Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sowing Money Plant

Money plant, which bloomed so beautifully in May, has gone to seed. Last week, the seed pods were a pretty mauve. This week, due in part to the drought, they've turned brown.

Now i pull out this biennial (Lunaria) and walk around my flowerbeds shaking it like a magic wand. Next spring, i want money plant here. And here. And here. The seed husks fly off and land on the ground like pennies from heaven.

Every word that flies out of our mouth is planting seeds for our future. A friend told me yesterday, "I don't want to talk about it, because talking about it will only make me upset." That is wise speech in action.

We want to prepare the ground for wholesome thoughts, words, and deeds. We all already have quite enough weedy thoughts and words for this lifetime, thank you very much.

A penny for your thoughts.

Money plant blooming in late May with seed pods just forming.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Random Acts of Gardening

Today i saw a bumper sticker that i thought i authored. But i guess great minds think alike.

Practicing random acts of gardening is often a random act of kindness. I'm thinking public or semi-public gardens, such as those in parks or in front of the post office or doctor's office. I do like to pull a weed or two as i walk by.

We aren't practicing random acts of kindness for praise. In fact, we already know that no one may ever even notice. The ego of "aren't i being good!" is almost entirely absent. These random acts of kindness are not for your persona, your public face. These random acts of kindness or of gardening are your private face, for yourself. I think of it as leaving things better than i found them, which is my New Year's resolution for this year.

Practice a random act of gardening today!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

The Garden at Dawn

When i come to consciousness, around 5:30 a.m., it takes some intention to open my eyes, move my body, and stretch. I don't really need more sleep.

The thought that rolls my body out of bed is The garden! Now in the cool of the morning, i can feed the birds, feed the fish, drink a cup of tea, meander around the garden, and meditate. By 8:30, it's hot, and it's too late to garden. By mid-morning, it's time to sit in the shade, wearing sunglasses, and allow the day to run according to its own schedule.

But now, just after dawn, all is quiet, a few birds still sing, and the world is beautiful.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Fresh Blueberries

My neighbor David has invited me to pick as many blueberries as i wish from his 30 bushes, so i pick a quart at a time. I had forgotten just how delicious fresh blueberries are. Oh, my. And all those anti-oxidants too.

My friend's generosity tastes delicious!

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Enemy in a Blueberry

My neighbor, David, invited me to come pick blueberries. He has about 30 blueberry bushes, all under a giant net. The net protects the berries from the birds. Now David tells me about another pest--a fly who lays its eggs in the berries, which creates a dimple. Soon, the blueberry turns to mush.

David has set out small bowls of raspberry vinegar (plus dish soap) to attract the flies, which then perish. He's being assiduous about not leaving a single blueberry on the ground. He tells me that if he finds a dimpled blueberry, he eats it immediately. "I'm eating my enemy," he says. "I'm not sure that's very Buddhist."

Faced with an irritating "enemy," i sometimes try to kill it / them with kindness. "Eating" kindness is much better for my innards than consuming (and being consumed by) retribution or revenge.

David is eating his enemy in a blueberry. It's delicious!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

A New Food Dryer

I went to my local hardware store to buy a food dryer. Well, i already have a food dryer--a wooden box the size of an apartment refrigerator that my brother-in-law built for me 30 years ago and powered by four 100-watt lightbulbs.

I wanted one of those round models that sits on the countertop. In a small town, the hardward store is small, but usually has everything i need. As i was checking out, i sighed, "I'm looking for a food dryer, but i couldn't find one."

The clerk looked up and across the store to the kitchenware department. "There's one on the top shelf," he said. "Do you want some help in getting it down?"

Oh, the long view is so important. I had perused the kitchen equipment shelves twice and not seen the food dryer. Yet, from his vantage point, 60 feet away, the clerk could see it.
When i'm tangled up with the wants and don't-wants of my daily life, i can't see the long view. Then, a week, a month, a year later, Oh.... Yes, that happened perfectly, as it turned out. Even though i wanted something else at the time.

Today, i'm drying raspberries, and i'm pretty sure those will taste great a few months from now.


Thursday, July 21, 2016

Growing My Own Raspberries

My neighbor gave me raspberry plants two years ago, and about half of them died. Last year, they filled my 3' x 6' patch nicely. This year i have a bounty of red raspberries on the second-year canes and little raspberry shoots are showing up in nearby beds. My raspberry patch could quadruple in size by the end of the summer.

What fun to go out to the garden and harvest a pint of raspberries every evening. In previous years, i've stopped at the farm stand and bought a pint of raspberries every day. Now they're free.

Growing my own food--and fruits!--not only saves me money, it brings me such joy. An unlimited supply of fresh red raspberries. Mmm-mmm.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Full Moon Rising

Last evening we hiked up nearby Putney Mountain to watch the full moon rise (8:02 p.m.) and the sun set, 20 minutes later.

I brought a picnic dinner, thanks to a Thai food vendor at the local farmer's market.

We hiked back down in the dusk, arriving home about nine. I felt so energized and full of joy, being outdoors in the transition time between light and darkness.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Thankful for What We Have

Product Image 2Most evenings, after dinner, my sweetie and i stroll around the flower gardens, then walk to the vegetable garden and harvest whatever we find there--right now that's summer squash and broccoli.

We enjoy the sweetness of each other's company, especially in light of a neighbor who died suddenly, leaving her husband alone.

Last evening, our "date" was deporting a chipmunk. We dropped by the widower's home with some small containers of broccoli soup and zucchini casserole. I don't believe i'd ever met this man, Richard, though he looked familiar. He was very graceful, showing us around his home. My sweetie, sat down at Richard's wife's piano, and played a sombre sonata from memory.

Richard's phone rang, and we departed. Ever more thankful for each other's companionship while we have it.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Squirrel with Racing Stripes

An urban visitor asked, "Is that a chipmunk?"
I nodded.
He said, "That's only the second chipmunk i've seen in my life. When i first saw it, i thought it was a squirrel with racing stripes."

Oh, the beginner's mind is a joy to observe. It's so creative. It's so open. The beginner's mind hasn't taken on stressful beliefs, views, and opinions like "The chipmunks are eating my tulip bulbs" and "I'm going to trap those darn chipmunks and deport them."

Our own minds are full of stressful thoughts and stressful beliefs. This is one of the reasons we feel so joyful around children: we can look at the world anew through their eyes and let go of stress for a moment or a minute. Blessed relief!

A squirrel with racing stripes.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

It's Too Hot to Garden

Mike is a new gardener and not really sure he likes gardening. I saw him mid-afternoon today (at 86 degrees), and he had had it with gardening today.

"Mike!" i said. "It's July. Stop gardening. You're not allowed to garden past 8:30 in the morning for the coming month. If you want to, you can go to the garden again after dinner. Maybe stroll around it."

He looked at me skeptically.

There's a good or better time of day to garden, and there's a good time of day to meditate. What fits your biorhythms?

We want gardening to be a pleasant experience, and we want meditation to be a pleasant experience. Where do you find the pleasant breath? Where do you notice pleasant sensations in the body? Focus on those. Maybe you'll take a meditative stroll through the garden after dinner.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

More? Or Enough?

After pulling a lot of scraggly, straggling Johnny-jump-ups out of the gardens, i have some bare patches. Hmmm. What to do?

In one flower bed, i wanted a burst of annual color. I went to a couple of garden stores before i realized, i already have annual color--growing in other flower beds. All i need to do is transplant them (in 85 degree heat!) and water heavily. I added some sweet-smelling nicotiana under a bedroom window. I added Chinese forget-me-not in both blue and pink to the biggest, baldest spot. There. That should provide enough color for the next two months.

Why do i think "more" is the answer to my question? Truthfully, i don't need "more" in any aspect of my life. I have "enough"--enough gardens, enough plants, enough food, enough stuff in my house, enough house.

Can i be satisfied with the simples of "enough"?



Friday, July 15, 2016

Bonanza of Broccoli

Here's my vegetable garden this year:
--3 green bean plants
--40 broccoli (the voles didn't eat the seedlings!)
--12 zucchini & summer squash
Yes, i also have tomatoes. onions, garlic, and basil, but you just never know what's actually going to sprout in the garden.

So i'm planting green beans again. Okay, i'm using 12-year-old yellow bush bean seeds. Maybe they won't germinate. But as insurance, i've also planted two other types of beans, and those seeds are last year's seeds, so i'm crosing my finger.

You just never know. Actually, this applies to most of life. I love knowing. I truly get a little thrill from knowing the right answer. Yet, knowing is an evanescent thing. I could never have predicted this summer's garden score. Only 3 bean plants. And a bonanza of broccoli. (Send me your broccoli recipes!)

Here's the big question: Can you be comfortable with NOT knowing?

I, for instance, do not know who i'm going to give all this broccoli to.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The Smell of Garlic

Today i gave a talk on using garlic from your garden, specifically garlic scapes. Using a bag full of scapes, my food processor, and olive oil, the four of us made garlic scape pesto in a jiffy. We scooped it into containers. Everyone went home with a half-pint of plain garlic scape pesto, and the public space we were meeting in smelled deliciously of garlic.

Most of us learn best experientially, though of course, sometimes it takes many "experiences" for us to finally learn our lesson. (Ahem!)

The path of mindfulness is an experiential path. Of course, we can use our intellect to guide us and to understand our experience, but mindfulness happens through the body, even though it's called "mind"fulness.

Aware of the body, we breathe and smell the delicious aroma of garlic scape pesto.

Pulling Water Chestnut

This morning i joined 6 other volunteers to pull water chestnut out of the Connecticut River.  We were instructed by a staff person from the Connecticut River Watershed Council and 2 interns.

Kayaking on the river was a lovely way to spend a beautiful morning. We found and pulled about 2 dozen plants in 3 hours, down from 10 dozen last year, and 50 dozen two years ago.

We purify our own minds by recognizing our own bad habits, and, if we can, pulling them out by the roots. Even if we don't get our bad habit out by the roots, we can delay its growth and delay its "going to seed" with the simple mindfulness of recognizing an unskillful mind state.

And like this patch of water chestnut, over time, we find our unskillful mind states arising less and less frequently.

Pulling Water Chestnut

This morning i joined 6 other volunteers to pull water chestnut out of the Connecticut River.  We were instructed by a staff person from the Connecticut River Watershed Council and 2 interns.

Kayaking on the river was a lovely way to spend a beautiful morning. We found and pulled about 2 dozen plants in 3 hours, down from 10 dozen last year, and 50 dozen two years ago.

We purify our own minds by recognizing our own bad habits, and, if we can, pulling them out by the roots. Even if we don't get our bad habit out by the roots, we can delay its growth and delay its "going to seed" with the simple mindfulness of recognizing an unskillful mind state.

And like this patch of water chestnut, over time, we find our unskillful mind states arising less and less frequently.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Surprise in the Pot of Tulips

In March, i gave away several pots of tulips. Now, Paula sends me a photo of her pot of tulips (the tulips are long gone) with morning glories growing out of the pot.

Oh, yes, the joys of compost. You see, i added some of my compost to the potting soil last November when i potted up the tulip bulbs, and, well, i'm not surprised that Paula has morning glories. I have morning glories growing in my compost pile too.

Our habits of mind are planting seeds all the time. Invisible seeds that are nearly unnoticed because a habit of mind is, well, first of all, a habit. We are so accustomed to being slightly anxious, a little bit worried, slightly irritated or impatient, we have begun to think of those habits of mind as being "normal."

With mindfulness, we first of all observe our mind. Simply notice what's going on, without judgment. Notice as if your are a scientist conducting an experiment or a naturalist keeping a lookout for a skitterish specimen.

When you can identify even one habit of mind, you are really using your muscle of mindfulness.