May Nurtures
seasonal musings and mindsets from hippiebilly homestead
I planted 100 tomato seedlings in the rain this Sunday. Saturday was rainy, too, and I was feeling annoyed with the weather, like it was an obstacle to overcome. Something in my way. I had plans to go to a plant sale, but an outdoor sale that requires a bit of walking isn’t the best idea with 2 toddlers and rain. So once again? I felt defeated by my lack of control. My husband came to the rescue with a field trip to a new-to-us greenhouse and lunch out (something we don’t do often!).
On Sunday I woke up feeling determined and with more optimism. I headed to the garden and got to work. My daughter kept herself busy, playing in our garage pushing a baby in a stroller through the rain. We took a long lunch break and headed back out. I sat for a minute in the rain and let the moment sink in.
This is what it’s about, isn’t it?
We grow with nature.
In our decade-plus of growing food for our family, we have tried changing and manipulating the garden and we have tried using it to our advantage. These trials have taught us that:
We are nurtured by embracing nature.
This Month on the Homestead
I spent all of March and April nurturing seedlings in our house and out in the greenhouse. May is the month when they are nurtured by nature. The greenhouse will be cleared out and the garden beds will be filled. Tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, pumpkin, corn, basils, squashes, cucumbers and beans. More that I’m forgetting too.
The greenhouse will again be used for seed starting as we think about the space that will be open when the garlic is pulled. When the peas come out and the brassicas give in to the heat.
May is one of my favorite months in the garden because I see how everything comes to life. How quickly you can grow when the conditions are right.
Meal Rhythms
Food is a trigger for me. I get hangry easily and find I need calories every couple of hours to stave off migraines and “the grumpies”. My kids are the same way. Someone is always eating at my home. Or asking for food.
I’m approaching (in the middle of?) a huge milestone - wrapping up 19 months of breastfeeding my youngest (& final) baby. I’m a naturally thin person and yet I have held on to 10-15 pounds in my postpartum stage. It’s weird to talk about because I’m still thin, and my feelings about my postpartum body have nothing to do with weight. I don’t often feel bad about the new softness or sudden deflation of my post-breastfeeding body (iykyk). It’s just different. I have had bad feelings, however, about some of my internal changes. Heavy and painful periods, mood swings, lack of vitality. I have a degree in nutrition science (something I don’t talk about often) so I’ve been focused on nourishment. Not calories or restriction or anything like that. Rhythms and routines for nutrients, added minerals, and even dabbling with Ayurvedic eating. What I’ve found through all of my experiments is:
Beyond nutrition, we need a rhythm with food that will nurture.
Sometimes that’s something warm. Something nutritious. A meal with a friend. For me, it’s a combo of making meals less stressful and having ready-to-eat foods on hand in the form of homemade convenience.
Weekly rhythms:
With my daughter headed to a Waldorf school in the fall I began doing a bit of research. One of the ideas I learned about in my readings was meal rhythms. On Mondays we eat rice, Tuesday it’s Mex-American, Wednesday it’s pasta, Thursday we grill, and Friday we eat pizza.
It’s our third week and my family hasn’t noticed. I consider this a good thing. The biggest benefit is that it sets parameters for meal planning. I have a chart in my phone with 5 different ideas for each day. Some are make ahead - like enchiladas or mac and cheese. The parameters keep things simple in terms of meal complexity (I tend to overdo it).
It’s about 2 hours a week to plan and prep meals for swift cooking throughout our busy days. That’s worth it to me to know we all have good food to eat, for my husband to know what and how to prepare it, and for me to not have the decision fatigue and last minute grocery trips.
I plan to keep this up and shift our meals with the seasons. Grilling Thursday will probably shift to chili or soup Thursday in October.
Nutritious snacks:
For my constant snacking, and my children’s, I put out a call for healthy vegetarian snack ideas. I shared the list below.
Chocolate anything has been a huge hit - including some protein bars with an almond flour crust and peanut butter layer. Chocolate hummus is a recipe I’m tweaking - the one we tried is great and everyone likes it, but it’s a bit thicker than I’d like.
Next week I plan to explore grazing boards. Basically, they’re a kid-friendly charcuterie board that you just leave out. No pressure to eat anything. Just healthy, available snacks and dips.
Fun this Month:
Fun in May means spending rainy days exploring greenhouses and buying fun and unique plants. I have a one-track mind when it comes to May. Plants!
My father-in-law made my kids butterfly houses for Easter. We’ve spent a few weeks painting them bright colors. This week we will gather sticks, leaves and other organic debris to fill them with. They’ll be staked up in the garden and hopefully attract pollinators and other beneficial insects as well.
CONTINUE to NURTURE
Our word of the year is continue. It’s a blessing of perseverance. It’s also a reminder to listen to that inner voice (intuition), and despite feeling outside pressure, to continue.
I thought I’d be further along with my production garden by now. Truth is we are nowhere. It’s still something that I think about daily, which is frustrating some days but most days it provides hope. I’ve told myself that I need to focus on our family garden, do that really well, and maybe then, maybe that’s when we move on with the next (first?) phase of a market garden.
Nurture what you have instead of wishing for something new. Something more.
That feels like an act of resistance in our society of over-consumption. It feels important. Nurture what you have.
What comes up for me as I replay this in my mind on repeat is that my dream can continue despite my plans feeling stagnant. Perhaps the dream can come true if I simply nurture what I have?
We’ll see.
Planting 100 tomatoes in the rain? That’s some next-level earthy perseverance.
Great post!! Love the idea of the kid charcuterie station for grazing. My kids are always eating.