Seed stories, a new Lexicon, and an ode.

We’re planting a lot these days. It’s head spinning to think about how many hundreds of little, tender things have made their perilous journey, their exodus to the field.

Kale and collards, broccoli and celery, radishes and spinach, peas and lettuce. Jeremy is pretty pleased with the lettuces. There are 15 different varieties of lettuce. Head lettuce, and butterhead lettuce, and leaf lettuce. Green lettuce, and red lettuce, and green with pretty red spots lettuce. Some varieties were selected and carefully bred over seasons and seasons, and years and years, by a fellow in Oregon who really fancies delicious and beautiful lettuce. It’s fun to be growing seed attached to a story, a farmer, a place.

The fava beans are from farmer friends and mentors David and Loretta, who have a beautiful organic farm in La Mesilla, NM. Pretty much anything we know about what we’re doing around here, we gleaned from David and Loretta, two of the worlds’ most warm and generous people. The favas were some of the first we put in the ground over a month ago, now they’re getting all thick and leafy. Gorgeous. They are planted in the bed between the back field and home, where we have to walk by them several times a day.. seeing them in all their crazy green glory is a strong dose of confidence.

The marigolds we have that are riotously charging out of their little starter trays, fists in the air, demanding transplanting for all, are grandchildren to marigolds grown by dear friends and neighbors in Santa Fe – a couple who are reclaiming their urban property, nearly all outside space is being put into food production, save for the spot where they park the canoe.

We just put in a couple wildflower beds to serve as insectaries or biostrips. For the pollinators. And birds. ..and me. The seeds were broadcasted over the beds and lightly raked in along with happy thoughts and hopes that the seeds might get established before the birds and rabbits start in on them. There were maybe fifteen different types of seed, each collected on a walk somewhere, carefully collected and pocketed, tucked into a scrap of paper folded up and labeled “pink composite on the way to Babu’s”, “sweet pea from Skinnner’s Butte”, “Pamela’s zinnias”, “orange”.

And we’ve got a few fun types of corn waiting to go in the ground too. There is a black popcorn from friends who have a bean and grain CSA, Lonesome Whistle Farm in Eugene, OR and there is an ear of Taos Blue Corn given to us from a beekeeper friend at the Arco Iris Institute in Santa Fe, NM.

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I just recently checked out the Lexicon of Sustainability, and wanted to share. Those of you with TV may already be familiar as they are now showing films on PBS (everyone else: these are also available to watch online, so you’re still not missing anything). Neat project, fun photos, http://www.lexiconofsustainability.com/images/

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Lots of good things happening. I keep thinking at some point I really ought to share some of the woes. I mean, we don’t have woes. Not really. But we have flea beetles. And we need a new irrigation system. And a fence. And time.

Hiccups, that’s all. Mainly, it’s just good things happening.

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As another side note.. I started writing a song yesterday, an ode to Creeping Jenny. It’s to the tune of Jay Z’s song “Lucifer.” It goes like this: “Jennifer, Jennifer choking the garlic / I’m going to chase you out of earth.”  I’m working on some good lyrics, but they’re not all PG, so I’m not posting them on the interwebs. It’s catchy though. For certain.

Freedom of the seedlings.