Autumn Gardening!

Gardening in the Autumn can be tricky in Northern California. Sometimes, the heat continues through October making it hard to pull out the tomatoes, peppers and basil. Other weeks, it is cool and crisp and feels like time to plant greens and root veggies.  Here we are back in early September, planning the garden plots after pulling out most of the summer veggies.

We select a garden plot each year to fill with a cover crop, like fava beans, to provide nutrients to the soil.  Hopefully, the beans and peas will grow up into our handmade tepees from branches that our neighbors cut down. Grow, little fava beans!

Adding sweet soil from the bottom of our compost pile helps revive the raised garden beds. Our compost pile is hidden by the fence near our meditation spiral.  The spiral is filled with new golden leaves each morning!  This is the view from our bedroom window each morning.

We have learned that certain crops just do not grow well from seed here, so we plant some seedlings -- broccoli, onions and cauliflower.  The garden gnome watches over our progress.

We are going to add some flowers for beauty and color to invite the elementals to stay! Sometimes, we do better planting in pots and barrels like this one, filled with celery, strawberries, pansies and nasturtiums.

Time to sing as we garden!

I dig, dig, dig

And plant some seeds

I rake, rake, rake

And pull some weeds

I bend and watch

And soon I know

My garden sprouts

And starts to grow!

Happy New Year

We are celebrating leaving 2010 and embracing 2011!

Out With the Old....

Cleaning up the yard and turning the compost pile 

 Finishing books that are partially read

Pulling out those "UFOs" (unfinished objects) to finish or recycle

Putting away holiday decorations (except these cute wood and felted snowmen from Daddy...we'll keep these out!)

In With the New....

Creating new crocheted and felted items for the Etsy shop

Blending aromatherapy sprays for the home and school

Designing the Summer garden and ordering organic seeds

Changing the nature table (pictures of the Three Kings to come!)


Have a Happy, Peaceful, Balanced, Joyous 2011!!

Gnomes at Home!

"The gnomes, particularly from autumn on and through the winter, in their wanderings through ore and rock, bear with them what has trickled down to them through the plants.  They are the beings within the earth which carry the ideas of the whole universe on their streaming, wandering journey through the earth."  -- Rudolf Steiner, Harmony of the Creative Word.

Gnomes have been visiting our home lately.  So lucky!

Wilson Gnome

Hat pattern is available in our Etsy shop.  It's Tunisian-crocheted and very easy to make!  Wilson loves to wear this hat during the cold mornings.

Joey Gnome

A variation on our hat pattern.  Joey and Mommy share this hat which features the Tunisian simple stitch and knit stitch.  This also makes a cute baby hat!

Garden Gnome

A gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  Haven't see any slugs eating the veggies since he arrived!  Our garden protector.

Morrie Gnome

Wilson's 8th grade buddy Morrie, at Davis Waldorf School, knitted this beautiful gnome and blanket for him.  Wilson named the gnome "Morrie".  She likes to watch Wilson knit on the couch.

A wonderful article on Biodynamic Gardening, gnomes and composting can be found in this month's Lilipoh magazine.  Hopefully the gnomes are enjoying our compost pile!

Singing to the Garden

Singing to our garden encourages growth and invites the elementals.  Singing is also soothing for us as we sow, water and tend to the needs of soil and plants.

We are building Winter gardens in a planter box and a barrel.  Asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, chard!

Our side yard gets the best sun, so we prepped an area with organic composts and biodynamic tea, while carving a geometric pattern around the birch tree.  We've heard that planting celery in a circle makes it grow well, so the circle row is for celery!  Radishes, beets, carrots, onions, kale, lettuces, chives, parsley.  And, some pansy seeds in-between for color. 

Now, what should we sing?  Sometimes we make up songs.  One of our favorites is a German song that we wrote about thanking the Earth.  We have movements that go with the song to help us remember our German vocabulary.

Danke fur die Erde
Danke fur die warme Sonne
Danke fur den Kletterbaum
Danke fur den Bach


Danke fur den Garten
Danke fur den kleiner Frosch
Danke fur die Schnecke
Danke fur mein Freund!

Edelweiss (alpine flower) from Sound of Music is another favorite...especially the part about "bloom and grow"!

Edelweiss, Edelweiss,

Every morning you greet me,
Small and White,
Clean and bright
You look happy to meet me.
Blossoms of snow may you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss Edelweiss
Bless my home land forever....


A Waldorf verse (we do this with movement, too)...
I dig, dig, dig
And plant some seeds
I rake, rake, rake
And pull some weeds
I wait and watch
And soon I know
My garden sprouts
And starts to grow!

What songs do you sing to your garden?

Spring Garden

Good-bye Winter garden!  Good-bye fava beans!

Roto-tilling the soil

Adding compost

Adding ladybugs

Planting Seeds

Dividing and transplanting strawberries

Photosythesis, Bugs, Tools, Parts of Plant in MLBs

Our favorite gardening book!

The Great Outdoors Challenge

Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes (one of our favorite blogs!) has a wonderful challenge posted about taking children out to explore nature in your own back yard each day! 

We have been taking walks in the garden and the creek this past week...both are in our backyard.

Each day we venture a bit further down the creek. 



One day the kids saw tiny fish swimming in the deep areas.

We love the shape of this old tree...the bark, and the holes in it!
Tomorrow, we are going to bring a trash bag with us and pick up any trash that we find. 

We know that this creek leads to the American River.  Perhaps we'll hike all of the way there someday soon!

Winter Garden - Part II

The garden has grown!  The freezing temps last week killed off the last of the summer plants (tomatoes, peppers).  The greens and root veggies are doing well!  Fresh salad greens,every day. 

We had to chase 10 wild turkeys out of the gardens the other day!  Silly turkeys....