Today the sun is out. After a long and sometimes oppressive winter, hope and energy have returned. The song birds woke me up this morning and I have been like a windup toy ever since. Noticing that it is threatening to take over the small hydroponic operation we have going, I have made a basil marinade for some pork chops that will be bbq'd for dinner tonight. Then I excavated the kitchen counter from the miscellaneous build up of things that should be elsewhere and sorted and cleaned up parts of the garage that were beginning to take on a life of their own. The sun really is my "Magic Geranium" (If you have never read this story, you really must look it, and its author Jane Thayer, up READ ALOUD FUNNY STORIES
)But sunny days are for outside work so I called the gardener who does my heavy lifting to tell him of seven junipers that have to go to make way for plants that produce food. There will be fruit trees down the east side of the house and on the west side of the back yard where we removed a rotten old and unused deck. The fig tree we bought last year will find a place of honour in the front garden and a new herb bed is brewing in my mind. Some serious planning will have to occur to fend off the voracious deer but I think we can win that battle. The lemon tree (now sitting in the garage with the lime waiting for an end to the -3 overnight temperatures) is full of buds that give hope for a fragrant and delicious summer.Can you imagine the joy of a hot day paired a Hendicks gin and tonic and a garnish of your own lemon and lime wedges?
This week the local food security org in town (www.cowichangreencommunity.org) is coming to start the design of my vegetable garden. We are going to revamp an overgrown and unused part of the yard for some raised beds and my bees. Hopefully they will be coming mid to end of March so I need to have a lovely site created for them. I can hardly wait for the hypnotic drone of my little workers and the sweet glory that they create. There will be at least one batch of mead bubbling away by the fireside for us this winter.
This year I committed to seeing how far along the self-sufficiency path two full time jobs, my feeble elbows, and our astronomy hobby (for which we spend our entire summer vacations travelling) would allow. I want the work of self-sufficiency to be sustainable too. Much too often I have started something and made it so much work it was un-sustainable considering our life.I want to avoid this and see just how much we can do for ourselves.The sunshine today just affirms that it was the right decision.
