Winter Time on the Island

 

The ice is like a floor of jagged glass, surrounding the island. Here and there are open pools of water, which is good so that the swans and ducks can fish. It seems odd looking at all of this ice while I am pouring through heirloom seed catalogues. A bit like living in Antarctica wishing for open ground so you can plant. I know this is part of living in a place where there are seasons and I do love being in a shifting weather system but I miss putting my hands in dirt. As wonderful as Florida and California are year round, there is something to living through seasonal changes. I think I would go a little bit bonkers living in Paradise everyday - I really don't know how motivated I would be. Besides, I like cold weather. If I could garden in 40 degree weather that would be heaven...and of course, there wouldn't be any mosquitoes. But back to ordering my seeds.

 

Going through my seed catalogs, there seems to be a renewed interest in organics and heirlooms. Once a given in our culture now seems to be a specialty. I am hoping that this sends a message that many of us are interested in healthy choices rather than the easy way out which is to just eat what is in front of us without thinking what it is, how it was grown and where it came from. To date there are close to 30 countries that have banned Genetic Modified Foods including: Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Greece, Spain, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Egypt, Algeria, Brazil, Paraguay, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, India and though, not a country, Hawaii. It is encouraging that these countries have had long range vision and understand that saving a little bit of money is not worth the state of our health which is a trade many are willing to make until they get sick and then understand that there is nothing more important than their health.      

"Living on this island, being in the middle of nature while gardening has taught me that there are principles of nature. "   

The principles, lessons or maybe even wisdom reveals itself while preparing the soil, choosing and planting the seeds, watching and watering and finally harvesting. I have come to understand that I am one with a magical cosmos that works on a multi-layered system of energetics. When watching a seedling break through the soil, there is a fundamental understanding that I am a partner with Mother Earth. But what does that actually mean? This is an ongoing lesson but so far, I know that I am a caretaker of the air, water, plants and animals as they are part of the complete eco-system. The Native Americans thought of the Elements, Plants and Animals as their brothers and sisters. I have to agree. To know this sets up a new awareness, a new responsibility.

"The responsibility is daunting really. To co-exist with nature, to honor our children by giving them longevity due to the health of the earth, to implant everyone that we meet with a love for nature, to remember that life is precious, to understand that nature was here first, and to never forget that we are not the owners of land, but merely it's guardian is a huge task.  No matter how much we have paid for our "property," it really isn't ours. How can you own the earth?"

The job or responsibility seems singular. I can't make anyone do anything. No one really cares about my opinion as they are too busy forming theirs and in most cases, it seems to me humans are unwilling to change their beliefs until something catastrophic happens. But every day I can take steps to make life better. I can be more self-disciplined in the smaller details of my life, renouncing anything that doesn't work for the environment i.e. pesticides, plastic, toxic fertilizers, weed killers and whenever I can, vote against anything that may include irreversible destruction of the foundation of our existence, hence war and nuclear power plants.

I try to set aside time to be with the world rather than use the world, never forgetting that I am part of the eco-system. It is a struggle to not be extravagant and just consume what is needed. I have to constantly remind myself to be aware of what we produce and consume locally, which may help to end decadence and luxury. The action of responsibility can stimulate self-reliance and the sovereignty of local community within the limits of the health and "remaining" resources of a permitting planet.

Maybe, I will continue to be reminded while looking at a sunset, or climbing a mountain or just sitting on my porch looking into a star filled sky. As I move through this incredible time, watching the planet's cyclic nature, I might want to continue to ask myself, "How can I help?  What can I do to make this world a better place?"  Whether I am struggling or not, there should be one constant thought and that is that we are all brothers and sisters - cells in the same divine body celebrating the diversity of all cultures and people and faiths, with a goal to live in unity respecting our differences. While I begin to wear this suit of generosity, compassion and humanness I have to include Mother Earth, who is not a raw material or a financial commodity. She is my mother. I am here to re-establish a harmonious and responsible co-created life with her.  In the solitude of a quiet mind, the same thoughts always return, "Be respectful of every living thing, be a participant and finally to know that like my human mother, I cannot buy, sell or forget my earth mother."      

From My Garden To Yours.......

 

Crockpot Pork Roast and Kale

3 lb. boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of fat
2 cloves garlic, minced 1
/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp. dried tarragon leaves or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 c. chopped kale
1-1/2 cups broth or water

1. Whisk together garlic, mustard, tarragon, thyme, sea salt, and pepper.
2. Spread mixture over the pork roast and place in bottom of large crockpot.
3. Arrange kale around the roast.
4. Pour broth or water over kale.
5. Cook on low 8 - 9 hours until roast is done.

Fennel Pecan Salad

This recipe comes from the Body Ecology Diet website. The Body Ecology Diet is one of a

handful of healing diets aimed at healing the digestive tract for total, lasting health.

Dressing:

1/2 cup cold pressed, unfiltered olive oil

1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans *

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 drops of Liquid Stevia Concentrate or 3 pitted dates or 1 Tbsp. raisins

1/2 tsp. sea salt

Salad:

2 bulbs fennel, sliced thinly

1/4 cup fennel fronds, chopped

1 organic apple, cut into matchstick slices

1 tablespoon of roughly chopped pecans

1. Place all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
2. Prepare salad ingredients. Toss everything in a large salad bowl except the tablespoon of pecans.
3. Pour dressing over salad, toss, and serve. Sprinkle servings with remaining chopped pecans.

*I prefer to use crispy pecans soaked and prepared according to Nourishing Traditions by Sally

Fallon. If you do not have time or care to make these, lightly toast your pecans in a small pan

over medium heat until they start to give off a pleasant smell.

Kale Fish Patties

2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. ghee or butter
1 pound soul, flounder, or other white fish (could also be made with salmon)
10 - 12 oz. kale
1/2 c. minced onion
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 large eggs
more ghee for sauteing

1. Place water and ghee/butter into a large skillet or saute pan. Heat until ghee is melted. Place fish in the pan, cover, and simmer 6 -10 minutes until flakey. This will depend greatly on the thickness of your fish filets.
2. While fish is poaching, place kale in a vegetable steamer or saute pan with 1/2 c. water. Steam kale until tender. When done, drain and chop finely.
3. When fish is done, drain and place in a large mixing bowl using a fork to break it into small flakes.
4. Add chopped kale, minced onion, sea salt, and black pepper. Mix well.
5. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl until well blended.
6. Pour eggs into fish/kale mixture and mix well.
7. Over medium heat, melt some ghee - about 2 Tbsp. - in a large saute skillet. Form patties and place gently in the skillet. Saute until well browned on one side. Gently turn the patties and continue sauteing until the second side is well browned.
8. Remove patties onto a paper towel lined plate. Continue cooking remaining patties.
9. These are a bit delicate but very tasty. They can be served immediately or frozen and eaten over time.

 

Wise Versus Idiot Compassion

As I assess the end of the summer garden, due to the rain - all my tall beautiful grasses are overgrown, the bamboo has taken on a life of its own and the butterfly bushes quickly outgrew their pots.  I am going to transplant as much as I can but because of the overgrowth, the garlic lived in the dark along with some of my other veggies so they did not grow.  I have to make the difficult decision of transplanting and horror of all horrors, eliminating some of the overgrown vegetation.  In the long run, it is best for the health of many of the plants but it is really hard for me to eliminate even one grass.  It’s funny because it is mirroring something going on in my life that has been a bit puzzling.  I have been realizing that I need to do some compassionate gardening with people who don’t have other’s best interests at heart.  Over and over again you suggest changes that could improve their circumstances, or forgive them for repeated behaviors.  But what seems to show itself is the same agitating story.  

"Real compassion includes wisdom and so it makes judgments of care and concern; it says some things are good, and some things are bad, and I will choose to act only on those things that are informed by wisdom and care."....Philosopher, Ken Wilbur  

Given the nature of the people I work with, the first thing each of us does is check in on why the behavior is bothering us - in other words what are we here to learn? Are we emotionally charged on this? This is necessary as compassion is not only our ability to be with another's pain and suffering but also to see and accept our own pain. Once this is accomplished, I know I have to ask myself, how many more chances, does this unaccountable individual get?  And is this the question I should be asking in the first place?     

“Yes, I am open-minded and compassionate, but never want to be so open-minded that my brains fall out”   

Of course, the picture keeps getting bigger if I get out of judgment allowing the questions to keep coming. If someone has a history of cheating, lying and/or stealing, when do I stop giving them another chance? Or do I even go there?  Do I just figure that life, the cosmos, the divine, the light or whatever has a plan for this individual, which I think is probably true, but then where does that leave me and what is my job? Do I still work with this person? Do I forgive them even though they are never accountable? Do I stand in a place of understanding that each person has their lessons and are disguised in drag, if you will, to teach each other theirs? And if they are in drag to teach others how to be compassionate, then do I love from a distance and just understand their role? I am leaning towards the latter. Like overgrowth in the garden, the plant living in the shade does not have a chance to live in the light until the shade, or shadow is removed, yes that’s true. But rather than the overgrowth being eliminated maybe it should just be cut down to size and with this adjustment, both can coexist - each understanding the other’s role but definitely staying within their boundaries so that they can thrive. Meaning each plant can do what it is here to do - experience the experience.  And with that, to not just blindly accept but be reminded like in classical Tibetan teachings, that sometimes more than compassion, we need to see with awareness and discrimination.

Idiot compassion is the highly conceptualized idea that you want to do good....Of course, you should do everything for everybody; there is no selection involved at all. But that doesn't mean to say that you have to be gentle all the time. Your gentleness should have heart, strength. In order that your compassion doesn't become idiot compassion, you have to use your intelligence. Otherwise, there could be self-indulgence of thinking that you are creating a compassionate situation when in fact you are feeding the other person's aggression. If you go to a shop and the shopkeeper cheats you and you go back and let him cheat you again, that doesn't seem to be a very healthy thing to do for others... Dali Lama  

This is known as wise compassion, that sees the whole situation and aims to bring release from suffering; its opposite is known as blind or idiot compassion, which does not take into account the whole situation and so, while appearing compassionate, is inherently unskillful and may actually increase suffering. For instance, idiot compassion occurs when we support or condone neurosis, such as giving a slice of cake to an obese friend. Yes, they may be begging you, but realistically you know that it will do them no good.  Another way to see idiot compassion is when we give for our own benefit, not for the recipient's, because we can't bear to see them suffering. Our giving has less to do with what they need, but plenty to do with trying to escape our own feelings of inadequacy. This is a more subtle point, but sometimes we can get so impelled to give that we forget why we are giving or what is actually needed. 

So back to the garden with shovel in hand, apologizing to the newly trimmed plant for cutting it down, while thanking it for doing its job and that the plants that will nourish us - garlic, asparagus and beets will have a better chance to grow.  Choices are being made that will serve the bigger picture while energies are going to where they are actually needed.  It seems that life on all levels is a place, a reality where decisions can be made on where the compassionate effort needs to be focused and all the while that this interaction is taking place, it is done in wisdom, for the highest good, with an open heart.  

  

From My Garden To Yours.......

Kale Chips and Lebanese Salad

Kale Chips New Favorite, KALE CHIPS - WOW!!! 

Never believed these could taste good at all - they are TERRIFIC! Use kitchen shears to cut the kale off the stem and cut the leaves into bite-size pieces (discard the stems). Then arrange the pieces in one layer on a baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper), drizzle olive oil over them and then sea salt (Kroger sells in a salt shaker size grinder) grind it right over the cookie sheet. Baked on the top shelf of the oven (350 degrees) for about 4 minutes (tips start to turn brown, crinkle. YUM!! Then I scooped them off the parchment paper, dropped onto paper towel to soak up an excess olive oil. WOW!!!! I LOVE these! Just melt in your mouth. You have to try...

Lebanese Salad

5 Tomatoes chopped
1 Cucumber chopped
1-2 Bunches green onions with tops chopped
1-2 lemons Juiced
2 Bunches fresh parsley finely chopped
1-2 Tablespoon minced garlic
Mint for garnish add more if you want it in the salad
Sea salt to taste
Olive oil optional

Normally they put Bulgar wheat in this salad but I can't find it in my area. It makes this salad very healthy.

Garden Duties! How Lucky Are We?

On Sunday, Joe and I had a quick cup of coffee and talked about our garden duties, i.e. weeding the raised beds, planting new perennials, mulching, rearranging pots, picking lettuce, painting boxes, adding more dirt and mulch to the potatoes (yes, folks they grow up not down) and with that complete, starting up the new barbecue. It was delicious, grilled chicken shish kabob and veggies – accompanied with a fresh salad from the garden. We worked from 7:30 until 5:30, the weather perfect for staying out all day. It wasn’t too hot, overly humid and mildly overcast – the sun just peeking out here and there, allowing us to be comfortable while doing the work.

We bought some wonderful plants from the Farmers Market in Mount Clemens on Saturday. Joe and I wanted to add more flowering plants to encourage the more activity from the dwindling bee community not to mention the Monarchs which love to stop by on their long migratory routes. The lily pad flowers are blooming in the pond while the plants that look like huge petaled umbrellas are spreading out even further than last year. (I don’t know the name as our neighbor just dropped them off one day). Speaking of gifted plants, our friends the Victorys, brought a rare plant called, Little Brown Jug (wild ginger) from Tennessee that loves the shade along with some cool looking bamboo. We already have bamboo growing but I love it and thrilled to have more.  After living in the Northwest and seeing so much bamboo, I developed quite a love affair with it that stays with me today.

The garden is such a reminder of what it takes to produce something worthwhile. The responsibility that falls upon the shoulders of the gardener to participate in a cohesive way so that all is ecologically balanced – giving as much as you are taking. The earth reminds us that she is here for us, if we care just a little bit. We have had to walk our walk this year as we don’t have any help so it’s up to us. But we are managing and instead of thinking about what we have to do and stressing about it, we have chosen to look at it as a co-creation with the earth. Doing the best that we can when we can. And because it is incredibly collaborative, we have understood that the effort and love we put into the garden, more than equals what we get back.

So when I tell people about the size of the garden, many times their comment is “Wow, that must mean a lot of work!”  My reply, “Yep, if we’re lucky.”

From My Garden to Yours

Where should you get your worms this year?

Every compost should have ‘em!

This is my favorite  http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com

Time to Order Your Plants and Seeds

For your seeds – Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

http://rareseeds.com/

The absolute best!

Most of you know that while I love to grow heirloom / open-pollinated vegetables, my passion lies in the finding of new varieties steeped in history. A good friend of mine owns Michigan Heirlooms. We get all of our tomato, lettuce and pepper plants from her. Her stuff is amazing!!!! Over the past winter, she has acquired over 400 new varieties - from many different countries - bringing her total collection to just under 600 varieties. She will be growing each and every variety this year in her garden. Due to limited space and shortness of seed supply, she can't list the new ones in the catalog. However, there will be plenty of extras..... I highly encourage you to click the 'Grower's Choice' button in any of the different categories -- you won't be disappointed!
 

Grow in good health,

Karen Golden

Owner / Grower

248-343-1976

www.MichiganHeirlooms.com

Blueberry Green Smoothie

Blueberry Green Smoothie

I had this twice today and am thinking I’ll probably have it again tomorrow. It’s definitely yummy and filling but without weighing me down. Plus, I don’t have a lot of options! Ha!

It’s so easy!

INGREDIENTS
3-5 bananas
2 cups frozen blueberries
4 cups spinach
1 cup water

And blend!

Because of the pectin content in the blueberries, this congeals. SO, unless you want to pretend it’s Jell-O (which is OK too if you like that kinda thing!) it’s best drank immediately.

Sowing Bears Fruit

Gardening is not for some other persons in a future time. It can be meant for each of us, right here, right now, with a desire to help something grow and change a small spot on earth. And no matter what our beliefs seem to be, gardening brings out a little bit of the spiritual in all of us. Gardening doesn’t just enhance the environment but us too, as we are one of the factors in the cosmos of growing things, so we most obviously are changed and can be even more so if we are paying attention to the details. We become gentle revolutionaries believing in all life great and small, as our thinking changes about how things work. With this opening of our minds and hopefully our hearts, it creates a symbiosis for our personal gardening history which includes memories. These memories can fuel why we seem to be here in the first place - to create and especially to experience. 

With the memories of last year’s garden keeping me company, I have to say that I could be better about the impatience I feel as the snow and cold hang on to the raised beds. I love having my hands in dirt, and though I am ready to hang up my rubber palmed gloves mid-October, by March, I can hardly wait to go at it again. It is about that time, I have forgotten the humidity and mosquitoes. Like a mother that gives birth, I can’t quite remember the pain of lifting the bags of compost, heavy pots, gravel and bending over weeds for hours on end. Then there is the canning, dehydrating, washing, cutting, dicing and slicing the bounty so that it can be eaten throughout the year (yes we still have root veggies and frozen strawberries along with our canned goods). And even if I could remember the hard work, I would quickly realize that of course, it is all worth it.

But what the garden truly gives me are memories of a much more personal nature. As I think back to the year we moved to Harsens Island, we not only had our garden cat, Buddy on detail but he had a calico to pal around with, our beloved, Cricket. Between the two of them, not a mouse, rabbit, mole or any other living thing had a chance in hell surviving once it came within the perimeters of the garden. Cricket was so good at her job that we named the garden after her because she loved it more than being inside even on a cold rainy day. Cricket is no longer with us, having eaten something that took her quickly. I can look out our kitchen window, overlooking the pond and still see her walking along the cedar beds, patrolling the area for invaders. But worse of all, Buddy missed her terribly at first and  watching him go it alone was a bit heartbreaking.

Another casualty of our garden pets was, Howie. Now don’t be fooled by the name, Howie, who it turned out, was female. Of course, we didn’t know that small detail until a visit to the vet because Howie was a box turtle. And by then we had called her Howie for too long to shift to another name like, Howette! Howie traveled cross country with us in in her portable aquarium. She was abandoned in Seattle, rescued by our neighbor Bill, only to pawn her off on us. But we quickly fell in love with her, especially, Joe as it triggered young memories of growing up, living on the lake. I imagine, he being solitary by nature, meant that turtles and frogs were boyhood companions. He would fuss over her well-being, giving her weekly “tub time” and making sure she had her favorite melon. The spring of that year, I got a brilliant idea of letting Howie live in the greenhouse. She loved it, until one day, she found a crack between the ground and the frame, somehow squeezing out, shell and all. I know turtles are slow, but there is something to that fable of the determined turtle beating the hare over the finish line, because she was nowhere to be found. Joe still really doesn’t like to talk about it so we have taken the high road of living in the positive, convinced she is in the ravine behind the ½ acre of garden.

But the sweetest memories are always of my husband, Joe, working in the garden. As I write this, I have such a clear picture in my mind of him sitting on an overturned plastic bucket, trimming his heirloom tomatoes, fussing over each branch, unraveling them from each other as he puts them in their cages so they will have support for the rest of their growth. I kid him, and tell him that he really isn’t Jewish, but Italian as those damn tomatoes seem to be a part of his DNA. Each day, his skin becomes a deeper shade of brown, ball cap a bit more frayed, the dirt under his nails a little harder to dig out and most importantly, it opens my heart. Seeing Joe, happy, at peace with his hands in dirt, helping things grow, hits every note of loving him more. His interchange with the garden and the animals continuously shows me, that somehow I chose the perfect man in a complete moment of divine clarity.

In this co-existent journey with nature, we find that each season has a spirit of its own. Spring is full of energy and hope, summer offers endurance, autumn is for gratitude, and winter harbors a sense of reflection. Since gardening cuts across the distinctive seasons it takes on a different character with each month of the calendar and virtually each week. With this as a backdrop, it colors and feeds the memories of what I love the most. All of this of course, is not just the action of what I am doing but always a metaphor for life. Though we may have heard it a hundred times, it doesn’t make it any less true, and that is what we sow bears fruit. And every time I have heard it, I really haven’t realized how it is applicable to my daily life, because I just don’t think about it in those terms.  But I could never have imagined that what it means for me is  “the fruit of my heart”. As I continue to garden, and fall more deeply in love with everything and everyone around me, I wish you all a bountiful year….from my garden to yours as you reap what you sow.

Try growing your own sprouts

All you need are some seeds, a large, clean jar and some netted fabric secured with a band. Soak seeds that have been thoroughly rinsed for the first 24 hours in clean cool water, draining and refreshing the water several times. Store in the dark. Then rinse twice a day with fresh clean water and set in sunlight. Your sprouts will be ready to eat in a week.