Growth is a double edged sword. Unchecked, growth can be cancerous and destructive. It is this type of ceaseless expansion that has put our society into the precarious environmental and financial positions in which we currently find ourselves. On the other hand, growth can be regenerative and life-giving. Following a forest fire or a bitter winter, the first green shoots to emerge from the earth bear witness to the earth's ability to restore life in the wake of disaster.

My goal for this blog is pretty simple and open-ended: I want to document and share with family and friends my efforts to incorporate an ever increasing degree of self sufficiency, voluntary simplicity, and environmentally-conscious design into my life as a would be urban homesteader.


Sunday, February 7, 2010

Real Green Shoots



I've always been the sort of person who enjoyed winter. I like the smell of the air right before it snows, bundling up in coats and hats, the whole holiday season, and playing in the snow with my kids. That said, my opinion of the month of February has gone down considerably since I began gardening 5 years ago. My plans for Spring are pretty much in place, I've got most all of the seeds that I need, and the list of things I want to do seems a mile long; and all I can do at this point is...wait. And so I planted some cold hardy plants hoping I could get a jump start on putting out plants in a low tunnel. The sprouts came up awfully leggy, and I wasn't sure why. My parents, as usual, knew what was going on. I need a grow lamp because there's not quite enough daylight for the plants to grow adequately. Oh well, just one more thing to get. At any rate, it's nice to see something growing.





I suppose I should try to be more like my kids. They're much better at living in the moment than I am. Alex and Erik turned 6 yesterday. Kids are crazy. One minute they're tiny little things that completely helpless, and before you know it they're these little people who go to school and play sports and are beginning to think for themselves. They're pretty oblivious to the garden at this time of year, but once we can dig in the dirt and things start growing they get into it pretty good. All 3 of them jump at the chance to help with the chickens whenever they can. This morning Taylor helped feed and water in full Cinderella style.

Erik and Alex: age 6

Tater Tot and Small Chick

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