Creative Fire

Creativity is a way of thinking and being: A creative mind is relaxed, expansive, and spontaneous. When I am open to creativity and inspiration, I can see original answers to any question. The childlike qualities of joy and curiosity support my innovative, creative spirit. 

I use my creativity to make things, and express myself, and also to solve problems. My mission is to use my creative fire to heal our connections to nature; I use every skill I have: Creative gardening, preservation, crafting, writing, and painting. Sometimes I share a craft that can I teach others (craftivism), and sometimes it's artwork that I can hang on the wall. Often it's more of an every day art, like making pickles, or saving seeds ... these practices require as much skill.

 Here's my prayer:

I call on the Creator of all life to be with me, and bless me. And I ask Nature to guide me, give me images, and insight, as I seek to heal myself, my community, and the Earth.  

Agenda:
1. Read "The Creativity Book"
2. Simple project list

3. May garden tasks

4. May planting

5. Creative Visualization

1. Read 

"The Creativity Book":

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that?

I'm starting Part 7: Connect, and the first topic is to Go Out - take my creativity out in to the world to practice in public. "People need to see the creative process in action. When you create in the world you serve yourself but you also remind others what creativity looks like..."

2. Simple project list:

• S: Design an earth stencil and prep supplies
• S: Cut an earth stencil and print a sample to take to Meeting
• M: Watercolor abstracts
• T: Rainbow art at Nearby Nature                             
• W: Make a card for Aldo                 
• Th: Paint butterflies in bathroom
• S: Prepare for poster-making

3. May garden tasks:

The May garden is exciting but demanding. Watering is crucial, and harvesting begins in earnest. We are having some warm and dry days, interspersed with wet spring days - a nice mix.

I use the Second Breakfast Garden monthly guides, because they are in zone 8b.

1. Harvesting: I'm harvesting beets, rhubarb, lettuce, and herbs. My rosemary, thyme, sage, and mint are in their full glory, and it's time to harvest them and hang bunches to dry. As soon as they go to flower their flavor won’t be quite as nice. 
2. Set up hoses: When it gets dry I need to get my soaker hoses out and plan a layout.
3. Cool season crops (greens, peas, beets, kale, etc.) might need nitrogen during this period of rapid growth - watch for yellowing of the older leaves, because nitrogen is a mobile nutrient and the plant will draw nitrogen from older leaves to support the younger ones. Use a nitrogen rich, liquid fertilizer which is easily taken up and put to use.
4. Warm season crops: I've been hardening these (pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers)  to set out anytime after Mother's Day. When planting cucurbits (melons, cucumbers, squash) don’t break up pot-bound roots. These plants have many delicate root hairs and don’t recover well from root disturbance. 
5. Slug and snail proaction: Here in my valley you have to have a plan or you will loose everything. I remember the goal is to bring snail numbers down, not total eradication: I collect all of the leftover mulch and put it into the compost, and then sprinkle Sluggo sparingly, about 1 pellet every six or so inches. This week I'll need to protect my strawberries and new tomatoes.

Pest Control Philosophy at SBG: "My first step, is invariably to wait and see. Many pest species are a primary food source for other wildlife. They just need a minute to move in and solve my problems for me. If I must intervene, hygiene, flinging, and spraying with water is about as aggressive as my pest control measures get. If that fails and a chemical control (the synthetic and toxic kind) is necessary, then I shrug it off and leave it to fend for itself. I don’t see the logic in spending money to risk my health, and the health of the ecosystem to grow something I can do without."

4. May planting:

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) grew wild hundreds of years ago wild in the Andes of western South America. The indigenous people cultivated them, eventually bringing the plant northward through Central America and into Mexico. When the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they found the inhabitants growing a food crop called "tomatl" in the native language.

Tomato is a nightshade plant, so avoid planting with other nightshades such as peppers, eggplants, and potatoes, as they are prone to many of the same pests and diseases. In fact, avoid planting nightshade vegetables in the same bed for three years if possible. Members of the brassica family will inhibit tomato growth.

• Space plants 18 - 36 inches apart. Give indeterminate varieties more room.
• Dig a trench, remove all but the top 5-7 leaves and plant horizontally. The plant will grow new roots from the stem to create a hardier and happier tomato plant.
• Be sure to keep them moist but not waterlogged; erratic watering causes the fruit to split and encourages blossom end rot.
• Also, remember to prune the suckers (branches that grow out of the joint of other branches) on my indeterminant tomatoes

Peppers, belonging to the genus Capsicum, are native to the Americas, particularly Central and South America. Evidence suggests cultivation and domestication began in Mesoamerica as early as 6000 years ago. Peppers are a nightshade like tomatoes, and experts say to plant them in a different bed to give them some space from the bugs that both attract. And put them in the front of the bed, where they will not be shaded.

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) probably originated in India at least 3000 years ago, and are usually classified as either pickling or slicing varieties, but many varieties can be used as both. Excellent cucumber companion plants include: Legumes; root vegetables, including onions; sunflowers (can be natural trellises for climbing cucumber vines, plus sunflowers are pollinator superheroes, and can increase cucumber yields, dill (many enthusiasts swear by dill for improving the flavor of cucumbers), and garlic (can promote cucumber growth and decrease the chances of plants developing fusarium wilt by affecting the soil microbiome structure.

Do not plant cucumbers near to potatoes, sage, mint, melons or fennel.

• Plant cucumbers in hills, four plants to a hill, with hills 4-6 feet apart. They can be grown on a trellis.
• Don’t break up pot bound roots. Ever so gently place them in the soil and water them in well with lukewarm water. These plants have many delicate root hairs and rarely recover from root disturbance. 
• This family is oh so delicate. They need rich soil that is then fertilized when the plants are still young and upright. They want morning sun, plenty of heat, but protection from the intense afternoon sun. 
• Cucumbers require lots of water, but are very susceptible to root rot when young; water in the morning. 
• They are attractive to pests, and susceptible to powdery mildew.
• Once vines have reached 4 feet, the size of the vine can be controlled and fruiting encouraged by pinching off the fuzzy growing tip. 
• Cucumbers should be harvested as soon as they reach the recommended size - the sweet taste of cucumbers occurs only when they have just ripened, and they will soon get bitter.

It's also time to thin my leek seedlings to 1/2-inch apart and trim to 3-inches tall

5. Creative visualization:

Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. I often use it to help bring my goals into fruition, and today I want to tap it to create a vision of my creative spirit on fire. 

I'm going to sit outside to practice these three steps:

• First, center and relax each part of my body; count from 10 to 1, then open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Second, create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of exactly how it looks and feels to be a creative spirit on fire - and put as much positive energy into the image as possible. 
• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense; for example, "I am a creative spirit on fire".

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (or it's just a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.