CBD Doubt

 I harvested my two 5-foot tall hemp plants in September and dried the flowers. Then i packed three half-gallon jars with the sticky, dried flowers. In one half-gallon, i added coconut oil and set it in the basement for 2 months.

I looked and looked for recipes for CBD body creme. I asked advice. I found shea butter, cocoa butter, and beeswax in the DIY section of the food coop, along with almond oil and mango butter. But what to do with the ingredients?

Doubt stymies me every time. Some people just launch into new territory, but i am stumped by doubt. I used to call it procrastination, but that feels like a character flaw and another reason to beat myself up.

Now i call it Doubt and recognize this stuck-in-the-middle-ness as a hindrance. It feels like a hindrance; it feels like my way forward is blocked.

Eventually, i chose one recipe, one path forward. The next batch, i tried a different recipe. Good-bye doubt. Hello variety.

Delicious Dogwood Fruit

My variegated dogwood tree (Cornus kousa x wolf eyes) has lots of red fruit this fall, which makes the tree look quite festive. The fruit is small and delicious. I think it tastes like paw-paws; someone else thinks it tastes like a cross between mango and pumpkin.

I love a tree or shrub that looks interesting in at least two seasons. The variegation of the dogwood makes it interesting to look at in spring and summer, and now in the fall, it looks rather Christmas-y with red balls of fruit hanging all over it.

I planted a fruit tree without knowing that i was doing it!

Our meditation practice yields the fruit of the spiritual path. Two of the first fruits are equanimity and fearlessness. Both of those sound delicious. Calm and freedom from fear.

Even beginning meditators notice the calm of meditation. There it is. The first fruit waiting for you to notice it.



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Permaculture

Tamarind pods

While i was in Florida last week, i visited my friend Annette, who has a tiny permaculture farm. In her backyard, she is growing mangoes, avocados, lychees, grapefruit, lemon, key lime, and tamarind. Permaculture is sustainable agriculture, and we can all do this in our own backyard, our front yard, and our gardens.

Here in the North Country, i don't have the mouth-watering selection of tropical fruits that Annette has. I have two old apple trees in my backyard, which a pruner has encouraged into production. I canned a couple of gallons of applesauce last fall.

To live sustainably on our little plot of ground is to live simply. We use what Mother Nature provides. I think of a line from the Metta sutta: "contented and easily satisfied."

Can i be content with my gnarly apples? Can i be easily satisfied with second best?

Annette gave me 3 tamarind pods. When they ripen, i'll be satisfied with that sweet-sour taste of tamarind.