to bed”
So you’ve found your local market, and you’re ready to head out–what’s next? Give yourself plenty of time! There’s so much to see and explore. The market is not like the grocery store–it’s not about getting in and out with the necessities. Take the… Continue Reading “tips for your next trip to the farmer’s market”
I like to read and repost this one annually to honor one more year’s travel on the journey~ This is for all you girls about 42 Tossin’ pennies into the fountain of youth Every laugh, laugh line on your face Made you who you… Continue Reading “every laugh line on your face, made you who you are today”
Several years ago, I decided I wanted to try my hand at grapes. As you may have read in previous posts, every year, I pick out a new vegetable or fruit and see if it will thrive in our part sun/part shade gardening space. … Continue Reading “lessons learned: grapes and intentionality”
As I squatted by the trellis yesterday to plant more sugar snap peas, I looked down at the boots I was wearing. I’ve had them for a couple of years now, so they are not so colorful anymore, but I fondly remembered that I’d… Continue Reading “lessons learned: on growth, gardening boots, and grace”
Two years ago, my out-of-control wineberry bushes began bullying my blueberry plants. In an effort to call them off, I trimmed and tugged until the unruly characters ended up on their side of the garden patch. A couple of months later, the birds and… Continue Reading “babying the berries–tips for springtime care”
With the advent of Spring, I thought this one might be appropriate to repost. Happy Saturday~cameron So last night, our Just Be women’s group met at the community garden at church for a night of prayer, fellowship, and laughter. We started this garden a… Continue Reading “10 ways to turn off the technology and turn on nature”
Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before. ~William Butler Yeats This cloudy morning, I took the dogs outside for a walk around the chilly farm. As they wandered through the leaves, I… Continue Reading “lessons learned: weathered spirits”
Just put together my Christmas gift to myself–a basic indoor greenhouse kit. It’s small, but it’s one more step towards year round sustainability. And so, I’m digging my hands into my seed packet organization box tonight and starting to plan what gets planted tomorrow… Continue Reading “couldn’t get enough? starting seeds part 2”
I just received my seeds for Spring and Summer 2014! Hooray, what an evening of celebration! I’ll be starting the seeds here in the next couple of weekends for some early vegetables. I post this one every year as the beginning of a series… Continue Reading “it’s never too early to start dreaming about seed starts”
So we covered this topic for homesteaders (click here for Part 1 and Part 2), and now that I’m spending my free time outside, I thought we’d give the gardeners their due! Here are a few gifts and gadgets I love to use when… Continue Reading “necessities and guilty pleasures for the gardener”
Although this meditation is two years old, I find that it still rings true on many levels. May you engage in “peaceful heart” activities this holiday season. My hands are small, I know But they’re not yours, they are my own ~Jewel, “Hands” Raising… Continue Reading “dirty hands, peaceful heart”
I love to hear my child exclaim “Yay!” when I announce I am making kale chips. As thin and crispy as regular chips, we love to make these in the summer time. Different kale will offer you different texture–needless to say, the thinner the… Continue Reading “recipes: growing grace farm’s kale chips”
This week, I spent time with my spiritual director. She talks with me about my journey with the Creator and cultivates the relationship we have through sacred listening. Her guidance has nurtured me in a way that supports my daily practices to integrate mind,… Continue Reading “lessons learned: God’s thoughts on compost”
Reposting this one as two opportunities for reflection this week reminded me why I cherish the word “gumption.” This morning on my brief stroll to pick kale for the chickens, I glanced around the veggie beds. How empty everything seems, even with greens… Continue Reading “lessons learned: on mint and gumption”
It is always good to revisit the recipes on your blog–I’ll be trying this one later this week! Oh, yeah! What a great feeling to come home to a basket full of local root veggies waiting to be roasted on a cool autumn night. … Continue Reading “recipes: growing grace farm’s salted maple roasted root veggies”
This farming season began in late January with Mason jars, soil, a sunny spot in the den, and hope. By mid spring, plants warmed their toes in my newly cultivated soil, and the first of the early vegetables graced our table. I’ll admit, I… Continue Reading “lessons learned: sun, rain, blight and balance”
I’m reposting this one today as I’ve recently been meditating on the impact friendship has had on my life lately. ~Cameron Last night, a handful of us headed over to the community garden at our church. You see, our woman’s group decided to become… Continue Reading “lessons learned: tomato cages and friendship”
So, I’ve had some requests for the blueberry lavender jam recipe I mentioned in the “we’re jammin’” blog post. Just a note for those who are new to the blog–I don’t really use measuring cups or spoons so I will estimate best as I… Continue Reading “blueberry lavender jam: a taste of summer”
In the South, Mother’s Day is not only a day to celebrate the women we cherish, but it is also the day we farmers and gardeners stop holding our breath and put out the most delicate of summer veggie starts. So, tonight I sat… Continue Reading “small suburban farming–it can be done!”
So back in late January, I got a wild hair to start seeds in all the extra mason jars I have filling up shelves. If you’d like to follow the journey from the beginning, you can read here and here and here. It’s been… Continue Reading “update on mason jar seed starts–3 months out”
If you are a front yard farmer like I am or have limited full sun spaces, don’t fret. I’ve been there, and I’m doing that. Our little farm has continued to expand a little each year, but this year I am committed to maximizing… Continue Reading “taking advantage of small spaces in the garden”
My sunset drive across Wisconsin brought me to a small town called Brownsville. As I crested the hill prior to the town’s exit ramp, I saw the most breath taking sight–a town powered by wind–tall graceful structures for as far as I could see.… Continue Reading “Wisconsin windmills”
The year I was diagnosed with cancer, I spent a lot of time by my kitchen door. I would sit on my red stool, drink tea, and watch the winter creatures in the woods. That year, I happened to be blessed with a pair… Continue Reading “lessons learned: old made new”
For much of the last century, religious institutions have missed–or ignored–our responsibility as stewards of the creation and to the Creator. However, people of faith have long relished the grimy pleasures of gardening. The process of nurturing life brings contentment and a sense of… Continue Reading “gentle gardeners and creation care”
Last year, I started a batch of sugar snap peas on our deck and in front on the triangular trellis. By late May, we had fat sugar snaps dangling from the vine. I was so excited that I came running in and made my… Continue Reading “sugar snap peas–nature’s candy”
Those of you who follow this blog know how deeply I connect my time on the farm with time spent with God. I believe as human beings we miss so many valuable lessons that can be learned in the simplicity of nature and creation. … Continue Reading “lessons learned: taking down the walls”
After I pressed two posts on starting seeds, I noticed the trend in lots of posts and pinterest pics focusing on seed starting. Yep, we get excited about planting the seeds, knowing that one day they’ll become vegetables and fruit in our gardens, but… Continue Reading “so you’ve started your seeds, now what?!”
My hands are small, I know But they’re not yours, they are my own ~Jewel, “Hands” Raising a teenage daughter comes with it many interesting gifts and graces, and I am also learning to appreciate (to be read: “tolerate”) the feedback she likes to… Continue Reading “dirty hands, peaceful heart”
After two weekends of designing, sawing, and measuring shelving, I had had enough of a project that just wasn’t working out. I finally looked at the kitchen and said “I give up,” then I headed outside for some time in the gardens. I threw… Continue Reading “if there’s dirt under the fingernails, it must be Spring”
This date holds a special anniversary for me–it is the day that I had my second and final surgery and was told I was cancer free. In the last three years, I intentionally chose to walk (and even skip!) down some new paths on… Continue Reading “today is the day, celebrate life!”
If we modern people thought of our world as a garden, if we gardened more, then I think all the other creatures and things that grow in the ground would be so much better off. Beauty can save the world! But that depends on… Continue Reading “the world as our garden”
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can’t hurry the crops or make an ox in two days. ~Henri Alain When I taught young children and as I raised my daughter, I had several lessons I wanted to impart–one of those… Continue Reading “lessons learned: what farming can teach us about patience”