Monthly Archives: September 2013

And Who Among Us Is Perfect?

Esoteric

A grandmother reflecting Image (12)A grandmother reflecting

There was a festival with tents, music, and food in the distance.  As we walked closer, we saw that it was a revival.  Sure enough, there was the name “Turning Point Church”, the “perfect church for those who are not”.  And I thought that this includes just about everybody, and certainly me.  On their website they say, “We all need fellowship”.  How true.  And none of us is perfect.   None of us can stand alone.

 

Respect for Life

Esoteric

 

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Gulf of Mexico, interconnected with the life-giving ocean.

We are born into the best care our loving parents can provide.  For some of us that is a lot.  For some of us it is less.  We grow up and go out into the world.   Hopefully, we gain the respect of those we meet.  Likewise, we give respect to those around us.   Every single one of us is valuable, and deserving of respect.  We are each equipped to make choices about what to do every single minute of every single day.  Every single one of these decisions is important to each of us as individuals, and collectively.  Let us each do our best to make the world a better place, remembering to respect the lives of those around us.

 

 

Kitchen Garden

Garden, Kitchen

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Radish thinnings and limes from our kitchen garden.

Our kitchen garden has been a long time in the making.  We overcame obstacles in the following ways:

  1. Thirteen years ago, we got a Victorian house with a kitchen door that opens directly into the back yard.
  2. Two years ago, we dug up a garden, planted it, and had the soil tested for lead.  It was 1700 parts per million.  The garden grew great, but we did not eat anything out of it. We learned from this garden.   We did see that whatever we planted grew very well during a Galveston winter.  (No freeze in 2011.)   We saw how five kinds of lettuce grew, harvested cilantro for the beauty of its vegetation,  and saw that I can actually grow dill.   Then we let it go to seed, after which we let the weeds take over.
  3. We removed seven cubic yards of soil removed down one foot, lined the opening with landscape cloth, and had good planting mix topsoil (three parts per million lead) added in time for a fall 2013 garden.
  4. We had some surrounding vegetation removed to permit more sunlight into the garden.
  5. We bought 20 packets of seeds locally, and ordered one more  package of seeds.
  6. We studied the seed packets for planting depth, and seedling emergence timing, amount of sun required, made a chart of the garden, and what to plant where.
  7. We executed this plan in one day in early September.  Radishes, famously easy to grow, started emerging in merely three days!  By now, two weeks later, even the last to emerge, sorrel, and chives, are sprouting.
  8. In the meantime we have already begun to enjoy our produce,  thinnings of everything to put into salads!

Prepared gardenOur garden ready to plant

Our garden one week after planting.Garden overall, one week after planting DSC00396

Radishes came up first.Radishes came up first. DSC00395

Two weeks after planting, you can see faint rows of green seedlings which have come up.Kitchen garden two weeks after planting

Our garden is growing very quickly.  Establishing roots and a growing plant look slow, but some of the seeds are the size of a grain of salt!