Self-Reliance. Freedom. Consequences.

There is something to be said about gardenin' and experiencin' fresh grown parsley as a freedom. One thing that could be mentioned is the obsessive weed pullin' and the constant need of keepin' things tighty. Another thing is the observation of the freedom that comes from not rushin' off to the store when  fresh herbs are needed for lasagna or that craving for butternut squash soup kicks in.

Herb patch just outside the front door.

Yes, that was the point of startin' my saucy garden but never realized how far this freedom thing could really go. (If you have followed the story on Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram you have noticed the name changed from #mysmallgarden or #mysaucygarden  to #mysaucysquashgarden.

So many squash!
So little time and jars!

Yes, I wanted to work my way out of the grocery store and not pay high prices for the food that I was just goin' to eat and eventually poop out. I have a hard time with spendin' a lot of money on such things. I know, I know food is a necessity but do I really need to pay more then half my life savin's to support my necessity problem? I think not.

What I didn't bargain for was the total thoughts of freedom that has begun to fill my mind! I am a girl that doesn't like to work, nor do I like to work hard. Ok. I better clarify that statement. If I start a project for my own personal enjoyment, or purpose then I will work hard at seein' it finished. The garden is the perfect example of this idea. I will work endlessly on waterin' or cannin' but weedin' somewhere else for people that don't enjoy their gardens is harder for me to justify. I get the work done and I do a good job but it really isn't the same. Time restrictions or competency have slowed some projects but when I look to the bigger picture the finished projects will only add to the outcome of total food freedom.

Taking down the fence and revealing the back yard.

More clean-up is needed! Need to plant more food!

I have a yard of unfinished garden projects but that will not detour me from always startin' new ones and improvin' on the already existin' ones. Boobie pink garden boxes for instance. I have 12 foot pieces of wood that are painted a lovely shade of boobie pink pointin' to the sky waiting to be cut down and screwed together. They have been leanin' up against the house, the fence and the shed for a month and I have grown fond of the color! My schedule sometimes doesn't match others and so they sit waitin' for construction day. Those lovely boards will see there full potential soon! Sorry neighbors.

Beautiful boobie pink garden boxes in the making.

Gobs of left over paint from the shed created such a gorgeous pink color ;)

Then there is the garden with a time schedule of its own. Plantin' comes early in Spring, compostin' it all comes just before the snow hits in the Winter. There is 256 days in the mean time to harvest, dry, jar or preserve everythin'. Life can get chaotic through this time especially if the plan is to store up for more then a month. This saucy garden has helped pack away enough veggies for at least 1 year so far!

The garden has not been a group effort, it has been truly a one woman dance and for that I am thankful. Don't get me wrong the black boys have done their fair share of pullin' "weeds" aka salad greens, collard greens and such but the overall effort has been a solo show.

Findin' that I can pull together almost three hundred square feet of toiled dirt and produce some pretty amazin' photos and tasty food has truly been an eye opener and a challenge that has been very rewardin'.

As I have learned ... the best way to do anythin' is to do it myself.
To be self-reliant.

There comes a personal freedom in the process of doin' things alone. No one else has the ambition to run out every mornin' and pick what is ripe. (Right after a few camera shots get clicked off). No one else has the excitement of watchin' yet another zucchini ripen in late August like I do and frankly my heart is alright with that. Others in the house will benefit from the food but it is up to me to keep it all growin' and producin'.

What I am really gettin' at is ... it's nice to be livin' in the freedom that I have always dreamt about. Livin' in this new freedom is allowin' the life that I have always wanted. Free from excessive bills and the credit card trap. Free from runnin' off every mornin' to a job I hate and freedom to make better choices based on the plans I set for myself. There are the day-to-day rituals of goin' to work but even that has taken on a new emotional energy. Relief rather then stress, calmness instead of dread, 3 hours of gardenin' for someone rather than 8 eight hours of pure hell workin' for the dreams of others.

I am livin' in MY fantasy!
I am at the start of livin' in MY dreams!

No longer are the words "if only" rollin' off my tongue. No longer am I blamin' others for what I am not gettin' or what I am needin'. Takin' the monster blackberry and wrestin' it to the ground you could say. There is no more dark shadows lingerin' over me, forcin' me to choose between fresh or canned, suckin' me in to eatin' the wrong foods or shoppin' for the sodium-filled-boxes that line the shelves because that is what I can afford. No more goin' hungry.

Trust me, you wont see me runnin' off to join some major radical group pushin' their "believe-us-we-are-right" agenda now, nor will you see words come across your screen tryin' to convince you into somethin' that you really don't desire either. Your freedoms are different then mine. Ahhh ... but you will find me mixin' and stirin' in some kelp meal in my compost for the trace minerals that the body needs.

The cost of freedom isn't cheep. It doesn't cost a buck o' five. There are consequences and hard choices that lead to givin' up one thing for somethin' better. Makin' the sacrifice of not growin' eggplant but more tomatoes for salsa, for example.

This saucy squash garden has fought many battles this summer and has won many victories but there has been a few battles that we couldn't win, a few give an takes that were hard pressed. The corn suffered dearly under the leadership of the flies and in a matter of hours was completely devastated, only a few young ears were salvaged. Each lesson that was learned this summer will only prove that this whole adventure was worth while, it will drive me to learn more about fruits and veggies, and it will keep the momentum goin' through the cold winter months.

Next years plans for the garden are already underway. Design plans have been thought out but not yet put to paper. New 2x12's, recycled doors and 4x4's have been collected, purchased, or rummaged so that the new plantin' boxes will begin to take form. In this case the small little victories and the loses of this year has brought on the excitement to build more freedoms and to build a bigger better garden. My hope runs deep but most of all my actions are propellin' me closer to livin' and experiencin' other freedoms that are needed for better health in all aspects of life.

You could say the biggest changes have been findin' the gumption needed to turn the grass to soil, the inertia to seed and care for the starts, and the stamina to see each leafy plant to the compost bin. Now there are bigger changes on the horizon. So I continue to dream, plan, and produce mass amounts of squash!

No more miracle wishin'.
No more searchin' for a new body to fall from the sky.
No more prayin' for a way out of my sickness. I have found the answers.

... and I have found my healthy eatin' freedom.

Rocks. Roses. Naked Ladies.

Yesterday mornin' started out with an invitation to a new neighborhood that I had never explored. See, I am not the kinda girl that just goes runnin' rampant through things without an invitation ... well in the daylight anyways ;). Ok, that was a flat out lie. I had just never been interested or had an invitation to this neighborhood until now.

Loaded up the "dog car" with the tools that I would need and a cold drink of lemon water. I was bound for new beds ... rock beds. This was going to be a breeze. The gardens that normally require my undivided attention are sprawled out over acreage with boomin' orchards and vast veggie gardens ... this was three beds the size of my MPV. This was goin' to be three hours of fresh air, like a sea breeze blowin' in on hot summers concrete.

The neighbor hood is an adventure all by itself. If you have ever seen the show Weeds and listened to the theme song then you would understand the tiny little boxes coverin' a hillside. This is not the richest of hoods when it comes to money and that clearly shows in the little garden spaces that were alloted to each home.

People are growin' veggies and attitudes along fence lines and in boxes crammed in any spot and crevice that they could find. Flowers were bustin' out of flower boxes and old cracked tires but the one thing that captured my attention was not the look of the entire landscape ... but the people. This is a community that is rich in tradition, in culture and in family. That settled any issues of where I was, if there was any.

Rollin' in at the top of the hill was the three beds that I was goin' to work through.
Three beds the size of my van! Did I say that already? Still amazed.

Rock garden of roses!

When lookin' over each bed and makin' mental notes of what was needin' done I started to notice the smallest of details. It's a wonder what you can learn about people by workin' over their garden spaces. This was and will be a garden for the #tweezerweeder or was it? I was a little confused. Everyone has there own version of a clean house and believe it or not everyone has their own version of a clean garden bed. Thank gawd, there are no sheets to fold in a garden.

Yes the gentleman that lives here had worked through one of the beds prior to my arrival but the other two were a mess but out of the mess was growin' the most amazin' roses. Could I measure up to the cleanly side of things the way he did? The bed on the left side of the driveway that he cleaned out was pretty tight. By tight I mean nothin' touchin'. Nothin' growin' into another. Crisp lines on the ground cover. Perfectly buddin' roses. Then BOOM unruly peppermint. Confusion set in.

Beauty lies within the heart.

The right side of the driveway had a rock garden that was unruly. Big plants that were pruned to fit. Ground covers that spread like wildfire and succulents that were bein' choked out and dyin' off. I had to stop in the middle of the driveway at one point and look to both sides. I probably looked like a bobble head to any of the spyin' neighbors. How was I going to get the right side to look perfect as the left side did. I resigned to think that it wasn't going to happen and did my best to pull the weeds.

There are a few things that top the list of great satisfaction and I can think of a few right now that would be better then writin' this blog post but I will restrain just for you. For me #5 on the list is crawlin' around under bushes for the instant gratification of a well weeded bed. Little did I know what I would find under the limbs of the bushes and lurkin' in the shadows.

Nakedness.
White, Naked Ladies to be exact. 2 of them.

What was I to do? Admire them and move them. So, that I did. Works of art they were really. Special ladies that were perfectly place in a spot of prominence but still covered by their green curtain so that they had a little modesty. I moved them closer to the sun but still kept them hidden from the gawkers.

My hours ended with a clean-up of rakin' out the leaves, left over weeds and spreadin' a bag of compost buildin' mulch. Addin' a layer of fresh mulch gives a garden that finished polished look as a freshly waxed sports car. Last thing on the list was tuckin' the nakedness in for another warm summer, a long cold winter and walkin' away from the lovely ladies leavin' them undisturbed and quiet. The garden now looks tended and loved.

Blackberry Troubles.

This week is going to be a hectic week, filled with long, full, fun hours at the County Fair and time spent slingin' shirts in the best friends booth.

This mornin' though has started the week off perfectly. To the East the sun was comin' up just behind a thick enough cloud of smoke from all the fires brewing here in the Northwest that it was showin' its splendar as a bright orange glowin' ball. To the West just out past the shore you could spy the last of the Super Moon of August. Mornings around here are still quiet yet they are on the brink of bringin' the chill of Autumn. This time next month the mornings will be a bit darker, the kids will be headed into school, traffic will double and the noises will just plain increase. Treasurin' the silence of the mornings now.

One of the things I love about my Monday mornin' routine is the little house on Caine Street. This house has been in the same family for multiple generations and it's truly a family I have grown to love dearly. I have the opportunity and have for several years now, of taking care of the landscape and workin' my magic all over it. Everythin' from waterin' the one pot on the front porch by the front door to the massive under takin' of prunin' the fruit trees that line the public sidewalk.

There was one thing that stuck out this mornin' as I watered the clematis and the rose by the gate. There is this great mound of creepy crawly ground cover that is just massive in size and it's just this beautiful lush green mass of leaves. As I looked and pondered how this stuff was so green without water - not only did it amaze - me but it was also tryin' to hide a huge hairy leg that was growin' at least 6 feet tall!

We are talkin' a spider leg from some scary movie tall,
a good mix between scifi and halloween tall.
Optimus Prime Tall.

How could I have missed this massive BLACKBERRY!!

Now I have at least three options runnin' through my head as what to do with this monster.

1. I could leave it as if I didn't see it. You know ... deny the fact I saw it and run really fast away from the house as if the big creature was chasing me and call the owner that lives in Australia and quit instantly! Never go back and let someone else deal with the issue and pretend to the rest of the world that I never saw it and that it didn't scare the crap out of me. (Reread this paragraph really fast, then stop and breathe really hard a few times and ask for water!)

2. I could tackle the beast to the ground only to clip the leg right at the soil level. Yes, this would buy me a little time until I really need to get back and deal with it. But would I? I could cover it nicely with the lush green ground cover and repeat the process as I seen new leaves sproutin' over the tops reachin' for the light. This could be a good option if I always wanted to keep it hidden and constantly be maintainin' its hidden place. Sounds like a lot of work for the long term but and easy way out right now.

3. Option 3 is a bit more challengin' and one that rings a little bit more like somethin' that I would do. EXCAVATE!! Start out with a shovel to really size up the issue and fully understand where the roots were going and how to get to the bottom of this spidery issue. Don't get me wrong I love me some good black berries and they have there place but this one ... well .. it is in the wrong place. If I need to I will call in reinforcements and truly dig up that sucker with an excavator.

The best and true clean up work is down when we can really get down and dirty with the problem at hand. Find out the root of problem and dig up everything that keeps the spidery problem growin'. The cleaner the clean-up job the better my odds of not dealin' with that issue again. In this case the blackberry again.

I find this is true with most things.

We had a great bbq with a friend an neighbor last night and the conversation turned to metaphors from the garden and how we if we took time to strengthen our own roots and we took up the space so well around the base of our plant structure we would not allow the weeds in. AKA crappy friends, crappy decisions, and so on. We would find that there would be no room for the weed seeds to set, grow or reseed.

If you have ever taken on a black berry before you can truly appreciate what I am talking about. These guys are massive in height and come from a central base. Canes come from the center each year and produce the most wonderful fruit, BUT their massive size also allows a crowd of 20 to party underneath with out even being bothered by a single weed.

Guess they know exactly what to do with their roots!

Seriously.

Gettin' serious and growin' up.

That is really what its all about.

What I originally thought would be a veggie garden to play around in has really turned into a serious grow up moment not only for me but for the plants that have established themselves in the ground next to the house. Much to my surprise the garden has taken off and exploded to its full potential.

Now it's August and I have come to the realization that the growin' up of the corn and tomatoes has afforded me that time to also grow up and get serious about the future of the side of the house.

Tripled the original garden space!

The garden is now a permanent fixture. 

Period.

Yes, I am done relyin' on "scraps" or "hand-outs"or sub-grade foods it's time to be serious about the healthy eatin' habits of myself and the others that share in the bounty. The other posts explain my disdain for the fruits and veggies that are available in the local grocery store so I will spare you the trauma of goin' through that again, but I will say THAT WAS the definin' moment of gettin' serious.

How serious you ask?
Look at the actions that have been taken over the summer to provide a healthy eatin' garden.
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Comin' to the next realization of knowin' that no one was going to hand over the freshest food and no one was going to feed me the good stuff on a daily basis ... I decided to do it myself.

That is just thing I would do to. I like being in control.
Sometimes a little to much.

My mind was set and so the garden space was cleared, rocks removed, tilled and planted in a matter of a weekend. You see. The brain inside my head had to come to the conclusion that there had to be a garden or it was suffer the consequences of huge medical bills later. The outcome was an easy decision.
Spend money on green growy things then doctors and lawyers and such ...

Smallest garden space. Ever. Need a revamp!

The decision was made.
The biggest hurdle had been over come.
The rocks were removed and there was nothin' stoppin' progress!

The choice of raisin' excellent food was an option no more. It became a must for a better life!

I will admit that there are days where I am lazy and don't want to weed or tend that lush jungle, I know that between the second and third row lies the greenest patch of grass in the whole neighborhood but that hasn't stopped the momentum of this fast movin' radish patch.

A little spray paint, a perfectly helpful black boy and a shovel

is all that is needed to whip this into shape.

Maybe, just maybe the garden space was too big for the first year but the thoughts of expansion now match the abilities and the reality. Realistic goals have been set and the timeline has and inevitable end when the sun starts sinkin' and the days start shrinkin' and the green starts turnin'.

If I were to ask some good questions of myself and the garden as of right now ... they would look something like this:

1. Was I fully aware of the preparation that was needed when the bounty started flowin'?
Sorta. (shoulder shrug) No, not really. (Head shakes from side to side).

I had a clear picture of what a garden could produce but was expectin' to lose a few plants along the way. Wasn't expectin' them all to live and thrive! 6 Zucchini plants is way tooooo many for 2 people.

Didn't look like much when the starts went in.

2. Will I be prepared next year? Yes! I have already started the new layout of the garden space, have moved an existin' shed to expand the space, and have collected wood to build up the beds so that there will be better control of the soil.

Shed moved 90 degrees! Fresh dirt!

Who will win? Grass or Food?

3. How am I doing with problems, pest and overcrowded tomatoes? Really!? Who isn't thrilled beyond themselves when their tomatoes actually grow in the Northwest? To have them overcrowded is a blessin' this year. They are relyin' on each other for support. (Another lesson for another post) Doesn't seem to hinder production either!! My concern now is how many jars will I need??

As for the pests. The cabbage moth is just too cute to destroy, I have more fun in watchin' them and chasin' them away but I know that is not the best solution to the holes in the leaves of my cabbages and  my Brussels sprouts. The holes haven't stopped me from eatin' either.

4. Has the garden gone the extra mile? For a 10x30 space this garden has produced enough zucchini to fill my jars and the bellies of a few neighbors and friends. The pumpkins will fill the pies that will feed a community at Thanksgivin' and the tomatoes well ... we will see. Extra mile or two ... I would say so but there could be more.

Pumpkins poppin' out under the corn.

5. What could be some proactive activities that can be taken to go beyond the garden space and what I have learned over the summer of 2014? This is easy! There are a couple things that come to mind right away. Grow-A-Row. The program that donates fresh veggies to the local Food Bank. What a great way to give back! Also the Fruits and Vegetable section of the County Fair needs a new Super. for 2015. Guess who has signed up!? Saucy Roots!!

This has been a great challenge so far and a challenge that will continue to keep growin'. The notebook and journal is full of thoughts, ideas and changes for next years garden space and for the Fair.

The greens after a summer rain.

Growin' a garden can be done by anyone. Seeds are inexpensive if you pick your favorites, you don't have to buy them all. Buy the ones you will eat. Set out a plan of space in your yard or in pots on your patio. Believe me, I would rather be homeless with good character and a few seeds then a stuck up billionaire that is afraid to get dirty.

Gettin' down and dirty!

The gettin' serious part had to click.

The growin' up part had to happen.

Yet ... the gardener still has many lessons to learn
and the garden still has many lessons to teach.