As the seasons change, so do we... sometimes. The latter of this year especially has brought about a rebirth for me, but as Professor Slughorn once said, "That's life, I suppose..." Death and rebirth. "Farewell Aragog", it's the autumn/fall season in the northern hemisphere (where I reside), which brings about such thoughts... Hibernation, rest, death, to be reborn later on, as the cycles of nature teach us. Sadly, it’s a
time where many-a folk die during the winter season. It shouldn't make us feel terribly sad, though, should it, since it's apart of nature? I often wonder about their lives, even the moon phases in which such seasons occur. Please don't think me wicked... It's a simple, yet grand wonder to ponder... a person's life, from their birth, their markings of 'importance' {in whatever grand wonder is to be had in theirs or others' consideration(s)}, to their ending in this mortal coil. Nature... Life... as only we know it, from our modern perspective and more importantly theirs. What trials & tribulations, what joys & wonders they beheld? An ode to them, cheers to our fare-fallen ancestors (even those golden oldens still with us, huzzah!), those before us, & perhaps those yet to come, if indeed the recycling of life is apart of our spiritual attestation unto further kindredship... unto the cycle of nature as we know it to be. *Recycling not to be strictly taken as reincarnation; my thoughts include imprinting (possibly known as “influencing” {?} in modernity)... i fear i'm not up to par with the modern lingo. OH WELL, WHO CARES?!*
Good Heavens, I got lost in a fog of ancestral tangents... Apologies! Back to nature's cycles (plant-form)... Yet, the before bit still plays apart, because long ago, the dear folk relied upon what they knew & could do... Gardening & farming. And you know, Art plays a lot into these things & vice versa. A lot of people think of 'art' as an academic, intellectual, 'out-there' thing, but it doesn't have to be. In November, 2024, I decided to heed such call, to try as best i may to provide home-grown food for my dear family & friends & continue sharing my artwork within this journey... who knows, possibly even a further reach into community. These days, times are hard, granted, not as hard as they've been in decades past, but near enough to the point of not being able to afford simple groceries from any market or store as we have recently... living paycheck to paycheck, and even less than that, acquiring more & more debt. I can relate. In turn, I'd like to share a cost-efficient way to help alleviate such times, where we can grow our own crops throughout many seasons. Keep in mind, you'll need to check your local planting/weather regions, since different regions affect different plants/crops.
Make a garden! The inspiration began with my dear ol' Dad, who gardened throughout my entire life as I recall (That's around 40-ish years, WOW). He's a real inspiration. There was always a spring/summer garden because of him. We lived in the northern hemisphere, in the southern region (damn-near sub-tropical if not sub-tropical)... hot, humid, steamy, muggy weather from spring to fall, and cold wet winters with an occasional icy snow. (Mind you, we still live in this region.) This meant sweet corn, cucumbers, green beans, dry beans, crowder peas, okra, tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, cantaloupe, & watermelon in the summertime. MmmmHmmm! Mom, Sister, & I spent many a day on the porch swing stringin’ & snappin’ green beans to prepare for canning. Precious memories. The other inspiration here is dear sweet Mama. She taught me how to can, and MANY more things. ...Back to gardening, I don't recall much of fall/overwintering gardening, probably because dear Dad also worked a full time job on top of keeping a spring/summer garden, so he needed some good rest in the evenings in his kick-back recliner beside the warm hearth during the harsh winter months. It’s not that they didn’t fall/winter garden, but I mostly recall the warm seasons of it... I specifically recall Mom tellin’ me about how some folks even washed their fall/winter greens in the washing machine to clean the leaves real good (not with soap, obviously), but utilizing a washing machine for the strong agitation to shake off all the dirt from the veins of the large green leaves… that’s modern-day clever, that is. I've done some research over the last 5-7 years, and experimented a time or two with 'cool crops', however, this is my first year to attempt a full 'fall-to-winter' garden plot. (When I say ‘fall’ I mean ‘autumn’ season… do you folks call it ‘fall’ or ‘autumn’ in your region?) I also moved from semi-suburbia (full-on-neighborhood) to pure rural woodland region 2 years ago, starting my first 'summer' garden on the new land that year, and it's gone a few seasons without tending to, but it wasn't unsuccessful the first year, and hopefully will be successful this fall/winter. In my gardening time, I’ve discovered that there's really not a whole lot of space required for a home garden. You can do small plots or mounds, raised beds with wood frames, or even buckets & large planters for all kinds of plants! You also don’t truly need an expensive tractor, or any other mechanized contraption such as a tiller. They are expensive. Personally I can’t afford one. So if you want a smaller home garden, I recommend a much smaller investment, an affordable tool called a MATTOCK.
I got mine at Lowe’s Home Improvement Store in the U.S. Most hardware/garden stores should have these for sale. On one end is a lengthy curved ‘garden hoe’, and the other end is like a pick-axe. (Mine's a bit bent out of shape from many years' use, but it's still ol' Trusty Reliable, as you can see in my photos on this post.) The overall shape is that of a dual-headed axe (think of Thor’s Mjölnir hammer, kinda like an anchor shape, making a ‘T’ shape, or upside down depending how you look at it.) If it’s a new garden plot, it’s best to first weed the area you want to garden (either hand-pull the weeds {*we recommend wearing gloves} or cut them down if it’s best for you to create the space you want). Then all you have to to is turn the ground, which means calling forth your inner LOTR-esque Dwarf & mining (turning the ground). All you have to do is take the position of an axeman who’s about to chop some wood (roll initiative, Barbarian); if you’re right-handed, your grasp on the handle is right hand on top & left hand on bottom, lift the mattock slightly behind your right shoulder overhead with the arc facing the sky & slightly behind (if left-handed, switch left hand on top of the handle, right hand on bottom, & swing over the left shoulder); claim the space you're going for with an intense Dwarven eye-gaze, take a deep breath,
and in the breath of inhale/exhale, plunge the ‘hoe end’ of the mattock into that space of ground, using your lower body (legs & buttocks going into squat position during the earth-slam), then staying in squat-position (focusing your legs/gluts to do the most work, holding your squat position), pull that earth-chunk towards yourself with your strong arms until the dirt releases, turning toward you; stand and repeat.) Eventually, you may find yourself coming to a stand while pulling the dirt-chunk toward you in one whole-body motion, becoming stronger & faster, but don't push yourself too hard, now. Essentially, the goal is to turn over the earth, so the chunk of dirt your mattock has cut into the dirt curls or cuts toward you, or even to the side of you, (because things get messy in the garden) turning the top down, or flipping it. What was once the topsoil now becomes the bottom, & that bottom earth chunk is on top... "Up is down, down is up." (Thank you, Cap'n Jack Sparrow!) Once you get into the ‘swing’ of it, you’ll likely notice the actual swing your body accumulates to and forms itself, from the the earth-plunge to the pull-back {turn} of the ground, back into the swing of the plunge into the earth again. My body tends to work in ‘widdershins’, which means counter-clockwise, from right to left & around. (I stir my beverages this way too.)
This natural act turned into a fun, spiral-shaped garden. These ground-turning/tilling type days are serious leg/gluteus (booty) workout days, with a bit of upper-body workouts also. You MUST be careful to NOT rely on your BACK too much for this, because serious back problems could arise. USE YOUR LEGS, specifically quads, & glutes. Keep your back as straight as possible. Mind, take care of those knees, too, and do NOT overwork yourself. You can plan ahead & take small sections at a time. If your dirt is thick with clay (like mine), you may want to chop at the overturned dirt with the mattock or a garden hoe later on or as you go. It never hurts to toss out any weeding grass that's prevalent in the topsoil, too. Grab the grass-weeds, roots'n all, knock off excess dirt from the roots, & toss 'em 'cross the way over yonder ("You get rid of it!" --Claudia, Interview with a Vampire). You can even add your leaf/straw mulch on top of the your garden plot before you begin tilling/turning to help soften the dirt. For example, if you decide you want to start a Spring Garden a season or two before Spring arrives, add all the leaves & pine straw or any other good, natural compost on top of the are you want to garden, let it sit over winter, and in early Spring or even late Winter, go ahead & begin your turning as soon as the ground can be worked. This will also incorporate the mulch into the ground as you turn/till (good soil-building stuff). If your ground is suitable enough, you may not even have to turn it, but where i live, we have a good deal of red/yellow clay in our land, so it's not quite 'soil', which means it's much more difficult (damn-near impossible) to take a hand-held garden spade or fork & plant seeds/bulbs. As I’m going with mine, I’ll be adding nature’s mulch to it, leaves & pine straw throughout the remaining fall & winter seasons to come. This will keep weeds at bay, help the seedlings/plants keep moisture, heat, & cool enough, while preventing rainwater runoff/erosion. My garden’s on a very slight downward slope, so adding mulch is extra-beneficial. Too much rain at once could collect in puddles which can diminish plant growth or even push seeds out. One of the beautiful things with cool crops is their natural chemistry to stop producing leaves when frost arrives, so they'll over-winter/hibernate, pausing their growth, and begin growing as it warms up. How cool is that?! I think we, as humans, should apply this to daily life! Why don't we allow ourselves time to truly rest & recuperate? A few days just doesn't cut it. We've stopped listening to ourselves, which means we've stopped listening to nature. This is not good. Can we get better, please?
A garden fence or gate is another thing to consider, which I must do this year, because many a wildlife have eaten my entire crop of okra & gourdseed corn previously. I hope those deer got their tastebuds & bellies satisfied 'cause we sure didn't… not a single kernel! They got it ALL, bless 'em. They're just being themselves. Can't hate 'em for that, but I’m so excited to make a primitive fence with tree scraps from the woods! (How to keep the deer from leaping the fence is another problem for another day... Reckon a scarecrow might work. I've wanted to make one for ages now!...
May the wind be at my aid,
Move the scarecrow as human
When deer cast their shade!
Aha!
Sorry, my Deer,
While your beauty astounds,
Our bellies are empty.
Please, know thy bounds.
Feast thine eyes, nose, and ear
On other plants aplenty!
...Maybe I should just make a special place for the deer, perhaps an outer-garden barrier wall for them to eat from. A sacrificial barrier wall. Reckon it'd prevent them from leaping in for more? More work for me, it is, but if it benefits me & mine while leaving them to do their thing, it'd be worth it, right?
There's the beauty of nature, gardening, art, & 'witchcraft', it all goes back to the roots, using what you have & what you can… keeping in tune with Mother Earth. For me, I enjoy working with the land as she is & adding any aid as necessary, for ease of utility (less money spent on extra supplies, & such) and ultimately releasing my spirit to her splendid grandeur, the Spirit of Earth… dirt, clay, loam, sand, & soil... the trees, their bark, their fallen leaves & limbs… how the organisms benefit & give back to the ground… the biome of which I can be apart of, rekindle, & grow from; yet not only the Spirit of Earth, but all the other Elementals… Air, Fire, Water, & Spirit Itself. It’s both a grounding & ephemeral experience, and what else is life living for?
Be present in the moment. Go back to the roots. Follow the rhythms of your heart.
Meet Ye at the Hedge,
~C.
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