Berry Experience

 

Two days ago, when I went out to greet the rising Sun, I picked the first ripe strawberry of the season. I was still in my morning garb, coffee mug in hand, singing to the Sun and trees. I did not carry it inside to wait until breakfast, I did not run to get my camera... I ate it, right there in the garden, beneath the brilliant morning Sun, as the birds sang their wakeup songs.

It was gloriously delicious. 

The best way to eat food is while standing in the garden. The best way to experience life is face-to-face, not through a camera lens. The best way to experience the garden is barefoot. (The above photo was taken later in the day, just so I'd have one for this post.)

Today I picked many more ripened strawberries, enough for breakfast today and tomorrow. They were magnificent.

I hope to have many more such experiences in future years, wherever we finally settle. Food you've grown eaten right away in the garden is the best way to experience food. Berries, apples, tomatoes... still warm from the sun. These are the sweetest. When harvesting sugar snap peas, I eat many right off the vine, at their freshest. The sweetest. It also brings back memories of when my siblings and I would sit in the garden picking peas, opening the pods, and eating them right there. We were happy. Mom was happy because she didn't have to shell the peas.

About 10 years ago, when three of our grandchildren spent the weekend with us, I took them to the garden to pick blueberries. They had fun, and so did I. When we were done, the oldest one said, "This was the most fun, ever!"

Give your children/grandchildren the experience of eating food right from the garden. Just wipe off the dirt and let them eat it. The microorganisms are good for their bellies. And feed the child in you  by having "the most fun ever" picking fresh food and eating it.

Food and fun go together hand in hand.

Sitting

 About 20 years ago I built a garden bench from small pallets, painted it and put a couple of floor tiles on the seat so I could sit in my garden. I was in a different space then, and could take time to sit in the garden once in a while. 

After I moved to Spirit Bird Farm, its home was our front porch and it largely served as a place for potted plants. A few years ago my husband decided he didn't like it there and moved it away. It found a spot in my strawberry patch, where I was hoping to create a tea-sipping, and meditation spot next to the little peach tree. 

But, as it happens when one is busy with growing and preserving food and taking care of all the other small farm tasks, the project did not quite happen. 

So the bench sat unused and is now overcome with cleavers (aka bedstraw).

When you are busy busy busy, sitting in the garden doesn't happen often if ever. 

Once we have moved this summer and are settled in to some other spot, whether temporarily or permanently, I hope the downsizing allows me more time for sitting, meditating and writing this blog.

I still plan to do a large garden and grow a lot of food, but without the extraneous farm tasks.

Take heed of this... Always make time to just sit in the garden. Always make time for a little rest, a little quiet, a little stillness.

Right now, my morning practice involves going into the garden before breakfast (yes, barefoot) at all times of the year, and simply commune with the life there, synch with nature's cycles, and gaze upon it all. It sets the tone for my day. Sometimes I do sit, but usually I walk through and sing to the garden and all of life. My meditation, my still time.

Yesterday was May Day, Beltaine, the day to celebrate life. Today is my birthday and I am focused on release and rebirth, welcoming new life with open arms.