Gardening

Minimalist Monday~Pruning Fruit Trees and Hair

/ admin

The Price of Anything is the Amount of Life You Exchange For It   

It’s been the wackiest first week of spring break. We thought the nice weather was finally with us, but then out of the blue, it started snowing. Everyone was shocked. Normally by the time that my sister J, blows out her birthday candles on the 19th, Spring is well on its way. By the way, did you know that the first day of spring changes year by year? Huh? That is something I just found out this week. But anyway, whether it’s the 20th or the 21st, someone should tell Mother Nature that the white, cold stuff is persona non grata around here.

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As if the kids hadn’t seen snow all winter, they were excited to see one last snow fall this spring….or will it be?Even our Siamese cat, Ryuuki was rather shocked.

Ryuuki watching the snow fall…again!

On March 17, we celebrated Saint Patrick’s day with some Irish Stew and Irish Soda Bread.

Clark brought me home this tea mug, “Irish Blessing,” when he and Alyssa were in Ireland last year.

And the next day, I dug through my “seeds of hope,” box and quickly potted up a few dozen of my favourite seeds; four different kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of squash, plus pumpkin,  and several varieties of flowers. I am planning to work once again at my gardening gig later this spring, where I can buy beautiful plants, but I find it fulfilling to start some of my plants from seeds. Plus, I find that the plants are stronger and more resilient when they have already grown a season in my garden.

I started a few dozen plants on March 18th, which is about 8 weeks before I’m going to plant them out in my garden

I place the pots in a south facing window and even though we have had some cold early spring days, after one week the tomatoes are up.

Well, that’s a peek into our first week of spring break and now I will get on with my second, “Minimalist Monday, ” topic; “Pruning Fruit Trees and Hair. “

WHAT?

Yes, if you are like my husband David, you are probably wondering what pruning fruit trees and hair have to do with minimalism. When I told him what I was planning to write, he looked at my oddly. But hang in there with me and I will try to tie the two together.

First, if you are visiting my blog for the first time, and the word “homestead, ” drew you here, you may be interested in the subject of pruning fruit trees. I’m all about making or growing what we use and like to eat, so several years ago we started a mini orchard in our back forty. Nine years ago this fall to be exact, as our son Mitchell was still home, (he’s just finishing up his four year degree at University this spring)  he helped us dig the holes we needed for our trees. I’ll never forget the sky growing ominously darker as we were digging the holes for the trees. By the time we were finished planting, we were all drenched from the pounding rain. Mitchell was smiling. He has always loved the rain. I was smiling too, as fall is a good time to plant fruit trees, and I knew they were getting a good watering that first night in their new home.

The other way I remember the age of our fruit trees, is that I’d saved the placenta after our son William had been born in June 2009. The placenta was in our big freezer all summer waiting to be settled somewhere in our yard. Will, if you are wondering where the placenta was planted, check out the picture of you below behind the Spartan Apple tree. Strangely enough, it’s the tree that always produces the BEST fruit.

I knew that all over the world and in different cultures, the placenta was saved and planted or used in a ritual. For instance, for the Navajo Indians in North America, it is customary for them to bury a child’s placenta within the sacred four corners of the tribe’s reservation as a binder to ancestral land and people. The Navajos also bury objects with it to signify the profession they hope the child will pursue

I didn’t follow any particular belief or ritual, but I had waited a long to for William to come to earth and it had been a struggle to conceive him. I wanted the tangible thing that connected us to each other, and also helped him grow inside me, to be placed next to the roots of something that would bear delicious fruit.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand; pruning fruit trees.  When we prune a fruit tree, it helps the tree’s production, growth, appearance and health. And that is where I link minimalism into this subject;  Thinning branches that are diseased or growing inward, preventing light and sunshine into the centre of the tree, is a bit like how I’m trying to create my life. I’m looking at each aspect of my life; the things surrounding me, the people I associate with, the ideas that flow through my mind, and even my hair, are all things that can hinder or help me in creating a rich, inspired life. So this last week, as I stepped back from my fruit tree and decided which branch needed to go, I was also thinking inward about what I wanted to prune in my life to bring more light and sunshine into the centre of my being.

Isn’t it amazing how nature is ALWAYS teaching us?

You can hardly see William behind this Spartan apple tree which needs a good thinning….kind of like how we live our life. Until we let go of stuff, we are unable to clearly see ourselves and what we truly want in our life in order to create our BEST life.

And here it is after the thinning process…although I realize now that with the Birch tree in the background it’s hard to clearly see the branches I have removed. Suffice it to say, the central leader is nicely displayed and the branches that were crossing over and moving inward are removed.

When I finished pruning the last tree, I exhaled. It’s a big job, but time well spent as I know we will all appreciate eating the organically grown fruit later this year.  It’s really satisfying growing your own food and knowing you don’t have to rely on anyone else.

Now we just need some sunshine.

And  that brings me to the hair aspect of my post. “Hair, hair, beautiful hair,”  that song from the Broadway play, “Hair,” is playing over and over in my head, like a CD on  repeat mode, this Minimalism Monday. Just like pruning our fruit trees this week, taking care of our family’s hair took a lot of my time. Well, to be accurate, it takes up a lot of my time every day, since I still have young children, who need help maintaining it.  And as I was analyzing the branches to prune in my orchard, I was also thinking about the changes I have made caring for my hair, and also my family’s hair. The first big step towards change occurred when William was just a baby and we were planting his placenta under that apple tree. We were starting to really think about living more sustain-ably. Suddenly, caring for six heads, seemed overwhelming to me, both in time and financially, and it occurred to me that cutting hair was not rocket science. It was something that clearly I could do myself.  I looked around and realized, I had a houseful of of hair. Curly hair, straight hair, thin hair, thick hair, blonde hair, brown hair, baby hair, well you get the idea. All sorts of hair to learn to cut.

Also, right around the time that our sixth little person was born, I suddenly had no time to book hair appointments, or even take time to drive to them, wait for the stylist, sit in the chair, listening to canned music that unnerved me, and then I felt annoyed having to pay for a cut that I often didn’t even like. David too, was tired of going to his high end stylish and paying a small fortune every 6 weeks and he often came home saying it was too short, or the stylist had kept the top too long. Then there was the expense!

So, I bought a good pair of scissors, an electric trimmer with graduated attachments, a few combs, some clips, a spray water bottle, and started reading up on various style cuts for women, men and children. (Now there are tons of YouTube videos on cutting hair)

 

I went to shop in town called “Sally’s” and bought what I needed to cut hair

But where does minimalism come in you may ask. Well, just like in pruning fruit trees to produce the best fruit, when you have a good hair plan, perhaps a minimalist style and maintenance,  it allows you the luxury of more time and money to live the life you desire. Now, I’m not suggesting that you say  “au revoir,” to a beloved stylist,  but if you are like me, and feel unsettled being in a busy salon where people are chatting away all around you,  scissors are going snip, snip, snip and blow dryers are screaming a whirling noise, not to mention that canned music, then you may want to reconsider how you are managing your hair. If you haven’t gone there yet, just think about cutting your own hair, cutting your partners hair and certainly your children’s hair.

From a minimalist point of view, hair that is either really short or really long is the best way to go in my opinion. While short hair may need more maintenance to keep it short, it frees up your time daily in styling. And long hair doesn’t require as many cuts, and although it may take longer to shampoo and condition, it’s easy to do every day. Wear it down, pull it back into a low pony tail and your done. (And who’s to say that you need to shampoo it at all. Our son, Mitchell, does the “no poo.” He wets his hair when he showers but that’s it. He never shampoos it with chemical rich hair products and he has thick, glossy, healthy hair)

The other plus about cutting your own hair, is that you don’t have to listen to what a professional feels is the right cut for you or get lured into buying hair product that just sits in your bathroom. Usually a stylist wants you to cut your hair short so they can keep you coming back regularly to maintain it. (Okay, I may be cynical here but that’s been my experience)  For instance,  I have had hair dressers say that since my hair is fine and straight, I should wear it no longer than my shoulders. Well, I’m done with that. Right now my hair is moving way past my shoulders and it’s actually starting to get wavy. While many may think it’s not as flattering as my usual bob,  I’m loving it.  It’s now loose and relaxed, like how I want to live.

And as for men, I really dig beards that are so popular now. If I were a man, I would be relieved not to have to shave. Saves time, saves money on razors, shaving cream, and is warm in the winter.  Also, I love men with no hair. I think bald is very attractive in my opinion and environmentally friendly, as it saves on hair product! Now a bald man with a beard….ahhhh! A great combi.

I realize most people have strong opinions about hair and I’m not saying that you need to minimize your hair routine etc to be a minimalist but hey, just think about where you are spending your time and your money. Is that where you want it to go?

Check out my kitchen salon, “Hair by Hope.” Our younger kids have NEVER been to a stylist and personally I think they have great cuts.  William’s hair is blonde, curly and beautiful. Most of the boys in his grade three class have short, I mean buzzed hair, which is fine and probably easy for their parents to do every day, but for William, he looks best with locks and he loves his hair longer too.

Victoria Before

Victoria after…she has wavy hair that looks great in a bob but we are going to grow it out

Victoria after…we pull back the bangs with a clip to keep the hair out of her eyes

 

Kathryn Before

 

Kathryn After, her bangs are grown out

Kathryn After…Could a stylist do any better?

William Before….yes his hair is starting to get crazy

William After…he asked me not to take too much hair off but it’s tamed down now

Kathryn, William, Victoria, AFTER….ready to go and play

Me, cutting Victoria’s hair. When I cut my hair, I flipped it forward and cut it straight across. Then I cut the sides with a bit of layering. It’s a lot longer than it looks in this picture.

Cutting hair is not rocket science!

Grace has thick, long hair and it got this way from me just trimming it regularly. When she used to go to the salon they would take a few inches off every time she went and it never seemed to grow….now it’s growing and looks amazing

Grace After…SMILING.

To finish up my day at the kitchen salon, I did Clark’s hair too

Clark After….he’s got a bit of a beard and mustache starting. This cut will last for about 8 weeks and cost NOTHING~~~

So that’s what has been going on around here this last week. Cutting hair and pruning trees. Oh and meditating.  Are you meditating with me? I hope someone is. I tried to get my family ommming with me but they just looked at me like, “I have better things to do with my time!” That’s okay. I get that. I’ve really enjoyed the daily meditation sessions with Deepak and Oprah. I love when Deepak says as the end of the guided meditation section, ” I’ll mind the time and when it’s time to end, you will hear me ring a soft bell.” Today’s mantra was, “Siddho Hum,” meaning, “I am perfect.” And isn’t that what it’s all about really? When we come from a place of self love, feeling perfect, then we can begin to really live. It’s not really about pruning  fruit trees or cutting hair, it’s about living in the here and now. Mindfulness is the key. Stripping what doesn’t work for us, creates a bit more room for us to find our true nature. The meditation theme has been about shedding weight in all aspects of our life and for me, staying in the present moment, and letting go of my story, is my biggest challenge. Am I alone?

Are you moving in the direction of living an inspired life? If you get frustrated that things aren’t exactly how you would like, just remember we are all in the process. That’s what makes this earthly experience so delightful.  We have choice, and can choose to grow fruit trees in our backyard, grow our hair long, or cut it all off, we can choose to meditate or not. In the big scheme nothing matters. “So hum,” is what I tell my children when they get going in all directions. It means, “I am.” And when you come back to that place, there is peace. There is love. That is where the most inspired life lives.

But on a more earthly subject, I’d love to hear what you think is a minimalist hair cut. What works for you and makes you happy with regards to your hair? And I hope you come back for a visit as we made Sauerkraut recently and I want to share our results with you so, STAY TUNED.

All through writing this post, I was humming this tune…check out this video ’cause if you haven’t lived in the 60’s you may not know it, “Hair” by the Cowsills

Until we connect again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Zucchini Bread~Zucchini Chocolate Cake~Summer’s Bounty

/ Lee Reynolds

 

Okay, maybe it was crazy to start a blog and start writing about my homestead right in the middle of summer. I mean, gesh, as though I’m not busy enough with my 8 kids, summer camps, having family come to visit,  agreeing to take care of the neighbour’s flowers (and I’m not talking about a few pots, they are everywhere, but don’t get me side-tracked) as well as hosting a long weekend family re-union (which was amazing and so worth every moment…I have to write about that in another post)….all while I’m trying to stay on top of my garden and the harvest.

Recently, I went out to check on what was growing and was absolutely shocked to find, not a few zucchinis ready but a basket of them and more ready only a day or two behind. (What do you do when you have a dozen zucchini in a  few days time? This past spring I worked at a wonderful garden center as a garden consultant, where I kind of got known as the veggie lady because I was imparting my gardening knowledge with gusto (often would get hungry just talking about growing veggies) to those who wanted to grow things they could eat.

Early in the season we had single zucchini’s for sale and those got snapped up….smart people, or not. Later, our growers provided zucchini’s in a 6 pack. Each time a customer came in and asked where our zucchinis were, they would moan and groan when they saw our lovely, healthy 6 pack of zucchinis. They didn’t know a good thing when they saw it.

I told them I would give them a few great recipes to go along with the 6 pack and they just smiled. Most people left with the beautiful zucchini 6 pack but said they were going to find me and drop the extras on MY doorstep. Ooohhhh that made me want to sell them all the more…..or so I thought at the time. The way I look at food though is you can always do something with the extra bounty and if not, there are always people looking for food. Even zucchini.

As I write this post though, I wonder what was I thinking to plant  6 zucchini plants in “my” garden and don’t get me started on the butternut squash or the pumpkins growing right next to them.

“One” of the pumpkin growing on our homestead

But again, I transgress. What I intented this blog post to be about was sharing a couple of great recipes if you too are blessed with a summer’s bounty of zucchini.

After I brought a few of the green giants into my kitchen, I started by grating them with my food processor. Then I pulled out my recipes. Yes, I still have them in old fashioned recipe cards.

I thought I’d make some loaves for eating right now, freeze some, and make a delicious chocolate zucchini cake that I could also throw in the freezer for our upcoming family re-union. I was also able to fill several large freezer bags with grated zucchini so in the middle of winter I could remember the blessings of summer. I just love the smell of zucchini leaves, don’t you?

Here’s a few picks./pics from my garden…..I hope you In JOY!

Zucchini Bread

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees
Spray 2 loaf pans with a non stick vegetable oil spray

Ingredients:

3 eggs
2 cups of sugar (1 white/1 brown or you can use honey)
1 cup of vegetable oil….lately we use a lot of coconut oil but I used a sunflower oil this time)
2 cups of grated, glorious, under appreciated zucchini
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups  of flour (I like to use 2 white unbleached white to 1 cup of whole wheat)
2-3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
opt….we love nuts…so we add 1/2 cup walnuts to our bread

Beat eggs until frothy, stir in sugars, oil, zucchini, and vanilla
Mix dry ingredients really well….then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until all combined.
Pour into prepared loaf pans

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.

Let sit for 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan and then turn out on cooling rack.
We like to eat it warm from the oven and I put the second one in the freezer or share with a friend.

And here is the finished product….yummy.

Now I also wanted to share another recipe we made but sadly I didn’t take any pictures of the results as my kids ate it so fast that I didn’t even have a crumb to show you but oh my gosh, this was a delicious, moist cake so here is the recipe for our chocolate zucchini cake.

Hope’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredient

2 cups of flour (again….I prefer 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of unbleached white)
2 cups of sugar (1 cup brown, 1 cup white)
3/4 of cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
4 eggs
11/2 cup of vegetable oil….(and again you can use coconut oil if you prefer)
3 cups of grated, glorious zucchini
3/4 cup chopped nuts…we use walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
Grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
Add eggs, one at a time and oil. Mix well, then fold in the zucchini and nuts until they are well distributed.

Pour into pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes and done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and eat…or spread with a chocolate glaze.

We made a chocolate glaze for icing. Some icing sugar, cocoa, and coconut oil…oh yummy. In Joy!

If you are blessed to have a bounty of zucchini, like us, I hope you try these recipes. If not visit your local Farmer’s market and I’m sure you will find them plentiful at this time of year.

You can also grill your zucchini or do what we do, just cut thinly sliced pieces, drizzle some olive oil on top, add some garlic, fresh basil and oregano…(I have to blog about my herbs another time) and garlic, and of course some parmesan cheese, All my kids love this and it goes with so many other foods, make some quinoa, wild rice, a green salad and you have a complete meal……and gosh anything that is easy, healthy and stretches our budget is what I love so I can spend more time with family or my garden.

Stay tuned as I want to share my sun ice tea recipe next. It goes great with my zucchini bread and is a perfect choice when family or friends pop over for a summer visit.

Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

 

The Soilful Life

/ Lee Reynolds

What do you think is the most important part of a homestead?

In my opinion it’s soil. In order to grow the most productive garden for our needs we need to produce it in fertile soil. So I thought one of my first posts would be on that topic.

Our home was built on land that was once an old orchard but it is also on the side of a small mountain so it contains a lot of rock. Shale type rock to be precise which makes great drainage but doesn’t hold a lot of nutrients. So after building our home we had some good top soil delivered and we landscaped our yard using that soil. When I decided to grow a veggie garden my husband built two raised beds for us and hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of top soil to fill the boxes. At the time we didn’t know any other way to build the soil.

Every spring, I would add compost, peat moss and some sand to our garden. I never tested the soil. I would smell it and hold it in my hands and when it looked and smelled rich and earthy, I felt that it would be the perfect medium. One year our small town was offering “Earth Machine” compost bins for a reasonable price and we brought one home and put in at the end of our garden area.

I never learned the true art of composting at the time. We would just throw in yard debris (notice, when you live in an urban/suburban type setting you call it yard debris and not farm debris as you would out in the country) and of course our kitchen scraps as well. It was amazing how it just kept taking everything we would throw in and it never seemed to fill up. This particular compost bin is a bit awkward in that there is only a small door and opening at the bottom to retrieve the finished compost.

Still, I started pulling out the small bit of compost it produced each Spring and add it to our small garden. The production of food was great. I figured out that when you have optimum soil you can intensive garden, which meant that we didn’t need as much space to produce more food.

I   L-O-N-G-E-D  to be able to grow more veggies so I convinced my husband and older sons to chainsaw some large mugho pine bushes and junipers in a bed that was approximately 5’x 50′. Not large but would allow my garden to be more diverse.

Once all the plants and their roots were finally removed (a long process…SO THINK carefully before you plant an area with plants you can’t eat) I started improving the soil. The first fall I brought purchased bags of compost in and spread them around. The following spring we  added bags of steer and mushoom manure, along with peat moss. We then double dug it in the garden.As I worked the earth, I removed rocks and broke up the soil to be a fine till. The first harvest was really great and we had so much garden debris (corn and squash produce tons of debris for the compost)…..so much debris that we needed to build another compost bin.

One day, I saw a pallet outside of the business where my oldest son works part time and it said, “Free!” I went home and made a case for re-purposing throwaway items. This was a tough sell because of another recently pleaded case that didn’t go well. Last fall I drove by a house with a gorgeous entertainment unit with the lovely sign saying, “Free” on it. I pleaded for my husband to bring it home. He said he was busy at work and suggested I ask our older sons to haul it home. After much discussion they agreed. They couldn’t fit it in our larger vehicle at the time so they decided to haul it home. Thankfully it was in our neighbourhood and thankfully they had been working out at our local gym because it was really heavy.

That unit sat in our living room for about 6 months. When people came to our house I shared the whole story and how inventive we were…or would be with the item. Some people thought this was ingenious and some looked at me like I had lost my mind but I was on my green path at this time so I ignored it. It grew a bit thin though over the time it was here as every time my daughter had to play the piano (almost every day) she moved it away from the bench so she had room to sit.

ANYWAY, the end of the story is that we tried to re-purpose it in several ways but it was always too big or inappropriate for what we were planning. We then tried to sell it on Craigslist thinking surely someone would want it and we did get some calls but no one ever showed up. We even tried to give it away in the end. Finally, FINALLY, my husband took it apart and sadly, oh me saddest of all, took it to the landfill where we had to pay to have them deal with it. I didn’t even get to save the hardware from the unit. So that is my story of re-purposing gone WAY wrong.

Back to my free pallet story, after much debate and going down memory lane regarding the pre- mentioned said unit, my husband and son retrieved it.  This time it worked out beautifully. Along with some wood scraps in our garage my husband made me another compost bin. You would think he had given me a diamond! I was dancing around and oh so thrilled when he finally set it in the corner of our garden. It has been tremendously useful. I like compost bins all over the place for ease when you are out on your homestead..

Now our own compost bins were really cooking and after doing some reading on creating the best compost I realized that there was an art. Yes, you can just add anything to your compost bin and it will turn into great soil but knowing how to layer the browns (carbon matter) along with the greens (nitrogen matter) was really effective on creating rich compost really fast. And this got me to thinking how we create good soil from all sorts of matter and how we grow as people. We can throw all sorts of life lessons on the path and we will surely grow but when we start living consciously, well that is when things seem to really speed up our soul’s growth. The art of living soulfully and the art of building our soilful homestead is closely connected.

Okay, enough spirit talk…my oldest daughter would say sappy talk.
my pallet inspired compost bin
Isn’t our pallet/compost bin lovely?

I know only people who loves to grow stuff can truly appreciate a compost bin. It’s how we contain beautiful rich potential soil….just as our body is the container for our spirit. I have grown so much……not just with my philosophy on becoming sustainable and appreciate mother earth, but in my faith. My garden has taught me much about looking inside my heart, trusting my gut and knowing how to grow as a soul and grow the food for my family. Don’t you think they are closely related.

Last fall, since both of our compost bins were full to the brim I decided to dig large holes all over my garden. As we cleaned up our yard and gathered leaves and debris as well as our kitchen scraps, we used those holes as our compost. I later learned that this is a type of trench compost. As I filled the holes, I would add a bit of dirt so it didn’t attract pests….although we don’t have many….last summer we did have a raccoon family in our area but I haven’t seen anything “wild” in a while. By the end of fall, I had filled holes all over our garden area and this spring the dirt was loose and rich, full of wonderful matter. It’s only July but our garden is producing wonderfully.

So whether you are using purchased compost, or growing your own in fancy purchased compost bins, homemade pallet bins like we now have or whether you do trench composting which is my favourite yet….(no turning, no moving, no digging in)….they will all improve your earth and give you the soil that you need for your homestead.

And that gets me back to the soul side of things….it doesn’t matter in life how you learn, how you layer the lessons, we all have our own stories and trials and tribulations. What matters is that we keep planting and watering our dreams. We keep putting down roots and pulling the weeds. No matter how we live our life, we grow as souls.

I’m blooming where I’m planted. How is the soil/soul in your part of the world?

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
– Rachel Carson

Thanks for reading. Until I see you again, may you be well, peaceful and happy.

Blessings from Hope