Sometimes in the morning I like to wander through my vegetable garden in my pajamas to start my day with a smile. Yesterday I was wandering through the veggies in my fleece pajamas and wool socks because it was really chilly and I decided to “just pick the rest of the cayenne peppers and tomatoes”.  I ended up being outside in my pajamas for the next 8 hours winterizing all of my vegetable gardens and flower gardens and preparing the lawn for winter. Big surprise. I don’t do moderation very well.

I started by picking all the remaining cayenne peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, baby bok choy, onions, and garlic. Then I pulled out the plants left in the garden, as well as the mint because it is so overgrown. It must be a weed because it is uncontrollable. After that, I removed all the stakes from the tomatoes and the netting over the strawberries. I laid out the last strawberry I found as a peace offering to the squirrels that have been raiding the strawberry patch. I have devised a new strawberry cage that I will build next year to put over the raised bed that will be the strawberry patch’s new home. The squirrels and birds will not be able to get the strawberries then.

Next, I dug up root vegetables in my pajamas. My hands were freezing in the cold dirt, but I didn’t mind. It seems like the sadness I feel while doing the final fall harvest helps me transition to winter by giving me a chance to be alone with my vegetables and thank them for all their hard work to grow into nutritious sustenance for me. Root vegetables are especially appreciated, because they’ll get me through the winter months with fresh-from-the-garden taste. As I pulled up my carrots, I was surprised because the few left in the ground were the ones I thought were small, but they were hiding their succulent fatness under the soil. I expected to have a few withered carrots, but ended up with lots of big juicy ones. My parsnips came up really gnarled, but perfect for the pork roast with carrots that I’m going to meld them with in the crock pot soon. Unfortunately, the warm summer didn’t bode well for the beets, rutabaga, and turnips. Maybe next year.

Then came this farmer’s favorite harvest of all – potatoes! My neighbor kids love this part, but they weren’t available so I had to “dig papas” by myself. I love digging up the potatoes because as I fold the dirt back, it reveals pockets of potatoes in all sizes just under the soil where they were hidden by the huge green shoots above. As I dig them up, I can’t help but exclaim out loud, “Oh, oh!” because it’s like finding treasure. The joy of pulling out those beautiful tubers makes me feel like a kid again.

After putting all my delicious vegetables in the house (including 2 tiny green peppers that I just had to save to show my mom because they’re so cute!), I sprinkled composted manure and peat on the root vegetable bed in preparation for the tilling that my uncle Marvin is coming to do on Saturday. By then, I had been working for about 2 hours and I was just getting into the groove, so I moved on to cut my flowers down. This is a much easier task with my new pruning shears, but it’s still a big job. I found out later from my mom that I can just use the weed whip that she got me at a garage sale, so I plan on doing it that way next year. Oh well, at least I didn’t use kitchen scissors like last year.

As I cut each beautiful stalk near the earth, I thanked my flowers for all the hard work they did this year to create roots and make my yard beautiful. When I had finished the side boulevard and was moving to the front one, I looked back to see one side of the yard ready for winter and the other just coming out of summer. I felt an immense sadness for the end of my gardening season and a few tears fell to my cheeks. I kneeled to cut back my new chinese lantern plant and let my hands rest on its vibrant orange lanterns. It is one of my favorites because my mom bought it for me this year with the gift certificate my dad gave her for her birthday. She doesn’t have a garden, so she loves to come to my gardens and talk to my plants. I saved the 3 beautiful orange lanterns because they were just too lovely to compost.

As I cut back all of my plants one by one, I thanked them for their beauty this year and promised them a long summer full of prosperity next year. I remembered why I loved each one of them and why I chose to put them in their very carefully thought out location. I gently removed all the delicate tendrils from my purple morning glories that had grown to adorn my vegetable garden’s fence and gate. Then I dug up the huge bulbs from the red canna lilies near the fence. They are to sensitive to make it through our winters, so I bring them inside to wash and dry them to preserve them for next summer. They had multiplied to become about four times as many as I put in last spring!

Once all the flowers were cut back, I called my mom to see if she could come over to help me rake the yard. I had been working outside in my pajamas for 4 hours and was really cold, so I finally took a break to put a jacket and my wool clogs on. I took down my slackline, washed out my charcoal grill with the hose, put away my chiminea and lawn chairs, and brought out the shovel and salt. My mom showed up with hot tuna sandwiches and chili. I showed her the adorable bell peppers and the chinese lanterns so she could squeal over how cute they were. Then we put on more layers and went out to rake the yard. I am thankful I was able to mulch all of my front yard and boulevards this year, because we only had to rake the backyard. I have a huge maple tree, huge oak tree, double birch tree, and an apple tree in my small yard, so there are tons of leaves. Despite having 2 artificial hips and 2 artificial knees, my mom is a raking machine. She can go at twice the pace of me, and laughs while she goes. As I was marveling at her youthfulness, she told me that she just likes to work. We raked the leaves into long furrows and then bagged them in huge bags that my neighbor Sally saves me from the hospital where she works. After they clean the newborn warmers, they wrap them in huge plastic bags, so I use these to transport my leaves to be dumped at the compost site. I plan on going to the compost site with my neighbor Rodolfo in his truck this weekend. I love this neighborhood, because it is my village.

After raking, my mom weed whipped along the fence and around my gardens in back. I borrowed the lawn mower from Rodolfo and mowed the hillside where the lilies are planted amidst very long grass. Then my mom weed whipped the hillside while I mowed the backyard. I felt like singing for no reason. Then I returned the lawn mower and helped my mom rake the hillside in between passes with the weed whip. The grass on the hillside was really thick because I planted lilies there in the spring with the idea that eventually they will crowd out the grass. In the meantime, the grass has gotten really long. My mom and I laughed as we worked. She is so thorough that she even got all the weeds growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, which will make it much easier for me to shovel snow when my shovel doesn’t get caught on those long weeds. By the time we finished bagging all the leaves and grass, we were freezing cold and exhausted. I had been outside working for 8 hours in my pajamas.

I was going to take a shower before we went out for dinner, but we figured it didn’t really matter. So we went to our favorite little diner called Magnolia’s and split the chicken fingers. While we were eating, I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful my mom is. The softness of her features and the gentleness in her eyes are something that I hope I remember long after she’s gone. I told her how much I love her and how spending time with her is so special to me. Maybe it is the dying back of summer’s plants and the mourning I do to help me transition to winter that reminds me to appreciate all that I have in this moment. When I’m exhausted and hurting, I know she’s in much more pain than me, but she works through it because she has Finnish sisu and she shows her love by helping me when I need her. I sure am lucky to have such a wonderful mom.

After dinner, my mom dropped me off with instructions to take an epsom salt to warm and soothe my aching body. I spent 2 more hours in the kitchen washing root vegetables and canna lily bulbs and chatting with my sister Senia who stopped by to pick up her herbs. Then I ran some laundry and dragged myself upstairs to take a hot epsom salt bath. The warmth was absolutely the best way to end my day as I listened to meditation music and soaked my weary muscles. That’s when I realized I had spent the entire day mindfully expressing gratitude to the earth, plants, and people who bring joy to my life. And that is exactly why I love this beautiful little plot of land that I live on.

I have been working all summer on mulching my yard so that I won’t have to use a gas mower anymore.  I am keeping the grass in my backyard because I can use my eco-friendly push mower back there, so the extensive boulevards on my corner lot have been my focus.  Yesterday I was planning to mulch 1 of the 2 side boulevards with my mom.  I figured that in an effort to practice a little moderation in my life, doing half of the job was more realistic than a marathon session of mulching.  When my mom arrived, she asked why we didn’t just do the whole thing in one day and be done with it, so after a little convincing me, we decided to do the entire thing.

Since my usual compost site where I get free mulch is closed on Thursdays, I found another place in Minneapolis where we could get enough free mulch to get the job done.  Between the two of us, we could haul about 400 gallons (2 cubic yards) of mulch in our cars.  So we drove out to the site and found the cleanest, most beautiful pile of mulch I have ever seen.  Then again, my appreciative eyes have had lots of experience with identifying good mulch and it is one of those things that quickens my heartbeat a little as I imagine the beauty I can create with such a simple recycled product.

I had a hard time not feeling overwhelmed at the beginning from the scope of our project, but then I realized that I wasn’t practicing mindfulness.  So I committed myself to not being irritable despite the hot weather and being loving towards my willing and patient mother.  That is exactly when I started enjoying myself.  Despite working in 80-90 degree weather with high humidity, we worked all day in the direct sun.  My neighbor Sally joined us right in the middle of the project when we started losing motivation and one of my patients stopped by to deliver some flowers from her garden for me.  Sally was telling me that long before meditation became popular, she went into her own little world while gardening and it has always been her meditation.  This is what I love about gardening!

We saw many neighbors throughout the day and enjoyed a lot of cameraderie.  We took many breaks to drink cool water and sit in the shade, but by the end of the day, we were both overheated and dehydrated.  It took us a total of 11 hours to haul the 1200 gallons (6 cubic yards) of mulch and lay it down on top of newspapers.  A special thank you to all my neighbors who donated their newspapers and encouragement on this project.  I’m so thankful to live in such a supportive neighborhood and to have a really energetic and loving mother.  I’m looking forward to this additional way in which I can make the world a more beautiful place.

I woke up today feeling very optimistic about the mulching project I had planned.  My goal this summer is to put mulch down on all of my boulevards, so I don’t have to mow anymore.  This is a huge job because I live on a corner lot, but I’m up for the challenge.  So I spent 6 hours putting down 400 gallons of mulch, which is 2 cubic yards.  I put down 5 to 6 layers of newspaper and quickly run to get the hose to spray it down so the wind doesn’t take it away (no easy feat with today’s weather).  Then I put mulch on it and lay some more newspapers.  The thing I love about this project is that I automatically practice mindfulness and forget about all my worries.  Thoughts on food, money, business, relationships… it all just goes away and it’s me and my hands working to make the world a more beautiful place.

I did end up running out of mulch when I was 3/4 of the way done, so I decided to get another load from the compost site.  Before leaving, I dug out my hacksaw and cut a 20 foot branch that had fallen in Thursday’s storm into 2 pieces so I could fit it in my little Civic.  Then I pruned my apple tree – I know this isn’t the right season for pruning, but the branches are so close to the ground it’s very difficult to mow the backyard.  I shoved all those branches into my car and went to get another load of mulch.  While I was there, I was commending myself for lifting the 18 gallon buckets of mulch like an old pro.  I’ve gotten really strong doing these projects and I’m really proud of myself, since I wasn’t sure I had the endurance when I first started.  Now I can lift the heavy buckets with little effort.

After finishing the mulching, I swept my driveway and sidewalk to make it more friendly for my neighbors to walk by with their dogs.  Then I decided to move a few of the tulips that are done blooming.  I have two bunches of tulips on the north side of my garden, but they don’t get quite enough light there, so I wanted to give them the treat of a new location.  As I was digging them up, I realized I was excitedly exclaiming every time I found a clump of new bulbs.  There were something like 20 or 30 of them and it was like digging for gold.  So I gently pulled them up and then planted them in their new locations around my garden.  I’m really looking forward to spring next year because I have 50 tulips planted all around the perimeters of my gardens.  It’s going to be so fun to see them bloom!

After all this, I was ridiculously dirty and thirsty, so I took a shower and had lunch.  Then I found myself walking to see all my neighbors’ gardens.  My next plan is to get some red-orange bee balm and yellow primrose to add to my garden, because I fell in love with them today.  I also fell in love with the beautiful flowers on my carrots that are blooming.  I have a special fondness for these carrots because I planted them last fall and they came up this spring.  I haven’t eaten them yet, but they sure are pretty.

 

Oh, and I just remembered that the first sugar snap peas are out on in my vegetable garden, so I need to go pick those and give them a taste.  I’m getting excited for the produce I’m growing, but I haven’t quite figured out how to keep the birds from eating my strawberries.  I already made strawberry-rhubarb preserves that I canned last week using rhubarb that was a gift from my patient, but I had to buy organic strawberries because mine are struggling from all the bird scavenging.  So I’m still researching natural remedies to discourage the birds.  So if you know anything that works, let me know!

Vegetable Garden

Sometimes I like to wander around my gardens at night in the dark before going to bed.  Tonight I felt I needed the soothing hush of my flowers to help me fall asleep, so I practiced mindfulness while wandering around my flower beds and appreciating each and every bloom.  This is one of my favorite quieting practices before going to sleep.

I just got in from planting the wildflowers that my Uncle Dicky brought me from Oulu, Wisconsin today.  Yes, I know it’s 10 pm and yes, I know I’m covered in dirt and mosquito bites.  That goes with the territory when you’re planting in the dark.  The story goes like this…

I went to bed last night at 11 feeling quite exhausted from a joyful memorial day weekend and a lot of mulch hauling and didn’t wake up until noon.  Around 4 pm, I went to Somerset to meet Uncle Dicky and pick up the wild lupines and sedum he brought me.  The wildflowers needed to be put in the ground today since they traveled quite a journey in the trunk of his car, but after getting the flowers I didn’t have to come home before going to Brasa to celebrate mother’s day and my mom’s birthday with my family.  So when I got home from dinner at 8:30 pm, I started planting and was really enjoying the quiet summer night while practicing mindfulness.  Until the mosquitos came out a little after 9.  Then I was just digging up the rock hard ground as fast as I could in between swatting at my arms and legs with mud-covered hands.  So this is how I came to be covered in mud and dirt, yet smiling the hugest smile of summer so far.  I believe life is made for the great stories and usually those come from a little bit of joy mixed with a little bit of suffering.  May your summer be filled with as many great stories as mine will be.

I’ve spent a few days hauling 500 gallons (2.5 cubic yards) of free mulch from the compost site.  My goal is to get rid of all the grass in my front yard because it is so full of dandelions that I have to use a gas mower.  My backyard has beautiful grass that I can mow with my push mower that relies on my own qi to operate, so I don’t mind it.  Along with being eco-friendly, the push mower is great because it is quiet and I can practice mindfulness while methodically pushing it around the yard.

I’ve been putting down newspaper in the front yard and then covering it with mulch.  I designate the walkways using stones, but someday I hope to put down pavers.  I’m still gathering flowers for the new flower beds, and actually I’m getting some lupines from wisconsin today, which my uncle Dicky is bringing for me in a cooler.  I can’t wait!

The next time you come to the clinic, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the wildflowers in the front yard and know that all the work done here was done with my own power and love.