Early May

Yesterday was May Day. No dancing around the May Pole here.

I was wearing red rather than white. In fact as I walked out of the house in my long loose red dress, red jacket and red Birkenstocks, I perhaps felt I was channeling the Hand Maid’s Tale. Well, not really; I wouldn’t qualify for a red dress in that world.

Impromptu photo at the church desk, my Friday AM volunteer duty. My sartorial decision making really revolved along the lines of “What is loose and comfy”. No makeup but loose dress, pretty colors and jewelry — that is my “I don’t feel so hot” default. My back was fairly sore last week. I ate too many carbs over the course of a weekend away, which may or may not have played a role in the back pain. None of it is major but I still lean toward comfort more than style.

Otherwise it has been a great couple of weeks, worth celebrating.

The garden is really shaping up nicely. I can see the basic foundations of what I have planned and this is a positive and hopeful thing. There are still weeds (as you can see in the back — thistles that I am pulling out and destroying) but the bones are good, and things I have planted in the past are thriving. I know there will be a penalty for letting the vetch run wild, but I love the pretty purple flowers. The very wildness of my garden makes me happy.

I over extended myself cleaning out the basement pantry, an unplanned , but necessary, event. I had some mice come in and Garbo got the scent. While I was working at my desk on the second floor, Garbo was in the basement chasing mice. She managed to knock containers and cambro bins of flour and miscellaneous dry goods onto the floor. She also killed two mice. I found them lying in a pile of cocoa and flour. Cocoa dusted field mice anyone? Garbo was up to her knees in a combination of cocoa and katsuobushi flakes, happily devouring the contents of a bin of coconut flour.

I did not appreciate her new boots; the combination of kasuobushi and cocoa is not a pleasant aroma. Garbo got dragged outside to get her legs washed before we proceeded to the vet. I had no idea if she’d eaten any of the cocoa but better safe than sorry. She got to spend the day vomiting; I got to clean up the pantry. Several hours and two vacuum bags full pantry staples and a trash bin full of broken plastic food storage containers later, we were reunited, and she was eager to go do it all again.

All that cleaning is apparently harder on the back than gardening, but now that it is all over, I can only laugh.

We had spent the previous weekend at a friend’s farm.

Garbo got to meet goats. She was not particularly impressed. She did love running around the farm though and thinks we should move to our own farm.

I loved sitting out on the porch, looking out at the fields and hills. There is a part of me that would love to live in the middle of nowhere, but I realize that is not a viable plan for me, alone, at this stage of my life. I was also reminded that I have a garden, a garden that I want to be a bit overstuffed and free, an oasis from the world. I can sit on my own porch and drink my morning coffee. I can watch the wildlife that finds haven in my weeds. Garbo can chase a rabbit or two.

A box of ramps also arrived just before I went out of town for the weekend. I had time to wash and chop up two pounds of ramps in order to turn them into jars to begin the fermentation process that would transform them into ramp kimchi. My kitchen has been filled with the funky oniony aroma of ramp kimchi ever since.

The remaining ramps were in the fridge and I finished them up on Sunday afternoon, turning them into a peppery tart/sweet ramp jam using a new recipe. The results were more like a sweet chutney than a jam, but I know I will use them all, and may explore the idea further next ramp season.