An Inner Tidal Wave Happening

This morning I woke up with the same cold Jazz had earlier this week. I just went out to the garden to water and pollinate. Here's a few photos of some more unusual crops.

Tohono O'odham black eyed peas from Native Seed/SEARCH described as being a good green bean for the low desert. I wanted to wait and see how they tasted before planting more. They are delicious and you can see from the picture that they conveniently hold their beans up high so they are easy to see and pick.


Lemongrass--It's a little frost tender but last fall I planted next to the house and it easily made it through our winter.


Ginger--I'm getting ready to plant this near the house also as it is frost tender also.



Bay tree--this does well in our area if planted in a pot where it can be sheltered from the sun and frost.

Jazzie spent more time in her chicken blind, playing the piano, watching Families of the World, and of course imaginative play. She hasn't been playing the piano regularly, so I'm enjoying her passion to learn a new song. Here she is playing the harmonica as she cleans up her things.

I wasn't feeling good and mostly read A Course in Miracles, meditated, blogged or napped.

If I were to claim a spiritual path, I would call myself a student A Course in Miracles. I've received a lot of comfort from others too; Byron Katie, the Abraham material, Louise Hay etc

I've been reading ACIM (A Course in Miracles) for about 3 1/2 years. I have read it sporadically, sometimes reading a lot, sometimes not at all and I just open to a page and read. This has worked for me but I am ready now to start at the beginning and read all the way through. ACIM also includes daily workbook lessons for an entire year. I started the workbook when I started reading the Course in 2005, but only finished to lesson 100 or thereabout. I've been using these lessons ever since but it is time to begin again. Today I finished Lesson 5. Interestingly, the call to start ACIM fell about the time I've been inspired to go at least 80% raw. Somehow around this same time a ran into a fabulous set of videos on You Tube that helps it all fall into place--IT is all perfect.

A breakfast for Champions

This is the first two parts out of five of the excellent The Social and Emotional Aspects of Eating by Rozalind Gruben. If you've enjoyed them, make sure you watch the other 3 on You Tube.

Budding Naturalist

Early this morning I went out in the garden to finish up some long neglected projects and use up the mulch (grass from the park) we had brought home. All 5 bags of mulch are used up and I'm looking for more. I fixed a leaking soaker hose and emptied a compost pit and filled it part way back up. I brought the girls--our three hens--out to eat the bugs in the compost. I've been making compost pits successfully--this is the fifth or sixth time I've dug one up and had beautiful compost. The only drawback is that it doesn't compost at a high enough temperature to kill seeds, so I tend to have volunteer tomatoes and squash grow where I use it. Here in the Sonoran Desert it is so dry a compost pile needs to be watered otherwise you have dried organic matter instead of compost. I dig a pit in a bed already on a soaker hose and fill it up. I use Effective Microorganisms to help it compost anaerobically (I'll post more about EMs later as I use them alot in the garden and the home or see EMAmerica)

The Girls--Bess, Grace, and Guinevere--eating bugs in compost pit

finished compost

A decorative millet blooming against a backdrop of basil

And corn...I planted this 2 weeks after the last planting date for our area (in the lower sonoran desert it is too hot and dry for corn to pollinate in June) but hopefully our unseasonably cool weather will allow this to mature. This is a variety from Native Seeds/Search that is a sweet corn in the milk stage and matures to red, white, and blue kernels. I'm hoping for at least enough to taste it and if we like it, save some seeds.

My mom helped with the mulching and dug out some potatoes, which aren't ready yet and transplanted the sweet potatoes.

mulched sweet potato plants

Jasmine has been captured by the chapter book I'm now reading to her. She did not want me to read this book but it captured her very quickly. I was browsing over at LaPaz Home learning(I get inspired by something every time I visit). She describes a book she's reading with her children The Trees in my Forest by Bernd Heinrich.

I realized that this is a genre--nature study-- that I have been sorely neglecting in my selection of chapter books. We have been enjoying a lot of historical fiction lately. I looked up the book at the library they didn't have it but had an interesting sounding one by the same author--Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds. In the book Heinrich sets up a blind in the Maine woods to observe Ravens. This afternoon we let the chickens into the front yard and Jasmine created her own blind and stocked it with tools of the trade and spent a couple hours observing the chickens and writing notes in her field journal. Isn't homeschooling great!

The blind

The tools of the a wildlife observer


I've been taking pictures of food for the blog so today Jazz made her lunch and took a picture of it. The carrot and the Thai basil she picked from her own garden.

This evening we rode our bikes over to the park to see if there's any more grass clippings to be had, grabbed a quick dinner, and headed out to An Evening in the Sonoran Desert program put on by our awesome local Non-profit group ISDA (International Sonoran Desert Alliance). A biologist from Cabaza Prieta Wildlife Reserve talked about insect and reptiles particularly those who come out at night. We then used black lights to search for scorpions which glow an eerie but absolutely gorgeous green under a black light. We had a great time tromping through the desert finding scorpions and a member of our group found a toad that usually doesn't come until out until monsoon season. Does this mean monsoons will be early this year? (Monsoon season in the Sonoran Desert usually starts the second week of July). I don't have pictures but maybe can get some e-mailed to me. Until then, here's a picture of a scorpion under a blacklight I found on the WEB.

Melons and Squash and Cucumbers--Oh My!

Jazz still a little under the weather. She's been playing games on the American Girl site and practicing a song she wants to learn on the piano.

Same day...different outfit

And into the Garden....

The summer crops are growing like crazy--well some of them--and I'm excited about the garden again. I had worked so hard on it this spring I was ready for a break and here in the desert southwest a lull happens after winter crops come out and summer ones go in. I still want to plant more melons, black-eyed peas, and flowers. Probably some tepary beans, too.

Patty pan summer squash

French Melon and an Armenian Cucumber

Pumpkin

O'odham Ha:al Squash

Zucchini

Delicata Squash

Watermelon

Flowers, joy, and learning

This morning we met in the park with our homeschool group. It was cool enough to meet at the park at 10am which is incredible but absolutely lovely for June in the Sonoran Desert. I came home with 5 garbage bags full of grass clippings to use as mulch. I've been needing some mulch and the Universe does always provide. The park folks even bagged it and stacked it up for me. Thanks.

Jasmine wasn't feeling too well this afternoon but she followed one of her latest passions--a DVD series our library carries called Families of the World. A couple of nights ago, she watched this one. She had wanted to watch something else but it didn't fit in the available timeslot. So a 30 min movie was perfect...


Yesterday she went down to the library and checked out two more and she watched these this afternoon.

This evening we went on a bike ride--enjoying the unseasonably cool weather and dropped off books at the library and Jazz checked out 3 more...

She watched another this evening as I prepared dinner.

What a multicultural day. I also spent some time reading Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine to Jazz this afternoon and finished it before bed tonight.



Into the garden...I'm shamelessly stealing this idea from Stephanie over at OrdinaryLifeMagic

Some of her posts have a section beginning---Into the garden...

This morning I was out pollinating a squash blossom when 2 bees flew out of it. Since our lovely wildflower display this spring has mostly disappeared, the bees have been scarce. Most of the summer flowers I planted were planted too late to establish before our intense summer heat although I'm hoping some will pop up during monsoon season in July and August. But looking around this morning I realized flowers are happening here and there and the bees are coming back.

A few batchor buttons are still hanging on...

Here with some Amaranth that must have been in wildflower mix I planted.

And a couple more summer flowers that were in wildflower mix. They'll bloom all summer although I've only got one plant of each. But who can complain..

Gaillardia

...and a Plain Coreopsis

The Armenian Cucumbers have a pollination strategy. They are covered in male flowers for a while before a female appears. I have at least four hills of these. Meaning quite a few little yellow flowers.

The dwarf Zinnias in Jazzie's little garden have been blooming for a while

...and now other Zinnias I've planted around are popping out. I planted these along with the veggies 6+ weeks ago.


And last but not least......

A dwarf sunflower in Jaz's garden is unfolding in all it's glory

June's Garden Photos

I've been trying to take pictures of the garden at the beginning of every month to show the progress. I have done virtually no work on the garden this month except to water and pick produce. But the summer plantings are going to town.

Basil, amaranth, carrots, beets, radishs, melons, tomatoes, sunflowers, and zinnias. The bed beside it is luscious with basil, green beans, carrots, and beets.

The Three Sisters

Pomegranate Tree

Orange Tree

Basil and Squash

Amaranth, Sunflowers, Sorgum and Melon, Cukes and Squash

The Vineyard--the grapes are buried in melon and Armenian Cuke vines

Chi, the Cat, walks regally through the orchard, underplanted with pumpkins, cukes, zucchini, carrots, beets, and green beans.

Another Field Trip

Ajo CSA invited our homeschool group as guests during the member's summer farm day. I'm already a member, and only one other family was able to make it. But between the two groups we took a full van load to Phoenix. Farmer Frank and the gang invited us to pick veggies in the fields. The kids--and adults--had loads of fun. I brought home tomatoes, corn, and a spaghetti squash. They fed us a great meal. And then we all headed over the the Saturday Downtown Farmer's Market. I'm still learning to remember to take pictures. I wish I had a better selection but here goes.

The youngest member of our group eating corn fresh from the field.

They made us wheat berry pancakes (we get wheat berries in our CSA shares).

Great Food!!!

Roasted corn

Eating in the fields

...And then onto the downtown farmer's market. We arrived 15 before it ended, but I still had time to buy a few things. Because I trying to eat more locally, I wanted to pick up some local dates, goat cheese, olive oil, and greens. And hopefully pecans. I did find dates and goat cheese and even some greens. The season for greens is almost completely over here. I found some beautiful sorrel and some flat leaf parsley--prob the last of the season. I was too late for olive oil (from the Queen's Creek Olive Mill) But I bought these beautiful flowers. Yeah!!!!!