Retreat for Tying Loose Ends

Today I have nothing on my calendar: A free day to catch up with my garden, my earth care projects, and house tasks. It's a joy to finish things I've started!

Agenda:

1. Devotions

2. Beingness 

3. Earth Action

4. Planting

1. Devotions: 

I'm reading from two lovely books: Living Earth Devotional, by Clea Dana (2013), and Earth Medicine, by Jamie Sams (1994).

Today Living Earth talks about healthy soil, and a ritual of blessing the soil, and thanking it for nourishing us.

2. Beingness:

For Lent I am finding creative ways to make space for Being in Nature. Today: Take a walk to find signs of spring.

3. Earth Action:

Each day I am taking an action for the Earth - Today it is finishing my Earthcare Action agenda, a draft of a Clean Water poster, and a plant list.

4. Planting:

It's about 8 weeks before our last spring frost, so I'll start leeks, bok choy, and collards indoors today, and also some snapdragons!

Collards (Brassica oleracea) is also a member of the mustard family, and is one of the most cold tolerant plants of all; they are better planted in the fall, but I'm going to start just one row in my planting box. In the spring, you can set out plants 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost - so, early April; in late summer, plant 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost for fall and winter harvests.

Bok choy (Brassica rapa) is also a member of the mustard family, and is native to China, specifically the Yangtze River Delta area, where it was likely bred from native wild brassica species growing in the area around 3,500 years ago. It's a cool-weather crop that you can plant in the early spring and again in the fall.

Bok choy is vulnerable to lots of pests: aphids, cabbage worms and root maggots, flea beetles, slugs and whiteflies. Planting near onions can help deter cabbage maggots, and rosemary, sage, thyme, coriander or nasturtiums will help keep flea beetles and aphids away. Definitely do not plant them near other Brassicas because they are all susceptible to the same harmful insects. In fact, I try to scatter my bok choy here and there in the garden, so it will be less likely to attract insects and worms.

Leeks (Allium porrum) are a cultivar of the broadleaf wild leek, a cousin of the onion, and a member of the lily family. Leeks originated in Central Asia, and were on the menu of the ancient Egyptians. 

I'm going to plant leeks in clump at the end of my planting box, thin seedlings to 1⁄2” apart, and trim to 3” tall for thicker plants. When they are pencil-thick, in late May, I will plant them into the bottom of a 5‐7” deep and wide trench, 4‐5” apart. Begin blanching as plants grow and thicken by piling soil or straw around the leeks inside the trench. This practice keeps the bottom of the leeks white and tender.