Our Organic Garden Beds

Ok, first, this doesn't have a whole lot to do with this post about our gardens, except that I happened to upload these two pics of a fabulous raw "hummus pizza" dinner we shared out in our "tree house." Preston and his culinary genius created this raw flat bread made of squash, flax, and herbs, and we dehydrated it (low temps as to preserve the enzymes needed for digestion) in our new Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator. We then topped it with a raw cashew hummus (I like the taste of raw hummus with a cashew base rather than soaked chickpeas--recipe to come soon!) and garden greens, tomatoes, avacadoes, and cilantro from the garden you are about to see!!! And a summer favorite: San Pellegrino with lemon and of course, cherries!! So refreshing!!

Now, on to the garden.

Preston and I have two raised beds in our little backyard, and this year, they are yeilding a lot of food, especially greens, and I wanted to share it with you!

The Birth of our Raised Beds

Last year Preston built them and we spent an afternoon literally lugging dirt in 5 gallon buckets from bins in the trunk of our little Corolla (no truck, no wheelbarrow lol) into the garden beds. The dirt was...eh...not the best. It didn't drain very well, and we didn't have any finished compost having just moved in that year, but we added lots of soil amendments and worked on it for a while, and when it drained ok, we crossed our fingers and planted our garden. Well, it was already June by that time, and we travelled three times that month and I'm sure it dried out at the pivitol times when it was sprouting, but amazingly, it yeilded some really good greens among other things, once again reminding us that nature is a miracle, and a lot of the time, it is this simple: You plant it, and it grows. There certainly are a lot of things to learn about gardening, and I've read so many books, but I still feel like I'm just beginning. I'm finding the best method is trial and error, as well as intuition, and working along with nature in a beautiful co-creation.

Gratefully, this year, our garden has done wonderfully well. In the fall, we left the roots in the soil and chopped up everything else on top, and we sprinkled what unfinished compost we had on the beds along with some dead leaves. We left it to decompose, and a lot of it did, and I'm happy to report that there were worms and other creepy crawlers in the soil when we prepared the garden bed this spring.

This spring, much earlier than last year we began to prepare our garden beds by removing the leftover leaves that had not yet decomposed, and we put them in our compost buckets.


We then added a soil amendment that had kelp meal and compost from cotton burrs, and some Yum Yum mix, and very gently incorporated it (as not to disturb the mircoorganisms too much.)

Then we planted, and waited...

And one day...

Tiny baby curly and dino kale sprouts!

Sunflower sprouts began to grow in our compost buckets! It was cute. We had thrown out some sprouted sunflower seeds that had gone bad and still, they wanted to be flowers! :)

Baby cilantro sprouts reaching to the sun...

Baby greens mix almost ready for harvest! (and we did, and it was fab.)

Baby spinach :)

Baby rainbow and swiss chard...

I re-mulched by the fence in the front yard, and put up this cute little sign...

Beautiful purple Irises grew by the fences in the front in spring...

Buddha brings peace to the garden. :) See the baby lilac tree beside him? That's Lucia, a cutting from the yard of my great great great grandparents home where I spent my childhood in Maine. My great-grandmother likely planted the lilacs. According to my mom, we have a lot in common as far as our relationship with nature goes and I am so grateful to have this living piece of that sweet property in Maine from a time that will always have a piece of my heart. Right now, it is planted in a pot, which we planted in the ground to protect the roots over the winter. The lilac tree has to over-winter or it will never bloom, so we have moved it around in a bucket and someday when we have a more permanent location we will plant it into the ground. She is doing really well, though and has at least quadrupled in size since she was given to us by the sweet present owner of the house.

Here's the greens garden in the beginning...

And I have no idea why this is horizontal, or how to change it for that matter, so here is a view of the farthest garden bed now, full of basil (in the front) tomatoes: heirloom and cluster (gross word), Strawberries, cilantro, and other herbs just now starting to sprout.

This is our Kale now, almost full grown. We grew it for both juicing, and kale chips mmmmm.

Here is our Rainbow Chard now, which we grew for juicing, and Chard wraps.



And here is a tomato peeking out of the greens...

Here is our cilantro, about to go to seed....ahhh we need to make a lot of salsa!

Some Romaine Lettuce on its way, along with new growth from where we cut the baby greens...




And in the front yard, the little purple bell flowers have returned and are in full bloom... :)



And that is an update (finally) of our little gardens. Do you have a garden? What has your experience with gardening been like? What is growing in yours?

Love,
Abbey

May Baskets, New Vignettes, and This Week's Spring Cleaning Commitment

Beautiful, precious, sweet things bring so much joy to my day when I look at them or display them...Yesterday I got this beautiful teacup. I LOVE it. And as if it could get any sweeter, I realized when I got home that it matches the PERFECT teapot my mom gave me for my birtday (you can see it in the background). Thank goodness for the simple loveliness in life...



Here is a little woodland vignette I created this weekend in my kitchen above my sink. I used some of the left over flowers from making May Baskets (see below) on May Day (Beltane) and the most precious, amazing little ceramic mushrooms that my dear friend Gabriela sent me for my birthday. They are the cutest ever!



Also very dear to my heart is this little heart bowl that Gabby MADE for me!! What a treasure! I will have it forever, and then pass it down...

My Dad gave me this little antique cast-iron sea gull that belonged to my great-grandmother. She loved birds and nature, and had many of the same interests I have.

He also gave me this little vintage bird vase that belonged to my great-Grammy as well..

Here is Spoof sitting with my new little collection of antique gardening books given to me by Preston's mom's sweetheart John. They are all still in their original jackets! :)



May 1st was Beltane, or May Day. I love celebrating the earth, and all of its changes and seasons and all they symbolize. Here is my little altar/coffee table decoration for May 1st...

I woke up on May Day buzzing with excitement to create May Baskets to leave for my neighbors. After a few minutes of heartstorming their design, this is what I came up with. I love how they came out, and as I spent the morning making them and delivering them I was so filled with passion and joy and I felt so on purpose. I love giving gifts for no reason. It sets me on fire!! I know I need to use my creativity more to make suprise gifts for others. I am so happy when I am creating!! I loved their design so much that I'm also thinking about selling the baskets as wedding/party decorations . Here they are....

I made the baskets out of used Whole Foods grocery bags inside out, and adorned them with ribbons...

I found the most wonderful flowers to fill the baskets with. They had a wild and woodland look about them...like a fairy gathered them...that was what I was going for...

The heart hanging on the side reads, "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair" ~Kahlil Gibran (One of my favorite quotes)

I added a bit of moss as well around the top...

And then I delivered them... I was very sneaky, though, somehow a few neighbors guessed it was me and I got phone calls later. I must be putting off the fairy vibe. I told them it was the May Fairy.

This Week's Spring Cleaning Commitment Challenge:

My Spring Cleaning Commitment for this last week was to clean out/organize my junk drawer, and I am happy to report that I did it!! Now the drawer opens, and I can acutally get the things I need without digging... *sigh*

How did you do with this week's commitment to yourself? What will your new commitment for this week be? Leave a comment!

This week I commit to cleaning out/organizing the medicine cabinet and under-sink cabinets in my bathroom. We have a teeny-tiny little bathroom and everything bathroom related goes into that one medicine cabinet and under sink cabinet. So you can imagine that after over a year without attention, well, need I say more? Its a mess. I will be so happy to have it back in order.

Have a wonderful week, and Blessed Spring!

Love,

Abbey

Spring Cleaning Commitment Challenge--Join Me!!

As spring draws near, I begin to feel it within me. Its almost as if little sprouts of life are beginning to move within my soul. It is a kind of awakening that happens within us if we pay close attention. It is a stirring. For me, it is a breath of fresh air both literally and symbolically, inviting me to emerge from a wintery hibernation, and step into the sunshine of my own inspiration and new beginnings...


Perhaps this is why I cherish nests with eggs so much. (If you've been to Love's Garden or my house lately, you've seen evidence of it everywhere :)) I love them and all they symbolize. So much potentiality cradled and nurtured within.

I love summer. I love that warm and perfect day when I can pull out my sun dresses from the depths of my closet and finally wear one, bare-footed in the yard. I love the comfort of the warm days, the excitement of harvesting greens from the garden for dinner, the joy of coming home after a day's work to set up the sprinkler and watch the setting sun sparkle through the drops of water. I love the hummingbirds zipping through the yard, and the freedom and feeling as though you could stay up into the warm night and do anything.


Spring is the awakening that leads to the promise of summer. The promise of inspiration, energy, motivation, and new creation.


I love that when springtime begins to stir within me, I feel so much HOPE. It is a new beginning with new possibility of what I might be. Of what I might create. Of what I can become.


I feel such a new beginning deserves sacred space for its unfoldment.


And I believe this is why people feel the urge for "spring cleaning" this time of year. A chance once again to clear out the old, to make room for the fresh, the new. A chance to swing open the windows of our homes, and hearts.

We must remember that our physical experience of life is often an expression of our inner world. Our yearnings to clear out the old in our physical world, is often a great opportunity to clear out what no longer serves us in our inner world to make room for our new visions, dreams and creations. As we clean and organize our space we set new intention for our life. We honor and make room for new beauty.


And so now, Spring has arrived here in the canyon. Everywhere I look I can see little green buds, and sunlight shining on bright, tiny, chartreuse leaves. Flowers are popping up around our neighborhood. Amazing pink and white blossoms cover trees and if you pay attention you see that they are covered in hundreds of bees hard at work, buzzing away. I love to see the bees so busy at work, living out their purpose so well in harmony with everything else.

Now that Spring is really here, I am ready to begin my work, and my "Spring Cleaning Journey". Yes, its easy to feel that inner urge to go through the closets, to wash the windows and baseboards, and to venture into the depths of the junk drawer, but to actually make time for those things? That is another story. It is a story of commitment and ultimately, of Self-Love. Let me elaborate...

What I've found in my life, is that cleaning and caring for my home environment goes right along with Self -Care, and Self-Love.


When I speak of Self-Love, I am referring to a healthy, unconditional Love for yourself, practicing self- forgiveness and acceptance and honoring and respecting yourself on all levels of Being. When we choose to love ourselves fully, or at least choose to live with an intention to Love ourselves fully, we will be more able to give of ourselves and to serve others, we will be happier and live more on purpose as the greatest and most fulfilled version of ourselves.


When I speak of Self Love I am speaking of Self -care on all levels of Being such as :


Caring for yourself Physically (making loving choices for yourself through what foods you choose to eat, and exercising regularly in a way that is enjoyable and challenging yourself to gently push beyond your own "boundaries", learning to manage our time wisely so that we make time for physical activity, plenty of rest, and our purpose work and soul's yearnings, and caring for our physical environment so that it is a place that nurtures our soul and houses the happenings of our lives in a way that truly supports us, not burdens us)

And caring for yourself Mentally (taking charge of your thoughts about yourself and your world, ensuring that they are positive and uplifting as much as possible, and perhaps simple, quiet times of meditation and reflection to put a busy mind at ease, and perhaps using positve affirmations to change those negative thought patterns that have been holding us back for so long.)

And caring for yourself Emotionally (being sure to listen to your own inner voice, and allow your feelings to be expressed rather than repressed, and giving yourself time and space to process all of life's experiences and emotions; breathing and paying attention to your inner world, and most importantly Allowing Love. Receiving Love.)

And of course, caring for yourself Spiritually--caring for your spirit--your own inner essence-- whatever that may mean for you (perhaps through meditation, writing, dreaming, praying, breathing, dancing, singing, making art, laughing, walking in nature, bathing, finding community and support, and very importantly-- discovering your purpose and devoting regular time and energy to what makes you most passionate and ignites feelings of true joy, etc.)

I have found what I choose to call "Home-Care" instead of "chores" or "housework" seems to be a very important part of Self-Care. And as with all things that fall under the umbrella of Self-Care, it is a choice. And for me, choosing to make time for Home Care and Spring Cleaning is an act of Self-Love. It is a bold statement I am making to myself that "I care enough for you to commit to what is important to you, and to commit to caring for the environment you spend your time in. I care enough about you, that I am listening to your inner nudges to care for your space, because I know that the clean space I am creating makes room for new blessings to flow into your life" Something like that :) It is a commitment. And a choice. And I believe that making this choice cultivates feelings of being loved. And when we feel loved, we are so much more stable, and able to do what is ours to do in this world.

So here's my plan:

I am going to make the intention to commit to my own special Home-Care projects and I want to invite you to join me by making your own personal Home-Care and Self-Care commitments for the season of Spring. Your commitments can be anything you want them to be--from odd cleaning and organizing jobs around your house, garage, yard, etc, to home improvement projects such as painting a wall that amazing color that will brighten your life, or hanging pictures or curtains. Your commitments could also include home-care and self-care commitments such as time devoted daily to cleaning up clutter, always doing dishes after a meal, or a daily walk or time for meditation and prayer.


Think of all we are preparing for--so much hope and promise for a fresh, bright, and inspired summer season.


Here's how it will work:

Each week I will post a personal Spring Cleaning goal for that week, and I invite you to create your own personal goal and please do share your goal by commenting, if you wish. At the end of the week I will post about my accomplishments and you can share about yours as well. My hope is that by making our commitments public, and sharing this journey, we will be more motivated to make sure to stick with them, and really get this "Spring Cleaning" done by summer!

I've also been inspired to share with you during this blog series as much information as I can about conscious cleaning, or cleaning in a way that shows care for the environment, our health, and is easier on our wallets!

Some other things I hope to include throughout the rest of this season:


~Reviews on Green Cleaning Products

~Recipes and ideas for making your own conscious cleaning products

~Random recipes for healthy yummy goodnesses just because.

~My Spring Mantle, because I LOVE my mantle just click on "mantle" in the list of tags to the right to see previous mantle love. :)

~Love's Garden Shop updates. I've got a lot of pretties in store for you, its just a matter of when they will be revealed...




So I hope you will join me in this journey. Please leave a comment! We can inspire each other to care more.


Let's allow this journey to begin to prepare us for the warmer months and create a space that is truly worthy of us and all our magnificent potential!

Happy Spring Cleaning Journey!

Love, Abbey

Spring is Stirring, Gardens Calling, Creativity Flowing...

I can feel the first stirrings of spring within me. I love this time of year when I can feel my inner and outer world begin to wake up.

I look outside each morning to watch as more and more species of birds come to gather at the feeder. With this warm spell we've had, the snow is almost completely melted from our yard.

This time of year I love to dig out my gardening and bird books, and get lots of books for inspiration at the library. We are beginning to plan our vegetable garden beds for this year and taking inventory of the seeds we saved, and the seeds we need to order. I of course went out on a warm day and picked around in the corner of one of the garden beds to check (and smell, of course) the soil. It smelled WONDERFUL. I LOVE DIRT.

I always have to find ways (usually by reading gardening books and learning more about soil, composting, and companion planting, and flipping through seed catalogs) to be patient for planting time. The first stirrings of spring within my heart and soul always come long before the ground is workable, especially in Colorado where the last frost date doesn't arrive until May 15. Last year it really didn't arrive until June.

I have a feeling that spring is coming earlier this year, but for now I will work with Preston to plan our garden beds (and decide if we are going to add 2 more) and prepare to start some peppers and tomatoes inside mid-March.

I am working on a small Spring Collection which I hope to debut in the beginning of April. I'm excited to share it with you! More hints and secret details to come on that later, but for now I will tell you that I will be re-introducing some special Spring items into my Etsy shop online at www.LovesGarden.Etsy.com in the first week of March.

Available will be some wonderful spring wall hangings, garlands, and other goodies for decorating your home, among other fabulous things from Love's Garden.

By the way, I am having a HUGE Sale in my online shop and almost everything is on Sale and I've marked it all very low to make room for the new! Please stop by at LovesGarden.Etsy.com and scoop up a beautiful hair accessory, knitted item, etc. I'd be happy to gift wrap it for you as well, just leave a note in the "message to seller" box when checking out. Here are some photos of the things that are on Sale and Clearance now, go to my shop to see them:



















www.LovesGarden.Etsy.com

I wish you well in whatever you may be doing as we approach the end of winter. Maybe you've felt the stirrings of spring within you, too! Be sure to comment and tell me about your inner stirrings and current inspirations...

Love,
Abbey

Mid-Winter Vignettes

I am finding that winter in the canyon is a magical time. Whenever snow falls, it seems like we get just a little more than the rest of the city, tucked back in the foothills, and our little house becomes covered in a blanket of white, making it look even more like a fairytale gingerbread house.

I have enjoyed the stillness of winter, taking lots of quiet time for inner work, rest, and hibernation. I have enjoyed hiking in the canyon with Preston and with my friend Jessica, (and maybe with you, next!) and finding our way through the ice to the more melted, sunny-side trails.

Just yesterday Preston and I ventured up a trail to find ourselves looking over a great mountainside, as high as we could be, snow gently melting on our noses. You could see a fog of white drift over. It was blissful! Everything looks so different here in mid-winter.

I would love to share with you some pictures that capture some small scenes in our home that celebrate the magic of winter, and some of Preston's beautiful photos of the canyon, blanketed in snow....




I changed our Christmas mantle a bit, keeping the enchanting silver, but adding some of my favorite woodland things...







Annie and Kevin gave me this AMAZING frame for Christmas this year, and put in it a special picture of a very important moment in my life. It meant the world to me, and it is Perfect for this little nook right now...





Tiny white birds, a lost feather and a crystal...







Some of my favorite ceramics in the kitchen, along with a picture of P and I at Grandma and Grandpa's at Lime Lake in NY, when we were teenagers...



A collection of crystals, waiting with our plants to catch the light when sunshine comes...




Spoofer all snuggled up in our bed for a winter's nap...







Some special shots captured by Preston early one snowy morning in the canyon...













There is stillness and quiet here. What a blessing to dwell in the winter for a while, allowing for a winter of the mind, body and spirit, preparing for a new emerging of light in the springtime...

Love to you...