No More Flu
Big old full moon on Saturday evening, February 24th. The last one before we head into eclipse season.
This week is a lot better than last week because I’m not sick with the flu. I’m not blaming my sister and niece for bringing the flu they had running through their house into mine; I could have picked germs up anywhere. And they also might have brought them to Vermont.
I’ve been working my way through the Master Gardener Program learning about garden planning, soil health, and perennial plantings. While I thought I had a good rotation plan mapped out for this upcoming growing season, I did update a few beds since I wanted to ensure I had at least three years of rotation between plant families in the garden heading into year four. I’m also planning on getting soil tests for the garden, one of our fields, and part of the front lawn. I’m curious to see what comes back from the results and if they are similar or not coming from three different areas of our property. While I plan to mulch and apply compost before planting, my understanding is it’s helpful to have a baseline soil test and they’re only recommended every three years or so. I’d like to take the samples in April depending on the weather and how wet the fields are.
Snow melted this week. Planning to take soil samples of the lawn pictured here.
The material in the Master Gardener Program is shifting away from plants and soil to insects- both beneficials and pests. I’m interested to learn about research backed solutions for encouraging beneficial insects and birds, and discouraging pests. Growing more herbs and flowers should help. We’ve very fortunate to have our house located in an area with acres of hayfields. We only brush hog once a year in the fall so we have a lot of perennial flowers and weeds that support beneficial insects near our garden. The property adjoining ours is mowed for hay usually twice a year.
Continuing on a path of personal development I’m focusing on gratitude this week to help have a more positive mindset and feel more like going with the flow, instead of resisting what is. Practicing gratitude and telling people I appreciate them is one practice I’m working on this week. Another is feeling complete as I am now. Not seeking more or less, or comparing myself to others. A focus is to feel I am enough and there’s nothing lacking. I’m working to silence and redirect my inner critic who appears when I’m tired, stressed, or out of balance. When I create good practices and boundaries for myself I am more likely to act instead of react, and I would prefer to treat people that way and be treated the same.
My artist date for this week was a double date with Ryan to see Bill Frisell Three at Higher Ground on Sunday. We’d seen Bill Frisell about 15 years ago at the Portland Jazz Festival in Oregon. I’m a big fan of jazz noodling. I enjoy music without lyrics and the dance that happens between guitar, drums, and saxophone or clarinet was a treat. We are fortunate to be able to go see live shows about 20 minutes from our house and support musicians. Seeing live music feeds me. Nora Brown is coming to Higher Ground in July. I’d like to go see her as well. I’ve heard great things about how she plays the banjo.
