Seeds are not meant to stay in the earth.

There's that bursting through the ground that seedlings do.  I find it so miraculous to see. It is similar to a child breaking the protective barriers of childhood. It is a time when the seedlings break through the earth to become plants.

No longer needing the cover of darkness and warmth inside Mother Earth, now they need the sun. The outside world has much to give the seedling, but they need the right conditions to make them strong and harden them off without killing them or giving them a fungus that will kill them.

The seeds sown in the earth grow from the warmth and darkness of the earth to become strong enough to create their own gifts and give them to the world. Mother earth does not cry with this separation or individuation. It is the cycle of life.

The lesson in this? Let go enough to let your seed become strong in who they are.  What you will realize is that as they give their gifts to the world they may return with seeds of their own. And the cycle will continue.

A seed is not meant to stay only in the earth. If it does, it will shrivel and die.

And that my friends, is not hip at all.

 

It's not spring any more

No, it's not spring any more. It's winter and I took a break from writing and had a hip sabbatical. And now, I think I'm back!

But worry not fellow hip urban farmers, I have more hip urban farmer inspirations. Just in time for the season where it is so cold that we snuggle up in blankets with our seed catalogs and dream about the next harvest to come. For now, enjoy the holiday feasts. 

This week on the urban farm. . .

I love this time of year. It's so full of potential. What could every urban area look like if we changed how we think and feel! Beauty could be everywhere!

So out on the farm. . .

I was out in the fields of raised beds this morning. Got my pitchfork out.

 Oh my beloved pitchfork! Tines piercing the ground, push and lift and turn over the dirt. 

Yeah. I love that pitch fork.

Also talked to the seedlings today. Told 'em they don't know nothin' about the outside, but it's time to learn. Those seedlings shivered in the sun on the deck, while I mowed the lawn. Yep, time to get them hardened off. They gotta get strong!

Ah, so much work to do on the farm. . . . .


Yeah, it is hip.

It's an intense crop

Why I can only be a hip urban farmer. .

I'm way to attached to every plant. And that's it.

Who's been in the dirt?

Finally, I have a day off and I won't waste it, I think. Do I go to the gym or to the hardware store?

That old bookcase raised bed finally died. No time to mourn its frugal loss. If I'm working I might as well allow myself the guilty pleasure of purchasing another raised bed.

Guilty pleasure indeed.

Ah, the gym, it's right near the hardware store. Do I jog for thirty minutes at the gym or do I go whole hog and get to the hardware store in my dirt encrusted overalls?

Hmmmmmmm. . . .