Ash Wednesday and Pea Planting Day

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a 46-day period of preparation for the joyful Easter celebration. The word lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "lengthen"; it refers to the longer days of spring. 

Lent is about mortality and transformation; death and rebirth. Marcus Borg says, "It means dying to an old way of being, and being born into a new way of being, a way of being centered once again in God."

And Pea Planting Day is a special anniversary for us. February 22 is listed on my planting calendar as the first day to plant peas in the Willamette Valley; it also happens that this is the day W and I got engaged to each other, 47 years ago!

Peas are traditionally the first vegetable sown outside in the spring because they will germinate and grow in very cool soil. We plant peas today to ceremonially kick off the start of the planting season, and also to remind ourselves of the beginnings of our relationship; the day we decided to be together forever.

Agenda:

1. Read Nature Mentor

2. Resilience practice

3. Begin plastic fasting

4. Hang up the Lent Lady

5. Pea planting ceremony

6. Permaculture pea tips

7. Make a pea label

1. Read Nature Mentor: 

Robin at Chavez School

One of my intentions for Lent this year is to dive into various web sites that offer information about nature, starting with Nature Mentor. The writer, Brian Mertins, offers a practical approach to awakening naturalist instincts by building skills with plants and birds.

I'm starting today with his 8 Bird Watching Tips For Winter. This is a great time of year for bird watching because most the trees are bare, and food sources are more concentrated, causing many birds to spend a lot of time in the same areas repeatedly. Tips-

• #1 Watch fewer birds, but focus on deeper observation. Get to know the most common birds and watch their behavior more carefully than you normally would. 
• #2 Use a bird feeder; pay attention to how birds feed.
• #3 Practice watching birds for longer periods of time; use binoculars to get a close view, but also watch for overall movement patterns.
• #4 Check a variety of locations for different species; make a trip to the river or a wetland.
• #5 Use warm & sunny breaks to your advantage - all the birds will get active then.
• #6 Remember to dress warmly!
• #7 Pay attention to the changing season, and different bird behaviors as spring approaches.
• #8 Watch the squirrels, too, with the same curiosity.

2. Resilience practice: 

I'm also reading from the book, "101 Mindful Ways to Build Resilience," which offers simple ideas for being more rooted in my body and mind. The first section is on how to cultivate calm, because resilience is nearly impossible if we are irritated and upset whenever something uncomfortable happens.

The first practice is simply to remember to take a few long, slow breaths to bring your brain back to calm, and relax your muscles.

3. Begin plastic fasting: 

This year, like last year, I intend to fast from all new single-use plastic, and continue to experiment with plastic alternatives. I'm also going to witness to why plastic production is so dangerous, and why we need to slow it down.

4. Hang up the Lady Lent:

Greek children make a paper doll for Lent, called Kyra Sarakosti (Lady Lent). The Kyra always folds her hands in prayer, and she has no mouth because she is fasting. Also, she has seven legs, representing the number of weeks in Lent. Each Saturday, the children fold back a leg as they count down the weeks.

I made a Lady Lent a couple years ago that I can use each year- Now she hangs in my living room as a visual reminder of the countdown to Easter. The instructions are here.

5. Pea Planting Ceremony:

Planting is such a basic act of life, and we will plant maybe a hundred seeds this year. Today we plant the first seeds - a few peas - with attention, and we plant together. We plant peas as an offering to the earth, and an offering to our relationship. 

We also drink a little wine, and spill some on the ground, to bless the soil.

6. Permaculture pea tips:

These tips help to make pea growing more efficient, and make use of the whole plant:

• Soak the seed: Last night I put a few peas (for planting today) into a bowl with some warm water.
• Staggered planting: I'll sow peas every 3 weeks, so I get a harvest over a longer period (starting now and ending mid-April).
• When harvest starts, I'll pick every other day and freeze any I don't eat: Peas are easy; just bag them and put them in the freezer as soon after picking as possible. There is no need to blanch.
• Succession planting: When the first plants begin to slow down, I will snip them at the base (leaving the nitrogen in the ground) and slip in a spinach plant or two.
• Mulch: I don't like to put pea vines into the compost because they are stringy, so I chop them up with a lopper and spread them around as mulch.
• Save seeds: And finally, I will save a few pea pods that have started to turn brown and just leave the seeds in the pods until fall planting time - early August.

7. Make plant labels:

While it's really still too cold to plant, this is a great time to make some really nice plant labels for permanent plantings and for vegetable beds. I recently discovered this technique, using aluminum tape.

Supplies: Polymer clay (optional), wire, wire cutters, aluminum tape, crochet hook, permanent pens (optional)

1. Form wire into a U-shape.

2. We decided to make giant clay peas to add to the top of our pea marker. (My grandson had fun pretend-eating these!) 

I rolled the peas and wrapped them around the wire, then baked the whole thing at 225º for 15 minutes.

3. Cut a piece of aluminum tape that will wrap all the way around the wire. Peel off the backing and wrap it.

4. Use a large crochet hook of a rounded stick to write the words into the aluminum...

then flip it over and write it again from the backside to make the letters pop forward.

5. Optional: Color around the words with a permanent marker.