Simple is to rise above the pressures of our consumerism-rooted society and take the time to enjoy the things that are nearest and dearest to you. Enjoying the things money cannot buy. The cost-free pleasures. Taking the time every day to dance. To dance with life. Hug your children, gaze up at clouds, daydream. Tell those around you how much you love them, and mean it with all your heart. 

You’re doing it girl.
Simple means making that jelly so you know where the grapes came from and what is in the jelly and you can smugly realize that you are not putting money in some multinational food giant’s pocket by making your own.
And, this winter, when you make your morning toast, you can just reach into the pantry and pull out a jar of your own yummy homemade jelly.
No trip to the store for you
Michele

This is a great question. I think we long for a time and place that seems simpler to us but might have been difficult. We spend so much time these days trying to keep all the balls in the air. Maybe the simple life is focusing on the activity at hand. Your grandmother shelling peas on the porch for example. Did she spend time thinking about getting your dad to his soccer game or what she was going to wear to her husbands office party or how many spreadsheets she had to fill in before her boss was happy? Maybe it was the ability to just sit, rock and enjoy the afternoon – still accomplishing something but not rush, rush, rush.

Just a thought….

For some reason, this post made me cry. I feel like that seed caught in the spider web too. I have potential, but I’m caught. Debt. Thank you for your words. I don’t live the simple life, but am working to. By simple I mean back to the basics. Let’s hope we find a way to do it.

SIMPLE~~Easy to understand, deal with, use, not elaborate or artificial, not ornate or luxurious, unaffected, unassuming, not complex or complicated, mere, bare, sincere, innocent, common or ordinary, plain, unpretentious, humble, lowly, and more~~YIKES!!!~~American College Dictionary~~~~~No where did it say that hard work was not needed~~~~However, we have the fruit of our labor~~~~~Continue on!!

My simple life involves one minus all the "trappings" we so aspired to back in ’80’s. Back then, is was all about more; more money, and all the things that went with it. Your neighbor got a big house, you got a bigger one with a pool. Your buddy got a boat, you bought a yaght. And oh, the cars. Car salesmen should have stood outside of the carpool line and just handed out their cards with all the volvos, beemers, mercedes, and the occasional jaguar thrown in for good measure. It was about dressing your best, even if you are working in a garden. That pretty much sums up the whole grand time; appearances were everything. No matter that you were into hock up to your eyeballs or weren’t even happy for that matter. Then in the late ’90’s I started reading about this movement to simplify your life. I really liked what I was reading! It reminded me of my childhood and that things had been so much better then. So I have really been making it my goal in life to get back to that simplier time. Was it work? Sure, but it was a good kind of work. This fall I will be moving, with my city family, back to the country that I grew up. I am so looking foward to the chicken coop I am going to build, and the milk cow I plan to put up in our old barn. This spring there won’t be a little city garden; I am going whole hog into the gardening! There will sacrifices and more work, but boy, I can’t wait!

Simple is simply cutting out the crap. Sorry for the bluntness, but hon, you really are overthinking this.

The last time I traveled, I experienced a delay of several hours, during which time my worldly goods were reduced to what I had with me–a backpack with my "survival basics" of water, an apple, some knitting, my book, a few travel essentials (clean socks and unders always go with me in my carry on!) and my purse. The purse was overkill. Everything I really needed or wanted was in that backpack. That’s simple. You decide what is essential and get rid of the overkill. My simple may look radically different from yours, but the great thing is, we each get to define it for ourselves.

Dear Rebekah, I’m so glad you fearlessly addressed this topic! I feel kinda guilty every time I read "simplifying" success stories. I’m a "simplify" LOSER. The word "simplify" is all around us…in sayings we read everywhere these days, its a trendy buzzword thing and you also see it applied to all kinds of home decor items etc. I don’t find it in MY life though. There is nothing simple about living a full life (in my opinion)and thats what I want…not a simple life. Your Grandma didn’t have a simplified life either from the sounds of it…(to my way of thinking anyway). But, I do think there’s something our Grandmas knew that helps a person deal peacefully with the noisy, busy life.

I don’t want to succumb to "Life" crowding me into a corner so that I lose my peace. THAT is what I believe the secret weapon is. Organize the "busy" and then keep it from springing a leak. Not easy, but do-able. Oh sure, there are days when it’ll get away from you, but you just take a broom and beat it back into into submission…rather than let it do that to YOU.

I’m 54 and maybe by the time I’m 80 I’ll have mastered the method. I can’t seem to say No to things that maybe I should, so I’m always caught in "too many irons in the fire". You’re husband is right. You don’t really get to win the war on busy, you just get to organize your choices and MAKE things a little less crowded in your little corner of a very busy world. And, every morning brings a whole new list of things to deal with. Anxiety is the real enemy and his hideout is within. Deal with that nasty little nemesis and "Simplify" becomes a whole lot simpler.
~ shery jespersen

Michele took the words out of my mouth…when I can my zucchini relish every summer or hang the clothes on the line, it isn’t easier, just better. I believe it is a state
of mind.

Hi Rebecca,To me it means not being so worldly.When I was a little girl we went to church and people were so different back then,but think about it,those older people did not have or grown up with television ect.We used to use the word "WORLDLY"at church,no one today even knows what I am talking about when I say the word "worldly."Quite frankly I go home after a church service today feeling a little upset…cell phones ring,and peoples conversations and even the preacher is discussing something of this world.I am not there to hear about the latest football game or what was on Sienfield last night,or to hear the preacher say he went to the comic book store.Sometimes I just go home in discuss.When I was a child,I am 53 years old,peoples conversatations we about nature.Life was calm,we shared our homes with good home grown fresh food,and our homes were for entertainment,the church was not a basketball court or resturant.Life was just different,we did not need to go to prom in a 3 thousand dollor dress,our moms sewed our dresses,we didn,t need cable tv.We did not see the latest movie,and resturant were a treat,candy and oranges in our stocking at xmas was a treat.Going to town was a treat.I never left the farm at all all summer,we swam in the creek or pond.That my dear is the "Simple Life"The work was hard,but people were to tired to mess up their marriages.To tired to go to town and charge up a credit card that they can,t pay for.They did not live beyond their means.Ok enough ranting,have a great day!carol Branum,Lamar Mo.themofarmersdaughter.blogspot.com

Thanks to all for posting, I have been asking this same question lately, I do remember things being more "simple" when I was growing up. We didn’t have modern conveniences, no disposable diapers, no microwave, no washer or dryer, no cell phones, no cable tv, and a few times no running water. We have so many conveniences these days to "save us time & work", to make our lives easier, but life gets more & more hectic often with no end in sight because we continue to cram as much into a day as we can. We need take action and make decisions to pare things down to a reasonable level. I tried to be superwoman for so many years, the do-it-all, have-it-all mentality, well sometimes it backfires, affects your health and mental wellness. I really appreciate everyones thoughts here, very helpful and insightful. I have stacks of books I want to read, sewing projects I would love to make some progress on but there is just not enough time or energy to do it all. Well, we can’t go back in time, we can only go forward, and the reality is like my mom always said " You make your bed, so now you have to sleep in it" Does anyone else have good old fashioned common sense sayings they heard when they were growing up ? Times were so hard, but I do miss it, our family was close-knit. I remember my mom hanging clothes on the line in freezing weather until her hands would bleed, there was no such thing as dining out, everything was made from scratch and she canned and froze everything she possibly could to feed her six kids. We wore hand-me-downs and patched up clothes. I guess I have felt the need to "never be poor again" so over-acheivement became a way of life.

The urgent can’t trump the important. I long for simplicity. And I am really making a go of it. But as a home educator of 4 children and being new to farming, I don’t get many quiet afternoons. So I do what I can to say no to good things to make way for the great. If at the end of the day, I have fed the humans and the animals, schooled the kids, communicated with my husband, loved the people in my life and taken some quiet time alone, then that’s a good day!

I have been reading a book on simplicity and one of the quotes from G. K. Chesterton is:

"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."

This quote has not left my mind. Our culture demands almost an obsessive alliance with "stuff" to determine our worth. My goal is to desire less and not keep up with the demands of the culture. This truly is not always an easy thing, but for myself, a very worthwhile thing.

What is the simple life- that is a very personal question the answer will be different for each of us. Years ago I read the book “seven habits of highly effective people”. I was a young army wife with three children under the age of six just starting to home school. Now the oldest child is 22 and the youngest of five is 11, three are still at home, all have been home schooled. In the 23 years of marriage there have been 16 moves, some over oceans, some across country, two involving moving my father-in-law too (he provide the funding we did ALL the other work). Are these things simple- No. But, what I took from the book “seven habits” was the creation of a mission statement it is quite simple and has served me well all this time:

Basics
Order
Peace

Explanation:
Basics- is what I’m doing or including in my (our) life necessary or essential? Not just in the realm of food, shelter, clothing, BUT also art, laughter, fun, community, education, etc… Some days that is making our pizza from scratch, everyone pitching in on other days, because we’ve had music classes and sports games or a family hike, it means picking up the pizza from the restaurant. Some years it’s sending out personal family Christmas letters to all our friends, other years, like the year three close family members had cancer and one passed away, letters were sent in the spring.

Order- if I stick to the basics it is much easier to keep things in order and to manage time. Our home is by no means a showcase, we will let mopping the floor wait if it is a sunny day, we will shove things in the closet and call it good enough so we can visit with a friend or help a neighbor. But again this goes back to the basics- what is essential- the spotless floor or a romp outside with the kids before they have all moved on?

Peace- when I stick to the basics and keep things in order we have peace- a calm feeling of contentment. Oh yes, we have days when the 90 lb dog is sick all over the carpet, the car won’t start and the 11 year old refuses to do his math but by the end of the day we can give hugs all around, take a deep breath and go forward.

A cozy, comfortable, uncluttered home…fresh flowers in an old crystal vase on the kitchen counter…a buttercream –scented candle burning…snuggling with my dog…reading a good book…writing in my journal…working on a quilt…enjoying a dinner out with friends…or a dinner at home with hubby…or sharing homemade ice cream with my nieces.
Having the time to enjoy these activities is key for me. The gift of time is priceless. It meant sacrificing to attend graduate school so I could shift from one job with a horrendous commute (90 minutes each way) to a career I truly enjoy with the ability to work 15 minutes from home. It means living beneath my means, saving money and avoiding debt so I don’t spend precious time worrying (as much) about financial matters. Being careful with my money means I also have a little extra to enjoy bi-weekly maid service…again, the gift of time. Mom always told me having money gives one choices. She was so right.
Simplicity also means knowing what you really want. While I adore wide open spaces and the great outdoors, I’m a city girl at heart (just not one as big as Atlanta). It made the decision to turn down the offer of land by the in-laws in the family compound a lot easier. I love visiting the rural area in which they live, but that’s not a lifestyle either my husband or I want.

Mayberry in the 1960’s is a great picture of the simple life. Everything seemed so clear in that series. Standards of decorum and morals and behavior were delineated. Men were leaders; women were feminine and strong. I think that’s why we long for that day.

Today I think a simple life can be attained by finding "true north" on our moral compasses. Once we choose that path and trust God to guide and direct us all other priorities seem to line up. Yes, there will be bumps along the way, but we will be making decisions based on clear standards.

As for making jelly or sewing an apron–not everything is as simple as it appears, but what joy and pleasure to have the finished project to keep or give away. There is a difference between "simple" and "easy."

I think for all of us the term "the simple life"has different meanings. For myself it is full, easy on the mind, fruitful to all of my senses,home made or made by a local, sometimes wild while other times peaceful and quiet but always filled with the glow of love from my family and friends. It’s a chance meeting with a person who wants to share just for the sake of sharing a good lesson or thought and in turn is open to my crazy musings!

To me the simple life is paring down your life stuff, activities, even relationships down to what’s most important to me…sometimes giving up a good thing so I can have and the best thing for me at this time in my life…I love having a kitchen garden and canning and lots of flowers but this summer I gave that up because I knew I wouldn’t have time to really take care of it and I would be frustrated about it…I’m purging my stuff so I can spend less time taking care of it (cleaning and organizing) and let my Roomba do more of the work! I gave up my guest bed since I rarely have overnight guest and I’m using that space for a uncluttered relaxing exercise room I can use everyday…I love to read but realized my home just isn’t big enough to keep everyone I like so I donated some to my local library and some to Goodwill…I have some I will never part with and now I’m downloading books to a Kindle and I don’t have to stress about overloading my space with books…

Simple life = No cell phone, computer, TV. Having a garden and canning what you can’t use right away. Making little waste, and recycling what we cannot re use. Writing letters. Taking time to breath and not think of anything but your breath. Looking around you and appreciating what your senses tell you about what you see, hear, feel,and taste. Loving one’s self and all those around you. Reading, dancing, singing, walking, riding a bike, for entertainment. Loving what is.

Simple means not worrying too much about things that don’t matter. Learning that things don’t really ever matter.

I enjoy all the comments, I think the simple life is what our life experience brings us. We develop our sense of what simple is for each of us. I grew up on a Indian Reservation in eastern Washington. We had no running water or indoor plumbing, we grew our own garden, hunted and fished. I never knew I was poor until I grew up. I remember taking all our old clothes and sitting with my gram, mom, and aunties and making quilts. I, like everyone grew up, went to college,got a career, married had children and joined the rat race. For years I longed for the simple life of my childhood, Not easy,but simple. Then a year and a half ago, I lost my job. Going from financial security to poverty was quite an adjustment. It got me to thinking of my childhood and here’s the opportunity to go back to the simpler life. Now I’m sewing, gardening and budgeting like a mad woman. Simpler may not be as easy, it is healthier, less stressful and inspires creativity. Simple is what you make it and unarguably good for the soul. Keep up the great work! In Spirit, Pam James

Seeking simplicity is one of those things where the journey is as important as the end. I’m still seeking, but making progress every single day. That’s what counts.

I am planning an eco-friendly baby shower for my sister, and, trying so hard to think of different things to do. Anyway…… I came up with a wishing well where each guest will be asked to bring one organic jar of baby food, but I don’t know how to present it in invitations or at the shower? I searched and searched the internet and could NOT find anything to help, hoping you ladies can!!!!!!

Oh Rebekah!
I am totally bonkers just from reading your article. My last garden was three years ago. My son and i were standing in the garden talking. We both happened to gaze down at the same time. To my horror and to my son’s amazement, the slinking reptile could have cared less about our emotions. He just slithered politely around us, and went on with his snakely pursuits. Oh, just thinking about it puts chilly bumps on my chilly bumps!
I am very proud of you for taking this giant step today. I just hope that you have someone around keeping an eye on you …….. just in case!
My prayers are with you this morning, and i can’t wait to read your next post (hopefully not from a sanitorium!)
Thanks for the post (i think!)

I finally made my dad’s hot pepper sauce from the beautiful red anaheim and jalapeno peppers in my garden. I picked and cooked them yesterday, let them cool overnight and this morning made the sauce. I’ve been planning to do this for several years and ironically, today was THE DAY! It was even easier than I’d anticipated thanks to the Squeezo I wheedled out of my mom.

I grew the peppers from seed and have been waiting all summer for them to turn red. Happily, I have enough greenish red ones out there to make one more batch as soon as they fully ripen.

Your garden sounds lovely, I think a snake also represents a healthy garden! I live in Auatralia, a place full of snakes. Everyone has a garden of some variety here and we do bump into them too. I asked my first aide course instructor how many people actually get bitten in the country each year, he said maybe a few and usually they are snake handlers. Maybe you could visit a reptile zoo and touch one.
I too have tackled an ok let’s do it job! Our whole yard needed cutting back. I now have three brush piles as big as cows to haul away or burn. Underneath I found a grapevine crying for space and some lemon grass which I replanted elsewhere. I also woman handled a noxious vine the size of my arm!

Enjoy your autumn planting and tilling. 🙂

I’m on tomorow already because it will be Sept. 1 and the weatherman says we’ll have some cool weather tomorrow. I will finally start working on my fall quilt table runners and and finish up a couple of small garden things.Ho,ho, who am I kidding finally is such a forboding word. Especially for a procrastinator.

I am so proud of you Rebekah! I love snakes! They are very honest souls – no hidden agenda. They are on earth to grow and procreate and they pretty much keep to that unless they are threatened. Your post has set me to thinking – wondering what it is exactly that I’ve been waiting to do that it’s time to start. Loving that you are a city girl successfully living as a farmgirl, maybe that’s my challenge. I’ve been thinking that I "can’t" do that. Hmmm

SNAKES!!! I have the heeby jeebies now…eek. Brings back memories of one of the farm crew having a week stay at the hospital with an arm the size of a thigh after a copperhead bite. Be careful and good luck with the garden:)

We just finished our basement and I found a small rat snake hiding underneath on of those inflatable mattresses. After I got through screaming for my husband..he never hears me call him from the basement, but he did this time he picked it up and carried it out to the woods. Yep.. I’m looking at storm doors now…seem’s he slipped underneath the door because the jam has a small opening.

Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. That looks mighty tasty!

"Hotter than a popcorn fart" which is what it’s been here in Oregon the last few days. This was one of my dad’s favorite sayings on a hot KS day. He passed away this year and alot of his crazy sayings keep popping into my head.

"Spend time, not money." After raising two boys our first grandchild is a precious little girl. Of course I am inclined to buy every cute item that I see but since we are retired (as in money is tight) I keep reminding myself to "spend time, not money" because it is what she will remember years later anyways.

When I’m in the garden I am reminded of my mother’s saying, ‘now that’s a tough row to hoe’, referring to a difficult situation. If someone was in a bad mood, they were being ‘owly’ (spelling?). Don’t know where that one came from and when I repeat it, people look at me like they are totally confused! When we used to speak of a couple that didn’t seem to ‘fit’ together in our estimation, my mom would say, ‘you know there’s a lid for every pot’, and then we would laugh.
This is a favorite little ditty that my dad used to say to make us chuckle:
‘It makes me laugh to see the calf run down the path in
a minute and a half to get some grass to wipe his HOO HOO!’
My folks had roots in Kentucky and I guess that might be where some of this came from.
All I know is that losing them both was a tough row to hoe..

Being from GA as well, my husband is very "cold-natured." Being in one of the hottest areas in the US in my opinion, how is it that you are "cold-natured?" But one of his sayings that he heard which possibly describes how he feels is: "It’s colder than an Alaskan well-diggers a–!" Personally, being in my 50’s, I LOVE the cold!! LOL!

Hi Rebecca,I make Martha Whites White corn bread,I get my bacon greese hot,and use a corn stick pan,and a wedged pan,My mother in law taught me when I was 17 how to cook southern.This is the kind she used,Momma Hallies was always yeller,and when I first saw white corn bread at age 17 I just did,nt know what to think!About sayings around here we say"She thinks shes Miss Aster,or she thinks shes Ms Vanderbuilt"talking about rich girls who think there #%$* does not stink."We don,t like like ritch girls in this neck of the woods,espically ones that think they know it all""I also like the Dorthy Parker quote"{about horitculture/gardening}Your can lead a whore to culture but you can,t teach her to think!"Dorthy Parker was playing scrabble when she said this jokely about herself.{this was a favorite saying of my aunt Dallies who wrote a gardening column for the Carthage Press.She would give talks to groups about gardening and use this quote and the room would roar.We also say "does a bear $%#* in the woods"a lot around here too…read more on my blog {its a dot not a @}Look me up,and please comment OK?Thanks!themofarmersdaughter.blogspot.com,have a great day Becka,Carol Branum,Lamar Mo.

I always tell each our son, "Better take good care of yourself cause nobody will do it for you."….
and my personal favorite:
.."SHE who tooteth not her own horn hath it not tooted!"
and for good advice when things seem all but lost:…"Pretend it is a YEAR FROM NOW and you are looking back on this. It will have been resolved (somehow) and life moved on."

Love the blog! In response to Cindy and drawing a blank…in dominoes if you draw a tile with no dots, it is referred to as a blank. Therefore, if you draw a blank, you have nothing!

Hi, Rebecca! I have always made yellow cornbread and instead of oil, I used butter. It’s also good with a layer of sharp cheese in the middle ( pour in half the batter and layer in grated cheese then pour in the rest of the batter). As my Dad used to say,"so good you wanna hug yourself for eatin’ it!

My husband’s favorite is "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride!" spoken when someone’s request was not likely to be granted. My Aunt Edna used to say,"Leave it for the blind man on a fast horse to see." when we’d be housecleaning or such and little bitty smudges remained despite vigorous scrubbing!
I LOVE your blog. I’m making the Hike Inn cookies this week for grandchildren

Ever heard this one? Some days Chickens, Some days Feathers!
My momm used to say it a lot when I was growing up…I never really " got it" until later in life… some days you get the whole glorious bird and other days… just feathers…. that’s life in a nut shell…!I’m a south western gal happily transplanted in New England…but my family out west is mostly TEXAN! They have more sayings than you can shake a stick at…They always make you laugh and think!

I just love your writing and I gave you a little shout out over on my blog just yesterday… right along with all the other farmgirl bloggers!

can’t wait to hear more about the shrimp and grits festival!
Deb,

More’in one way to break a dog a’suckin’eggs.

My Mom would say "bread and butter" whenever we walked to the side of a post or whatever, one of us going one way, the other to the other side. Have no idea where it came from, have not heard it from anyone but Mom.

Well my family is from East Texas. They have so many sayings; but here are a few I can remember. My grandmother would say when it was raining but the sun was still shinning "The devils beaten his wife again". One she said when I got older and something was upsetting me was "let it lye" as it let it be, most things work themselves out and the Good Lords in control anyway. My very colorful brother says things like "it’s colder than a witches tit-tie" and another thing everyone referred to me as "sister" as my name, I guess because I was the little sister. Oh and I’m sure we all heard this one, when dad would come in to wake me up he’d say, "time to get up the days a wasting", of course this was usually at 5am.

Mammy’s little baby loves short’nin’, short’nin’

Mammy’s little baby loves short’nin’ bread.

Put on the skillet,

Put on the led,

Mammy’s going to make a lil’ short’nin’ bread!

Ever wonder why?
Give it a try!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup molasses
1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a well seasoned 10" iron skillet
(An 8×8 baking pan can be substituted).

In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In another small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk.

In a heavy saucepan, stirring the butter and molasses continually, bring it to a boil.

To the flour mixture, stir in the butter and molasses. Add the buttermilk, baking soda and the slightly beaten egg and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the skillet and place it in the oven.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Slice and serve warm or cold with a cool, refreshing glass of milk for a delicious, nutritious treat and, "May you always be as happy as you make others!"

Rebekah.

Those are Tobacco horn worms. Voracious eaters,no spray or chemical will eliminate them. They must picked off.
Moths,butterflys lay eggs on the plants. Wasps will lay eggs on the worms and the larve will kill the worm.The only predator for those worms.

I had a great crop of Tomatoes this year ( BETTER BOY )

Family,and neighbors have enjoyed the tomatoes.
you will be getting more soon

FARM BOY R. D.

Check out my blog for my tomato story! No worry perhaps you’ll get more mater’s soon! Love your "Mountain Farm". I hear those hills calling me soon.

http://harehollow.blogspot.com/

Well, your city garden may have disappointed you, but your country sanctuary looks to be a slice of Heaven! What a beautiful, storybook-like place. Love the photos.

My tomatoes are coming, but still green. Out here on the northern plains, we’re much later garden harvesters than a lot of other farmgirls. However, we had beets for a supper sidedish last night…and a lovely salad of homegrown Romaine with carrots, cukes and Nasturium & viola flowers scattered on top.
Shery

Only 2 and one disappeared the night before it was going to picked! We have a container garden and the neighborhood cats decided it was their playground and litter box…killed a lot of promising plants before we came up with a solution.

We have lived on our "Farm" for 3 summers and each one has been so different. This year our tomatoes, beans, corn, strawberries, sweet potatoes and peppers have been bumper crops. Last year not so much. Our zucchini gave us about 5 this year. Last year, way more. We live in central Oklahoma and this year has been wonderful. The heat (yesterday 103.8, last time I checked) has only just started. The way August normally is. So our prairie grass has been green all summer! The weeds laugh in our face at our attempts to control them. Normally everything is fried by now. We had just the right amounts of rain at just the right time this year. Normally, we either get no rain or we just flood everything away. So, I have felt your pain. My husband comes in each evening with hands full of vegetables, a maniacal look in his eyes that says "I have conquered the dirt, now what are you going to do with these?!" I grew up in town and I confess that I wanted to hide from him at first but, I think I’m getting the hang of this now. As my pantry grows, I’m actually enjoying him coming in with more vegetables. I think a little chicken poop helps too. Hang in there. There is always the Farmers Market for this year.

Wow – did I ever need your story! I had herniated disk surgery on my neck last week. Lost 3 weeks before due to pain, then drugs to help the pain. So my veggie garden is really sad at this point. Hubby can only do so much and I love working in the garden. In N. Texas we are now having 100 plus weather – so no garden. Will try again in the fall. But I need to stop and enjoy what is around me now. Thanks!!!!!!

Hi Rebecca,We have some" Morgage Lifters" we bought from an Amish woman,and Brandywines.My favorite part of the garden is rideing in the back of daddy,s pickup,with the wind blowing my hair.Its our little ritual.He has a large water barrel that he fills,and he lets down the tailgate when we get to the garden,and lets it pour down the rows to his plants.I help him tie them up with peices of old fabric cut into strips,and we talk as we pick.I eat one as I fill my bucket of pepppers,and mators,and throw it in the back,and ride again in the back.He will stop the truck and point"Look over there!Did ya see that?and it will be a wild turkey,or some plant he wants me to see.And we will journey the mile back to the house.I will be putting on a pot to boil,and he will play the panio."Honey come in here,he says,and he will be playing "Crazy"by Patsy Cline",I sing for him,and its time for him to go lie down,its been so hot,and he tires easily now,Then,I can more tomatoes.Had to share that,I am so blessed,Thanks for letting me share,it is so special,Carol Branum,Lamar Mo.

4 tomatoes. And they were tiny at that. This year has been truly terrible for my garden and I’m not sure why. Will keep trying though!

Lovely photos of your meadows and surprise produce!

ewww…had those awful tobacco worms year before last. they are the yuckiest things to pull off your plants. thank goodness they never (cross your fingers) returned. i am sorry to hear that you haven’t had tomato luck this year. we have had a bumper crop of delicious heirloom tomatos, squash, cucumbers….until my oh so curteous neighbor used chemicals on his flower borders. then with the rain his chemicals flowed into my garden patch. my melons rotted on the vine and my majestic 16 ft. sunflowers turned black and fell over. but until the flood of weed killer, i would say our garden was a seven, no maybe an eight. i a rationing my remaining tomatos as i live for a tomato samwich. we’ve had a lot of friend squash and potatos along with cucumbers bathed in apple cidar vinegar. i even made a delicious pasta salad with all the veggies, bacon, and salad dressing. so even though the garden had an early demise, it was enjoyed throughly.

i love all of the hidden wonders you have found; the grapes, the pumpkin, your neighbors endless sky pastures. even with only three tomatos, you most certainly have had a bountiful harvest after all.

Since it’s your dill that’s being eaten, I would say they are black swallowtail butterflies. They also like fennel. I hope you didn’t pick and kill them. Personally I’d rather have a yard of butterflies than dill to pick! 🙂

You have Black Swallowtail caterpillars. They specifically eat the parsley family, which includes dill, carrot, fennel, and queen anne’s lace. I plant extra parsley just so that there’s enough for me and them. Google up some pics, they’re beautiful.

I was late planting most of everything this year so we’re just starting into the lusciousness of summer tomatoes. The taste test winners so far have been Black Cherry and Cherokee Purple. The Pea tomatoes are bent on world domination but some animal or other scurries off with almost all of the fruit. The Jumbo Jim Orange are beginning to color as are the Rutgers.

If it makes you feel any better I planted summer squash seeds mid-July and they’re just beginning to bloom and my first squash is developing. Exciting stuff. Can’t wait to grate them fine and freeze it in two cup increments (with a tsp. of lemon juice) to make muffins all winter long. Nothing says welcome home, I’m so glad you’re here, like spiced, fresh zucchini muffins warm from the oven.

From our gardens, we’ve eaten plenty of broccoli and I’m pretty sure the yard-long beans will just keep producing more than we can eat. The green beans are just starting to develop. I’ll probably freeze them since the yard-long beans are so insistent. The jalapenos are doing well also.

This year was particularly bad for the allium family here. The garlic didn’t size up well, neither did the Candy onions and the shallots were starting to rot. We’ll have to buy new starts instead of saving our own for next year. Good news is that when the tomatoes start rolling in, there are plenty of onions and jalapenos waiting to become salsa. DH can’t wait.

The best way to tell when concord type grapes are ripe? Taste them. The seeds should be brown instead of green too. Good Luck!

I did not see the culprits eating on the dillweed but now something is cutting my very large tomato stalks off at the ground with big green tomatoes attached and my husband thinks its the ugly green beetles that we find in the ground. We looked them up and they appear to be a June bug of some kind (nothing like the June bugs we used to see in TX). These lay eggs in the ground and grubs hatch then dig out when they become a beetle and the cycle starts all over again. They swarm like crazy in the summer after a rain.

Rebekah, the summer has been an odd one for our garden. Tomatoes, looked fantastic comin’ on then the blight hit, too much rain, we had toadstools growing at the base of the plants. A true jungle. We’ve only managed maybe 6 tomatoes, the chickens are reaping the benefits of our loss. The zuks, cuks and squash are going gang busters. The too much rain just destroyed the greenbeans. Just when the blossoms came on a rain storm of epic zest would knock them off before a bean could sprout. Now the heat has taken a toll on our animals. June started the first round of heat loss, a new litter of rabbits. July took my old goat "Bullet". Now this latest blast just yesterday has taken 6 of my older rabbits. We’re icing them down 3 times a day just to get them through. 3 more are looking rough. To say the least we are really looking forward to some relief from this heat. But as country life goes we have our blessings. We have been just gifted to the max with butterflies. What a joy they have been to watch. School is starting next week and I have a list of things to do while our last child is out of the house for a few hours. But for now I’m signing off, it’s supper and then home ec club with my only daughter (3 boys also). Enjoy whatever your bounty may be.

My ‘maters haven’t been doing too well in the Garden State,but for some odd reason,the bell peppers are doing great.Can’t tell you why.I have had just enough tomatoes for salad for my hubby and my self,andan occasional pot of chili.We are begging for rain here,but that doesn’t explain why the peppers are thriving.

Those are definitely catepillars that will be butterflies! Don’t kill them, feed them. If you don’t have one, plant a few butterfly bushes. You won’t believe the butterflies that will visit. I enjoy your blog! Keep writing!

I am a city farm girl too! And this year I thought my tomatoes would be a bust. I planted seedlins in the garden and the temperatures in my Wyoming area just took forever to warm, so they died. My husband bought me some more mature plants, a plum tomato and a beefsteak, at wal-mart, and while I didn’t have high hopes, I planted them in large pots on the deck instead of my little garden. They are growing like weeds! 🙂 I have 8 plums and don’t see anymore blooms, so I think it must be an indeterminant plant. I don’t fully understand what that means, but I think it means it won’t keep producing. The Beef Steaks are still growing and I have about 9 tomatoes and several blooms. I know it’s late, but this is southeast Wyoming and we are happy to have even green maters in August.

5. Yup, had a bad ant problem this year, apparently made a nest among the roots. I’m lucky I got 5. Your statement about how the first tomatoes didn’t even make it in to the house reminded me about the "first fruits" mentioned in the Bible. That first tomato, ripe, red, looking so juicy, the one you’ve been waiting for all winter…give it away? Hmmm. Not as easy as it sounds.

I love it! I’m so jealous, too. I wish, wish, wish I could do this kind of thing. We used to walk and hike all the time, but health issues have kept my husband from walking much lately. Every time we think we’ve got it beat, another symptom pops up. But we keep trying. This was so encouraging!

Hi, the trip sounds like a blast! I want to know what the bear was doing when the "other" group saw it!

Is your friend available to rent out? I need someone like her to get me off the sofa. Enjoyed your adventure! Aren’t you proud of yourself? I would be! Great post.

This is very inspirational. I at age 62 have almost given up on these types of adventures but after reading this, maybe not. There is hope.

!!!LOL!!!

What a trip! I agree, your daughter will remember forever the time when Mom got out of her comfort zone. Would you do it again?I’m printing out that recipe. It sounds wonderful, even if I’m not hiking off any calories.

I’m proud of you! I wouldn’t think you would have had any trouble walking the 5 miles in after training for the marathon. Of course the snake thing is a different story! But you did it and had a great time it sounds like. Thanks for the cookie recipe. My granddaughter was here yesterday and we made them and everyone who tasted them loved them! It was a great project for an eleven year old and a rainy day.
Bonnie

Woo Hoo! You go girl! See, you WERE fine! Don’t you just love friends who bring out the best in you? I have one such friend too…My Dancer friend that gave me the courage to take tap dancing lessons at 37… And then more courage to perform in her annual recital with the rest of my class which consisted of two other late blooming tap dancers in the late 30’s age range,2 years in a row!

I loved the classes but the stage fright before the performance had my stomach in knots! Once it was over, I was fine too!

Every once in a while, my hubby drags out the video to remind me of how much fun it was to tap dance and be center stage if only for a minute… I think that’s how long our song was…Just about a minute!

Your hike sounds like the perfect one for someone who didn’t fashion themselves as " outdoorsy at all " . So sweet for a mother/daughter get away…What a sweet mother daughter memory you made too!

Congrats!

Deb~

It looks like you guys had a great time. I would love to go to the Hike Inn. What an incredible experience to have!! PS I’m not too fond of snakes myself.

Hi Rebecca,

Sounds like you and your daughter had a great learning experience. You should keep doing these types of trips…see if you can get hubby to go too. My O/H and I have hiked in Maine…one trip he showed me bear tracks in the sandy beach near the stream we were on….since we were 20 miles from nowhere…I was not happy he did…no one else around. I’m usually one curled up with a quilt I’m working on, so these adventures are exhausting, exhilerating, etc…but I’m glad we’ve done them. I’m now, at 57, having some major medical problems (looks like I have Parkinson’s disease), so I don’t know how many more years I’ll be able to do these things…but I have a trip to England in the plans, with my grown daughter,nieces, plus I am hoping to go SKYDIVING! for my 65th birthday…
hope you just keep doing, while you’re young, and healthy!
have a great summer!
nonnameme

Thanks so much for the recipe. We have been to Hike Inn 3 times and love it! Plan on going again soon. But always wanted the cookie recipe! My husband and his buddies are doing a section of the Appalation Trail and I plan on making these for them. Thanks again.

Oh, I want to see them!

Evergreen for me, please. How can any house be unhappy with an EVERgreen roof?

If you get a chance stop over. I have a different post up today about Independence Day.

Hope your weekend is filled with sparklers and joy!

I’ve seen JT twice in concert here in Texas. Fabulous! I think the only thing better would be to add Carole.

Rebekah,

I am so jealous that you got to see James and Carole. Their music was the background of my life from junior high through high school. Tapestry saw me through love and break ups. And Carole’s song "You’re Beautiful as Your Feel" was salve for my soul.

As for the roof. The lighter green could prove the better choice if you go with the idea that light roofs are better environmentally. Having had a white house with a light green roof, I would be a bit leary. How close are the trees to your roof? Sometimes they can cause stains. And here’s a thought: You’ve narrowed it down to two choices. What does your BFF think?

Take it from someone who has been married for 30 years. Ultimately, it is his house, too.

Love reading your post.

Carolj

Sometimes red fades to pink. Shocking is seeing a dayglo PINK roof blazing in the sun! Forest green is nice, my ‘someday’ house will have a deep green roof, so if it fades, it’ll still be GREEN!

Awesome! Always Loved James Taylor and Carole King too..
(I am "almost" 64 (stretchin’ it out here…in about 20 days!)
I Love watching women older then me and set them as incentives to reach for…haha!)

I have had the same BFF for 33 years now and we will always be BFFs! We have always lived in different states since we were 7, but have always stayed in touch with letters (remember those?), visits, and now emails and Facebook. I LOVE my BFF!

Becka,I want ta tell ya too about this new chick I started to make friends with,well I am old 52 so I really do not tex,well,we met over rabbits,I have lionheads,and they are not ABRA registered yet,anyway but they are cute,and I met this gal at the rabbit show,that had registered jersey woolies,she is 25,and cute as a button,well,I like her,but,I am gettin old…lol,she texts me in the middle of the night about little things,like,one of her rabbits died or a million things,and my phone buzzes….lol,I like her but,these young people are so different that me,It is so annoyinglol,I just had to tell ya,gotta run,carol

Ah come on go for the Red!

Hi Rebekah, Wow, those are some great pics, you must have had some choice seats. This is my first post on your blog, but I’ve enjoyed your columns in Mary Janes Farm for awhile now.
On the subject of friends, I can probably count on one hand the number of actual "friends" I can call close & personal, and I know I am blessed. One friend in particular is a recent one, only about 3 years now. Her husband is stationed in Afghanistan right now and this has left us with the chance to spend lots of good times together while he is gone. Sometimes we just have coffee together and talk for hours, sometimes we do one of our favorite things and visit a local farmers market or shop in one of the smaller towns nearby (we are both in a small town just outside the big city). It is impossible not to admire her strength, even through this most difficult separation from her man. There might be 25 years between us, but it doesn’t matter ’cause we are like sisters in our hearts. Like yourself, we are farm girls at heart living in the city in the Midwest. I agree, it is so great to be able to laugh and be silly and so comfortable with another kindred spirit in those rare moments of just enjoying some down time and savoring our friendship. It’s given me a new appreciation for that blessing in my life.
About that roof? I’d go green too, the darker one. But that red…well, it’s tempting. Anyway, good luck with that decision. And thanks for allowing me to share some thoughts too! I look forward to future chats!

Do the red!

I’d go with the green, evergreen sounds great. A neighbor just put a green metal roof on his house down the street. It has been four or five years and it still looks great. Fits in with the trees around it, nice and cooling.

Betty in Pasco

I was driving home yesterday and heard this. An interview with James Taylor and Carole King on NPR! I wanted to make sure you knew about it. It was fabulous! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128359410&sc=ipad&f=124289519 Aren’t they something else? I hope to see them before they wind up the tour. Soundtracks from my life.

Enjoyed your post!

All us "with it chicks" know you can have multiple bffs. So I think your longtime friend certainly qualifies for an upgrade from ff to bff! You should call her up so ya’ll can plan a ceremony celebrating that fact! Invite some more upgraded bffs and make it a party

I’m just LOL about you inviting JT over for dinner? You really did that! Cindy

I’m the same way, Rebeka! My husband is my BFF. I have a bunch of girlfriends, but none I’d consider a BFF. Lighter relationships. There’s just something  about James Taylor, isn’t there? He makes you feel all is right with the world. I need to order the DVD of that concert. I can’t believe you were that close and couldn’t talk your way into getting an autograph. Maybe next time. Have a great day!

I don’t know what I think is cuter. James and Carole on stage or you asking him to dinner!

I truly loved reading your post. James Taylor sets the bar high. His music is wonderful and he cares about the world. If only other entertainers would be more like him!

Hi Rebekah,

Well, I’m used to deciding for my OH…very indecisive guy…the most! I choose Mint Frost….hopefully it will keep you all cooler….Sure wish we were in our new place in Maine already…..way too much getting in the way here!
Happy Summer…..nonnameme

Definitely the PEWTER. But they’re all beautiful colors. I’ll be interested to see what shade wins. Ardis

RED…. I vote RED……….I think the tile red is the brighter of the two… a red and slate mix could be interesting too… but I’m a red girl and I love a red roof on a white farmhouse tucked away in the hills or mountains.. A red roof is always welcomed surprise in my book because most people aren’t brave enough to do it!
What does a red roof tell you about the inhabitants of the home? I think it says plain and simple… we love life and like to have fun! What’s more farmgirl than a red roof on a white farmhouse?

Good luck and don’t keep us in the dark too long about which color you choose!!!

HAPPY ROOFING!
Deb~

ps. I think a paint called farmgirl red would be perfect idea! If I created it, it would be bright enough to be cheery, but deep enough to give you that old fashioned step back in time feeling, and GREEN because farmgirls are busy, efficiant types, and expect quality vs. a quick fix in all their home projects!

The green!!!
(We’re not really helping, are we?!?)

I believe you should pick mint frost. It would look so good in any season.
Season 1. Spring time, it would remind me of the leaves coming to bloom
2. Summertime, it would remind me of some cool mint chip ice cream to
keep me cool on those hot days.
3. Fall, It would remind me of the beautiful season to come with the
frosty mornings.
4. Winter, the decorating of the greens.
That is how I would picture it anyway! But ultimately it is up to you and your man! Have a blessed day.

Hi
Evergreen Blend with a white house is classic country. I love that with green or black shutters and green doors with white screen doors. Speaking of screen doors, they are great for air circulation too. Good luck with your new project, your little country farm is just to beautiful for words! I am so glad that it belongs to you because you appreciate it, care for it, and love it so much. It’s so sad to see the amount of county places in Georgia that are covered over by weeds with the porch and roof all falling in. Good luck with your project – whatever you choose is going to look great! Cindy

Instantly it was pewter for me. No hesitation whatsoever. What an AMAZING spread!! I’ll also add that pewter was the color of roof we just put on our new house. Totally biased!!! Can’t wait to hear what you’ve decided. ~julia

Green. I like the idea of our buildings blending into the surroundings. Like hobbit houses.

It doesn’t look like we’re being overwhelmingly helpful. Six comments counting mine, and you have five colors. At least that means that one color got two votes! And for the record, red would be my second choice, if I decided NOT to blend in!

I vote for a light color; mint. Things to consider: do you have mildew on the shingles that you have now? If so, you would like a color that will hide the mildew.

I have to say,I love the green, it would blend in well with the trees ,and look so homey… good luck on the choice!

If "Slate Gray" is the one that looks like real slate, with variations of black and gray, that’s my vote. (the little samples on the website are a little hard to be sure) When my husband and I change our roof and siding in the near future, that’s our choice. I love the slate look, If the tin roof is out.

I enjoy reading your columns, keep up the great work!

RED!! It would look beautiful during every season of the year! Second choice, GREEN. What a charming place; it would be hard to mess it up!

My first choice is the Evergreen and 2nd choice is the Maple Red. (We have a Brick Red metal roof now and befor that it was a Dark green) I think the green would look nice year round.

I vote for the red blend. All color are beautiful, but I am a sucker for red.

Definitely the Evergreen Blend—-and the Cinnamon Frost is quite striking as well!

Slate gray, because it has lots of varigations in color, the solid colors are dull and being as you can’t get a galvanized or sage green metal, i think you need to stay with a "rustic" look. I do have a source for the kind of corrugated metal that rusts, it is not as expensive as you think, just put it on a pergola and it is wonderful with galvanzied round gutters, looks like it has been there for years. I had my heart set on it but it was too expensive, thanks to the wonderful world of the internet i was able to have want i wanted, and if you love something i think you have to look at all the years you will be looking at something. If it makes you happy and doesn’t totally ruin your finances. And in saying all that i think you should trust yourself, whatever you pick will be "right".

Weeeeelll……I have a green metal roof, for snowy winters, but since that’s out, I go with the pewter……☺

I think you should go with evergreen. It will be a nice contrast to the white and look great against a blue sky

Why not take a picture of your home and then use a program all good builders have where you can put the color of the shingles on the roof and look at what it will look like when it is completed. Then you will know if you truely will like the way the roof looks when completed. That is what I would do. But her is my choice if it were mine with what I could see. Good luck as I know first hand how important this is.

Keeping with the time of the homes age I will say Evergreen

I think the mint frost would look great! Second choice is Evergreen blend.

I like the evergreen! i have an old farm house too but mine has a metal roof. Good Luck!

I like the pewter. I backed up from my monitor as far as I could, and it seemed the pewter looked more like a metal roof. I don’t see shutters or trim on your house, so any color you choose will be just lovely in your setting.
JO

Mint Frost; it even sounds beautiful!!!

I live in the neighborhood of the Great Smokey Mountains. I love your home place! My vote is for green, so that it will blend in with the rolling hills and pasture. Good luck with this. I love your blog!

I vote for the maple red blend. It will stand out in a good way! I love the evergreen but when I saw the house, there is already so much surrounding green of the same shade that it fades into it. The white house with the red just seems perfect!

Don’t get me started!!!!!!!!

I’ll tell you " why bother gardening "!!!

Mind if I just add to your list? It’s a great start!

15. I love dirt too, the smell of it and I remember actually tasting dirt when I was 4. I was out in the shady flower bed on the side of our house and I couldn’t have been happier smelling and tasting that rich dark dirt!

( for the record, that was the last time I ate dirt ) 🙂

16. I would rather be outside than in! I love all aspects of gardening. I love when the first inspiration hits me to try something new in one of my flower borders. I love to paint with plants in my garden.. All the while I am digging and weeding I can imagine to my hearts content what more red would look like here or there or if some deep purple would compliment such and such in my garden or how the silver leaves of russian sage look next to the deep green leaves of cone flower or near an oak leaf hydrangia…

There is more wonder to be had in a garden! If people only knew!!!

17. To eat healthier and from our own soil…There is nothing like the taste of a home grown well, anything!

We have a small veggie garden at the lower end of a large flower border! This years entries so far: 2 kinds of squash, peas, pickling cuc’s and pumpkins… I still have two unplanted rows I’m saveing for lettuce and peppers!

18. IT’S FUN…IT’S WORK… IT’S FUN WORK…and rewarding from the inside out!!!!

I love to say, " put down some roots, you’ll just feel better!

19. Because even when I’m not IN the garden I can READ about gardening!!!!!!!!

GARDENING IS GOOD MEDICINE… THAT’S WHY!!!!

Great post!

Deb~

ps. congratulations on your progress with the " snake phobia"!!! Keep at it Rebekah!

Why do I "bother" with a garden??

Long story short-I come from a family of gardeners…from way-yy back to the farmers in the NYS family in the 1800’s (at least that I know of…and before-my mothers family came to this country in the 1600"s!! I am sure they gardened or farmed!)
My great grandmother, grandfathers (both sides) and mother all boasted beautiful gardens both food and flowers
I have been growing things since I was a teenager–in my ROOM! Even trying tropical house plants (guava for one.
I can not imagine not growing something…anything, even if only in a pot on the windowsill if that’s all I had! .. and have been organic (veg and flowers) since 1971…
It is relaxing, rewarding, and just plain fun..what fun to out a seed in the ground and watch it grow (if you can keep it away from the squirrels!) into something to put on the table…! It never loses that magic for me…(and 20 years ago I added chickens to the mix…can never go back!)

Because gardening is MAGIC. To plant a seed and then watch it turn into a leaf, and then into a bigger leaf, and then one day pop little buds all over the place?

That is pure magic, it never gets old, it never ceases to amaze me, and I never lose that feeling of astonishment that it actually "worked". We’re participating in a creative process that is rarely replicated elsewhere in life.

Sounds like the gardening naysayer just sees gardening as a chore that people do for appearances only, or because they think they "should." Maybe you should invite her to join you in your garden for a day in the sun so she can see what all the "bother" is about!

I think I would have had to reply "Why in the world do YOU NOT garden?"

Yesterday my Grands and I ate tomatoes and green beans, cucumbers and squash … fresh and raw from the garden. Our toes were in the dirt, our hearts were happy…

Answer with a question: Why do you think it is a "bother"? I’d be interested in her answer to that question. I guess my answer would be: "Since when is wholesome food a bother?"

Hehe, another question/answer!

I can relate to the "lower red-clay clump" because that was phase 1 of our garden, but we kept tilling in handmade compost until it became a garden. Phase 2 was a rabbit wire fence and then I planted. Now we have a jungle (maybe I planted too much) but the reward will be worth the ‘bother’ because we love it. Gardening is what we do… it’s what makes us who we are. I cannot imagine not gardening. This is why we chose a place in the country. Bother? why not! And for the snake, thank you for covering it back up and not ‘bothering ‘ it. You’re a good person Rebekah.

I too love to bother. All the reasons you give plus I lost my life partner in December of 2009 and am using my time in the garden as therapy and rebuilding a new life without him.

TOOO ironic- with a fullt time job a teenager that is really involved in the commuity and 3 horses-I LOVE TO GARDEN- in fact i pulled a muscle in my left index finger this weekend- noticed it monday. Can only ascertain that i must have done it weeding over the weekend. No kidding- i pulled a muscle in my finger from weeding.

I like to work in the garden barefoot. Canned my first batch of strawberry jam last week and still find green army men in teh garden from when my now 20 year old was younger. I do not remove them, but just leave them to remind me of how much fun it is to have a legacy.

People who dont garden dont get it. I traded a load of old aged manure for tomato seedlings. That is how it works.

I have been gardening since I helped my grandpa plant in our backyard at 2 or 3 years of age. That makes it over 50 years, I haved gardens in pots on terraces in Spain, vegetables growing in flower beds in military housing, planted one at my parents house when I lived in an apartment for a couple of years, pots of vegetables in Georgia, and finally for the last 12 years or so in my own yard.
I have to play in the dirt every spring, summer and fall. I think it is part of who I am.
Spring greens are over flowing on the deck right now so it will be a salad night for supper here. Herbs, vegetables, strawberries on the the vine,fresh at its best.
I am also a regular visitor to the local farm market.

I can’t say I love Dirt! In fact I’d rather not get dirty and sweaty, I do appreciate the benefits of exercise but I can’t really say I always enjoy it…But I do love, love, love to garden… I didn’t really care for working in the garden growing up…My generous next door neighboor shared a "mess" of her wax beans and several quarts of the canned ones,and now I’m hooked, and am only constrained by space and time…I love knowing that I can grow and preserve my own food if need be…and those home canned tomatoes and greenbeans are definetly better than the tin can grocery store variety…I can taste summertime in every bite.

Plant on the outside of your garden marigolds…it will keep the rabbits out. I love garden too, but sadly I am like you use to be, I only have a small spot in front of my half of the yard in front of my apartment. But I plant tomatoes, one year, onions, another, green peppers (I rotate for its small spot and don’t want to depleate the dirt)
And a spot for flowers.

So keep planting.

I garden because it connects me to the women in the world who garden and the women of history who gardened (like my mom). I garden because it gets me outside where life is so very real. I garden because it is meditative and productive at the same time. I garden because it tastes good.

I pray that I never reach a point in life when I can’t always have something growing nearby. I visited a gardening woman in a nursing home with no growing things in her room, no signs of life. So very sad. There was a dead plant on the window sill. She can no longer tend growing things and there is no one who cares enough to tend them for her.

AMEN!!!

Thank you!! That really touched my heart.

Cindy

Wow, what an amazing trip. On my list of things to do in my lifetime is a trip to WDC. History has always been one of my favorite subjects and seeing up close the places where so much history has been made would be amazing.
At the top of my list of places to see is Arlington and the memorials… What a testament to the many many brave men and women that have served our country so that we can be free.

My son was also in DC last week on his senior trip with his class. Of all the things they saw I was surprised to hear that his favorite thing was Arlington Cemetery. Huh? He responded that it was very touching seeing all the markers lined up and knowing what they represented. I think you just articulated what he was feeling.

So we DO celebrate the DAY- there is alot around our town square and the flea market etc, but it is truly ABOUT the parade and the marching band and the kids and mostly the Veteran’s. We belong to an amazing 4H club. One of the advisors leads us in some awe inspiring activites to pay homage to our local veterans. Last Veteran’s Day our members identified markers at a local cemetary- placed flags on the grave-sites and read about each veteran. We will be doing this again on 5/28 to start off the weekend. We will be paying homage to Civil War veterans at a different cemetary and hosting a pot luck for our local Veterans to come and share with us. We have also payed homage to those of the War of 1812, ok those markers are HARD to identify. Our local high school also has an appointed bugelist to play for such occassions and funerals in town. We are very blessed to have a real understanding of how to celebrate Memorial and Veteran’s Day. I have even planted poppies under my own flag pole at home. We get it, thanks for reminding others

I have to share an experience I had years ago. It was May of 1993, my husband was stationed at a US Air Force Base in the south. My youngest son had came home with the school calendar for May, and while looking it over I noticed that there was school scheduled for Memorial Day. I called the school office and was informed that "yes, there would be school that last Monday in May" I questioned her by saying it is a Federal Holiday, a National Holiday. She informed that "No, It is a Yankee Holiday and my child would be expected to be in school that day" Wow, what a surprise. Later in the local paper there was the notice of helpers needed to place flags on veterans graves the Saturday before Memorial Day. So that is what my sons and I did that weekend. Yes, I did send them off to school that day, with lots of apprehension. As my older sons became high school students, they took matters into their own hands and skipped school on the last Monday in May; frequently with other children of active duty military members.

I will say, that this event did cause me to realize that these United States are still very divided on many issues. I also learned the history of Memorial Day that May of 1993.

Hey Rebekah!
Great post! Your absolutly right about mid -spring and the opportunities it has for growth! Inside and out! All I have to do is look outside my kitchen door and see my "now" very tall Tree Peone. I swear if I go outside at night I can watch things grow! Only a few short weeks ago we were celebrating " new growth" in the garden! Your challenge is a good one! All of us girls seem to put others first… and that’s o.k. cuz giving to and loving those we care for best is what live for… But the well can run dry if it’s not refilled with things we personally love and need too~ Two years ago I signed up for riding lessons at the ripe old age of 47! for a solid year on wednesday mornings from 9-10 that hour was MINE…The economy took it’s turn and I stopped my weekly lesson then, but I tell ya it was my salvation and the things I learned about myself and horses was to me at least imeasurable… I’m hoping to be back in the saddle real soon.. and in the mean time I’m growing a gigger vegggie garden this year,food, walking 3 x’s a week consistantly, and adding more color to my summer garden.. just cuz I love it and I’ve got an art show coming up which I am joyfully preparing for!
Thanks for the reminder that we need to give ourselves some " sugah" while we are sprinkling it over everyone else!

Enjoy this day and best to you on your run!!!

Dandelion wishes,
Deb~

Thanks so much for identifying the Cherokee Rose for me! We have many of these growing down our lane, and I wondered what they were. And you are right about the honeysuckle! I lost my sense of smell about 2 years ago, but my daughter tells me that it’s just heady this year! I miss that smell!Well..all smells. Don’t you just love the wild roses too? I think they are so beautiful! Georgia is so beautiful in the spring! Thanks for another great story!

I’ve got a natural way for poison ivy if you want to hear it. When we moved to our property I ended up with poison ivy from head to toe (literally) 2 years in a row. We had vines growing up our walnut trees about 8" in diameter! We chopped the vine at the base and made a solution of 1 cup dishwashing liquid, 2 cups rock salt and 1 gallon boiling water. Stir and pour quickly over exposed root at dusk (very important). The ivy plants feed at night we were told. Anyway that killed the vine after one application.
As always, I enjoy your blog…

Last September I attended a Michigan Oral History Conference in Marquette, MI. at the campus of Northern Michigan University. This is where I met the Secretary of MOHA, Geneva Wiskkanen; my dear friend and mentor. Nena and I hit it off right away and over the course of the weekend I learned many valuable things from her about documenting and archiving history.

Just a few weeks… ago in early spring, I decided to proceed with a project that I have been wanting to do since the conference; gathering a collection of Farmgirl Histories,and compiling them into a little book.

I posted a requested in the chat room of MaryJanes Farm web site for Farmgirls that were interested in participating and the response was staggering! My collection is growing every day and the answers are in such depth and detail. They are funny and sad and tell the rich story of their families. I am enthralled!

I feel very blessed to be the one to record these histories.I am learning about the determination of these girls and their families and also the love of this land through their own farmgirl histories!

I know this project has, and is, changing my life–A little seed was planted back in September and before long a lovely tree of history will soon be up and growing; stretching and reaching for the sun.

Well, now that you mentioned it – I learned how to spin yarn on a spinning wheel which I thought would be easy since millions of women spin!! Not so! It is difficult to stay consistant with the width of the yarn and I was very tempted to give up but I didn’t and now I am VERY proud of myself for sticking with it. I still need to keep practicing, but spinning is so much easier now. Thanks for reminding me!

Love this post and want to share it. However, I don’t see an easy way to do that. Why is there no Share box here?

I actually recently gave MYSELF a Spring Challenge: invite people over every Friday. Stop waiting for the house to be clean or for a special occasion. So, we now fling open the garden gate every Friday from 4-6pm and enjoy "Fridays in the Garden". We offer local snacks and wine, ice water and tea, and we sit down… yes, SIT DOWN, for 2 hours, in the garden, beside the running fountain, and actually talk to whatever friends wander through the gate. This Friday will be our 3rd week. It’s a treasured time and I’m so glad I did it.

My challenge is to do a destination half marathon with my husband and daughter next January. I am excited! I have never ran more than a couple of miles in my life – I’m 42 and up for the challege. I am also seriously gardening for the 2nd year. I love it!
As for killing the poision ivy…not 100% sure it will work, but I have read you can put full strength vinegar plant you are wanting to kill – as long as it is in the sun, and it will kill it. I think it has to have full sun to work. Most of us have vinegar and it would be worth the try.
I really enjoy your blog!

Yesterday morning I went on my one of my daughter’s field trips with her school to the Landis Valley Museum her in Central PA. During the trip we stopped at the Old Country Store and I picked up this great book – Sunflower Houses. If you have kids or gkids you need to research this. So here goes my challenge to break out of the non-creative side of me AND BONUS do something cool with my girls. I could go into great detail about the Sunflower House, but what I would really like to ask is if some of you have done this and some tips. Best wishes to all on your challenges and send a little my way please.

Congrats on the 5k! That must have felt so good. The trail run definitely sounds like more fun to me. My challenge to you is to keep us posted on your successes : )

As for my mid spring challenge…I am taking an online travel writing course that begins next Tuesday. Excited and nervous. My challenge is to set aside three hours a day to focus on writing and nothing else. No excuses.

Regarding vinegar; this is the second time I have read about it being an effective weed killer this week! I can’t wait to try it for myself. I use it to clean mirrors all of the time. One can replace most harsh chemical cleaning agents with baking soda, essential oils, borax, etc…

Thank you for another inspiring post Rebekah, and Happy Mid Spring Everyone!

Thank you for sharing this delightful article. I totally agree,my favorite season in Colorado. Love the sound of the Hummingbirds returning and the baby birds in the nest in an old barn wood birdhouse in my garden,it is a sight and sound that I find comforting.

My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!