Lá Bealtaine

The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit;
for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in
any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds. For it giveth unto all lovers courage,
that lusty month of May.

- Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur

Prioritization or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love My Life

Coming into Spring, the buzz around here was all about his/my/our plethora of activities and interests and a bit of stress over it all: How will we find time to do all these things? How do we decide what is important? Should we make a schedule of hobbies? Do we have the luxury of sometimes doing nothing?

Immediately, the idea of scheduling all our free time was chucked out the window. I place value on having down time, and the notion of that being a luxury is laughable in my world. No one ever has enough time to do ALL the things he or she likes to do or is interested in. Given those three absolutes, all that remained was how to loosely prioritize hobbies and interests.

Having recently started working full time after not working at all for three months, I had no sense of prioritization or time management, so this was all OH SO VERY important to me. I was running around like crazy thinking I could do everything I was doing, plus more, plus work 40 hours and still enjoy it all. I'm pretty sure that many people do this with varying degrees of success for many years, but that's not my style.

I imagined prioritization being something like a long list and flowchart of all my interests and hobbies that I would rank like sports teams by a complex set of rules and criteria. (Seriously.) Prioritization started to become a new hobby, and I hadn't even done anything with it yet!

In researching different prioritization techniques - for this blog post, I swear! - I came across a website offering tips for businesses about prioritizing projects. The very first criterion offered was Strategic Value: Is it important to our organization's overall strategies?

A lightbulb went off.

I still have the same exhaustive list of hobbies and interests and always will - but more important than that, I now have a growing idea of what our organization's overall strategies are. Simply put, I started thinking about what general things are important to me and which things on that daunting list contribute most to my core values. Having my "schedule" flow naturally from my soul seems to have freed up a lot of time that I suspect I was wasting on overthinking it all.

What is most valuable to you?

Garden Progress Report

Over the weekend, we bought a grow-light setup: the HydroFarm JumpStart system. It seemed like it was time to get the tomatoes and other seedlings under some serious light to take them to the next level of strong and green. So far, so good! The plants are all looking amazing.

"Blondkopfchen" seedling dubbed Ursula's Rising Star

Both the peas growing in containers on the balcony deck and the pea patch in the ground down below got trellising over the weekend. It didn't take long for the runners to start finding the string on the porch and the fencing in the patch.

This morning I saw the radishes starting to pop out of the ground!

We also sowed in peat pots "California Orange Wonder" bell peppers, and habanero, serrano, and Thai chili peppers are being started for us in the greenhouse at work.

Things are changing every day around here, and with Mike gone I try to record those changes as best I can during the week. This is not just a garden blog, however, so check in tomorrow for my post-in-the-making on prioritization!

...with silver bells and cockle shells...

I have a maternal affection for our seedlings. I spend time gazing lovingly at them, imagining for them a world free of pollution and stress. I have visions of how they will grow tall and strong and green (except the purple basil). I take pictures of them from every angle.

week old tomato seedlings

I laugh at the baby onions: unfolding from the ground like a newborn foal taking first steps, awkward and gangly.

week old "Borettana" onion seedlings

It's an exciting week for Edible Oasis: as you can see, three varieties of tomatoes ("Wapsipinicon", "Purple Cherokee", "Blondkopfchen"), "American Flag" leeks, purple tomatillos, basil (a blend from Botanical Interests called Dolce Vita: "Cinnamon", "Genovese", "Tall Lemon", "Lime", "Mammoth", "Purple Petra"), and dwarf marigolds have all germinated inside. It's time to think about full-spectrum lighting for these guys.

week old basil seedlings

week old "American Flag" leek seedlings

week old marigold seedlings

Outdoors, I tossed some Winterwood compost into the root vegetable bed. Winterwood uses a blend of composted shellfish and composted manure but manages to smell less noxious than peat. After one final rake-through, we sowed "French Breakfast" radishes and "Purple Dragon" carrots.

The pea patch is thriving after a slow start.

We have four varieties of peas in the ground for a total of 100 plants in the pea patch, give or take. (What? We really like peas!) From a long list, we chose "Early Frosty", "Alaska", "Green Arrow", and "Sugar Daddy". We also have some "Sugar Daddy" growing in containers on the deck.

It's so exciting to see the magic happening!

A Sense of Purpose

Main Entry: re·luc·tant

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈlək-tənt\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Latin reluctant-, reluctans, present participle of reluctari to struggle against, from re- + luctari to struggle

Date: 1667

: feeling or showing aversion, hesitation, or unwillingness ; also : having or assuming a specified role unwillingly

I grew up in Southeastern Connecticut and was excited to leave New England when the time came. I spent ten years away - far away: Key West, southern California, northern California, Australia. I learned the ways of the left coast and swore I'd never return. Two years ago I broke that promise and now live in domestic bliss with my partner on a small lake about five minutes from the house in which I grew up. Even as ecstatically happy as I am these days, I still miss California and sometimes feel homesick for the west coast.

Main Entry: ¹Yan·kee

Pronunciation: \ˈyaŋ-kē\

Function: noun

Etymology: origin unknown

Date: 1758

1 a : a native or inhabitant of New England b : a native or inhabitant of the northern United States

Until a few months ago, I merely 'resided' in New England. I've now given up my California 'citizenship' officially with a new driver's license and voter registration. I'm setting roots in my native land, and against the odds, it feels good.