(Micro) Container Planting

After years of fighting groundhogs, it's really amazing that I found myself back at this little farm market on the corner of two busy roads on a sunny Sunday in May.  I tucked Rosemary in her carrier and Fiona skipped ahead, still in her church dress, talking nonstop.

"Can we buy these?  Can I pick?  Can I put everything in the cart?  Oh look Mama, that one already has baby tomatoes on it!"  When I mean talked nonstop, she really did.  A man perusing the basil plants glanced my way with a raised eyebrow and a smile.  I smiled and shrugged back - followed that babbling brook of a 6 year old girl right down those isles lined with plants.

After years of fighting groundhogs, there's still hope on a sunny day in May.  A link offered by an old friend, suggesting raised container beds, sparked an idea in me.   Those flower boxes on the deck just might do the trick.  Sure, groundhogs can climb a bit, but maybe...maybe not?  Another friend carried old hanging baskets to my car after church in response to my pleas for help on facebook.  If I can't plant greens in those 12 boxes out back, then I'll hang them - salad bowls right outside the kitchen door.  Micro-gardening for sure.

Fiona finds a slug on a plant and carries him like a beloved pet during our shopping trip.  After ringing up spinach and bean seeds, ruffly kale, basil, lettuce, chard and a few tomato and pepper plants, the cashier gives her a dum-dum sucker that she stands on tiptoe to accept, popping it in her mouth and stopping her chatter for the first time since we arrived

The next day dawns grey but we're out there anyway.  There's always optimism in spring, no matter how misguided.  Always the hope that maybe, just maybe, this year will be the year we figure it all out.  Or maybe not.  But no matter what, we'll have a great time trying.

After all, we haven't tried coyote urine...yet.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

The Dance of Life {Mindful Mothering Mondays}

{Today, a wonderful guest post from Mama, blogger, sponsor and friend, Kim Corrigan-Oliver.  Her words blessed me so much during this season with a very similar baby!  You can catch up with Kim at her blog, Mothering with Mindfulness.}

Pregnancy was a wonderful journey for me. Yes, there was the first trimester nausea all. day. long. but once that passed I settled into the unknown with joy, love and trust. I trusted my body throughout pregnancy and I let that same trust follow me into my homebirth. I let my body lead the way.

Holding my little man for the first time, looking into his dark eyes, feeling him against my skin, those are memories I will hold close to my heart forever.

It was during our first few months together as mother and son that I realized Reece did not fit the “normal” as far as newborns go, you know, the normal you read about in the books. The baby who feeds on schedule, sleeps on schedule, can be put down without crying, and so on. Reece nursed non-stop. He napped for 20 minutes at a time and never at the same time. He wanted to be held all the time, by me and no one else. I questioned whether I was doing something wrong. I wondered if I just wasn’t cut out for this mothering gig. I sat in darkness at night, Reece in my arms, crying.

And then it hit me one day, I had somehow lost trust in our journey. Throughout the journey of pregnancy and birth I trusted things to happen as they should. I trusted the process and I let my body lead. After his birth I focused on how Reece was not conforming to the baby books instead of trusting our journey to unfold as it should.

In that moment of realization everything shifted. We became partners in the dance of life. I let Reece take the lead, I followed, holding his hand and journeying his path with him. Yes, there were times when I took the lead, setting boundaries when necessary, but for the most part I let him lead.

This shift completely changed our journey together. We are partners, sharing his journey together. I watch as he explores and discovers the world around him. I slow down so he can really take in the world with all of his senses. I hold his hand when he needs support and I let it go when he wants to fly on his own.

This journey has not been a long one, we are only 4 years into it, but it has been a good one. I offer gratitude each and every day that he chose me to be his partner in the dance of his life. I am honoured to be his mother and so very happy I get to share in his journey.

{It's Mindful Mothering Mondays, a day to take a deep breath and write out your mothering journey, whatever form it takes. A day to link up for encouragement from others who are in this same phase of life. A day of writing out the trials and triumphs and what you're learning right where you are, right now.

You might post recent struggles or thoughts. Maybe just a picture or a quote. Or maybe you'll just come here and read the links that others post. Whatever form your participation takes, this is a day for you.
We are all in this, together. Together, we can encourage and build one another up, be honest with our shortcomings and strengthened by community to keep fighting the good fight.

I chose Mondays because what Mama doesn't need a little encouragement on a Monday? As such, I'll have the link up ready to go on Sunday night for you to begin submitting your links.

I hope you'll meet with me each Monday! Here's what to do ~

Link up your post below. Remember to put the link to the exact post you want to link, and not just your blog url. Include in your post a link back here so others who want to join in can find us! And visit some other Mamas who have linked up.

Post the community graphic within your post, so people who are reading your Mindful Mothering post can come back here and find the rest of us!

Invite the writers of your favorite blogs to join in!

Share this meme with others on facebook and twitter. This community is for all moms, and the more that participate, the more we will be able to enjoy!!}

Grab the graphic here:

<center> <a href=”http://smalltownsimplicity.blogspot.com/“><img border=”0″ src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SvCrhhacKs0/T-xgHqC56tI/AAAAAAAACDE/dBAh0QGrJz8/s1600/MMgraphic.png"/></a></center>

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

Gratitude Sunday

My dear friend Amy has recently begun a link up for Gratitude Sunday, a practice that I very much need to get back into.  There is so much to be thankful for in this life of ours, and joy comes from looking around and noticing how blessed we are.  Please consider joining in the fun - you may just find that in counting down those many blessings you become even more blessed.

For today,

So thankful for those who read, who comment, who email and who mention these writings of mine.  I know that this internet world is a big place, and I am humbled that you stumbled upon me and take the time to look around.  It's no small thing that you do - it means the world to me.  Thankful, then, for all of you.

I'm thankful for that messy, weed-infested yard of mine.  So much work to be done, some days it makes me want to bury my face in my hands and cry.  But then I hear Peter conversing with ants over there on that rock and I find myself offering up gratitude for this patch of dirt and grass.  A place, all ours, for our kids to begin their conversations with nature.

I'm thankful for my Mom, ready and willing to help in all situations, helping my Dinah with her reading.  It's a huge undertaking, the unlocking of a lifelong passion in a young person.  I'm thrilled that when I asked, she answered with a resounding "YES!"

I'm thankful for the safe and happy arrival of my newest love, Lyriel Joy, to my dearest childhood friend.  From the top of her sweet fuzzy head, past the dimple that stole my heart and right to the soles of these silk-smooth little feet, she is perfection.  Sometimes I look at 19 years of friendship and the beautiful things that have come about along the way, and wonder that God should be so good to us.  10 beautiful children.  What a breathtaking miracle!

I'm thankful for the friends who inspire me to step out of my comfort zone and aim for my dreams.  For those who inspired and encouraged me to start daily prayers and bible readings with my little ones.  For those who nudge me to throw of my discomfort and humbly learn the art of hospitality.  For all those who encourage me to keep growing in all the areas I need to grow, I'm so truly thankful.

For these late Spring days, the sun and the warmth and the plentiful moments spent exploring the world with the people I love the very most, as if it were the first time we'd ever encountered it.

For this Sunday, and every day! I am exceedingly grateful.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.