Rose Cottage

  It's exciting to watch the garden emerge and take shape!   I seeded more of my Homesteaders Kaleidoscopic Perennial kale Grex (Experimental Farm Network) - always fun to see the variety of plants which emerge.  Tomatoes, basil, kale seedlings on right I sketched various plans for each bed, then, go out to the garden and fine tune with the Devas, for the layout! We still don't have fences to the N or S, so the deer roam through.... tulle and binder clips provide night time protection!  Tomatillos and Monarda I enjoy planting a mix of old favorites and less standard greens - orach, new Zealand spinach, doucette (summer relative of corn salad/ maché) red celery, Alexanders, Magentaspreen, shiso ... and purslane transplanted from the lot.  Varieties of beans include Dragons Tongue, Red Swan, Edamame, runner beans, and Trail of Tears. There are Dragons egg and Persian cucumbers, bitter melon and okra ... a box divided into 4 sections for burdock... Morning vi...

 Rose cottage garden is growing beautifully, and (with good watering!) revelling in the heat.  Day Lilies I've been enjoying our book group conversations on the the daily reflections offered in local author Randy Woodley's book, Becoming Rooted . Each of the 100 brief chapters includes a story and inquiry or suggestion for implementation.  Today, whilst talking of chapter 40, Turning Tornados, I was reminded of an experience related by flower essence maker and practioner Molly Sheehan.  ( Green Hope Farm Essences  ).  During her visit to Ireland in 2005, she had a chat with the  elementals * shortly before she left, asking why they had been so supportive of her work. They replied , "We steady this planet. We steady our emerald island. Most often, we steady against the imprecations of humans, but we find in this project, humans working to steady the planet with us.   We thank you one and all for working with the Flower Essences and working to both ...