MY MENTAL LIST OF THINGS

Lists are helpful, even if they are only in my head. Some things I just can’t do like writing them down. So what was on my mental list today? Seeding my greens in the greenhouse. November will give them a month to get establish once germinated. And what better timing now that we have a mild four days. A time crunch gives me that incentative to get it done. That took priority over lunch dishes this afternoon. Now the planters of greens are seeded, watered and under row covers for the night. The temperature this afternoon was 80 degrees fahrenheit but who knows what it will do overnight. Will have to check and note what it is first thing in the morning.

Getting the greens seeded was my main concern. The greenhouse still needs a door and raised beds. They are in the making. We will be all closed in for the winter. Other things like the rock wall for heat retention can wait.

I’m in the after supper time. I’m tapping, recording my day. It helps to track my growing endeavours – what and when I plant and how they do. I have a garden journal but I forget to write in it. This makes me more conscientious and accountable. It keeps me walking my talk. I almost cancelled my walk this afternoon. But I didn’t. Fatigue can always be an excuse. I got up off the couch, put on my coat and shoes and walked. It was actually more restful than resting. Lesson learned.

Now I’m done for the day. Tomorrow is another day.

WHAT NOW, THE DAY AFTER

What Now, The Day After

November 1, a new month, the day after completing all 31 days of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. What do I do now, rest on my laurels? I’ve decided to blog on. I brush my teeth every morning and evening. Writing is another thing in my self care tool box. It is effective. I shall keep it. Besides, someone mentioned that it is NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month. It’s writing a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November. I had high hopes of writing one ever since high school. I gave NaNoWriMo a go or two. The first time I had a few chapters of 7,358 words. The second time 300 words. I still have the files on my desktop.

I didn’t know how hard words are to come by till I tried. I’m not aiming for a novel or 50,000 words. I haven’t lived up to the name of this blog yet – a thousand and two (words) , my daily goal. My goal for this November is to write each day concentrating on the progress of our greenhouse and food growing. But who knows where I will meander. Like Caroline Myss often says, this is an amazing time in history. I have to perk up, pay attention and make notes on EVERYTHING. And maybe, after this month, I can write that novel.

I had aimed to have fresh greens from our raised beds till end of October. I gave up too soon in the 3rd week in a cold snap. Had I left the crop covers on, the spinach and kale would be fine. And maybe the lettuce and Chinese greens, too. I harvested them, not wanting to lose all. But I see that the ends are still green and alive in this bit of warm spell. I shalt cry over spilt greens. I shall grow more. The herb spiral still looks pretty good, too. The basil, of course, bit the dust, but the lavender, thyme and oregano seems ok. I have them in pots inside just in case.

Our greenhouse is almost finished – 4 walls, roof, vents all closed up. Just missing a door. It’s pretty snug and warm on a sunny day. We’re been mostly lucky with the weather building it.There were a few cold days but it’s warmed up for the finishing stretch. I took this opportunity to fill a few planters with top soil to warm up inside to ready for seeding. It looks like we will have 4 days of warm weather before it dips again to daytime minus temperatures. I hope that’s enough time to help them germinate. It’s a grand adventure. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.