Saturday, April 9, 2011

A Saturday in the Spring

Busy, busy, busy.  That would describe our day.  Jason worked on the leech field all day.  He leveled and leveled and leveled and then finally put down the drains.  They are all in place now and it looks great!  He's hoping to be ready for an inspection by next Saturday.




I was working on garden things all day long.  It was delightful!

All of the fixing for soil blocks.  Seed starting mix, a five gallon bucket and a seed tray.  I couldn't for the life of me find my soil blocker.  I must have looked for two hours today!  I searched the whole apartment and all of the other likely places I might have put it after using it last spring, but no luck.  Finally I took a little applesauce container that was in the trash at school and used it to make the soil blocks.  It worked.  It took a long time, but it worked.  

Here are the applesauce container soil blocks.  Not too bad looking. 

And the seeds waiting to be planted.  

And here they are: red cabbage, green cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, dill and cilantro, ready to go into the coldframe and grow!

Sitting next to those lovely onion seedlings is a flat of peas.  I'm trying  two different things with the garden this year:  1.)  I'm planting by the moon.  It's a method that's been used for ages and I'm going to give it a try.  I can't wait to see the results!  2.)  I'm starting a bunch of things in flats in the greenhouse rather than direct seeding.  I think it will give the little plants a head start and I think they might be more likely to overcome the slugs and other pests in the garden.  Plus I can hold off on planting until the ground has warmed up a bit, but not loose time.  We will see if it's worth it.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the thrill of garden plans and preparation!    


Friday, April 8, 2011

The Homefront

After a week of recovering from an injury, Jason is back to work on the house!  He is now working on the septic system.  It's looking great.

The hole for the septic tank. 

The septic tank and the drains for the leech field. 

Working on leveling the leech field. 

He has also been working on framing in more windows.



In the garden there is all sorts of excitement, too! 
Onion seedlings.  I'm hoping to transplant in two weeks, so I moved them out of their coldframe today and put them into the greenhouse to harden them off. 

Perennial scallions.  We ate some of these in our supper last night.  Delicious!

The garlic just sending up its first shoots.  Can you see the little shoot in the picture?

Looking like something from outer space, rhubarb!

A pleasant surprise--two of my grafting attempts made it!  Here is the first one I noticed. 

And here is the second one I noticed.  Now, don't ask me what kind of apple they will produce.  I was pretty convinced none of my grafting attempts would work last spring, so I didn't label any of them!  These will be a surprise when they begin to produce fruit in a few years.

Simple Gifts

I've been feeling a bit down lately.  Maybe it's the spring weather--chilly.  Maybe it's just spring--this change of year is typically difficult for me.  But today I find myself filled with gratitude after a long period of being down.  This is the gift that turned it around for me:  A smile.  Last night when I was saying goodbye to the last student out the door, she turned and gave me the sweetest smile.  She was opening the door, her backpack on her back, her babydoll in her arms, one hand on the door knob.  She turned over her should and said "Good night, Ms. Lindsay," and smiled.  That just made my day.  I chuckled to myself as I walked into my after-school meeting.

After realizing the gift I had received I began to realize all of the other gifts I had received during the day and the week.  My chickens.  They make me laugh every morning!  The other day they thought I was a rooster and came over and lined up to say hello.  It must have been my orange hat sitting on top of my head.  They even let me pet them!  So funny.  My seedlings growing in the greenhouse, the coldframes and the garden.  The onions are up and growing so tall!  They are almost touching the glass of the coldframes now.  I even moved them out of the coldframes into the greenhouse today.  It's time to begin hardening them off for transplanting in a week or two.  The garlic is up in the garden, poking up through the straw and seaweed that covered it during the winter, and the spinach, kale, arugula and parsley are all sprouting their second leaves.  My husband.  He sat with me on the couch last night and played rummy with me even though I was so cranky!  Tonight we are going for a ride to the beach to watch the sunset.  We'll have a couple of beers and then make some pizzas for dinner.  It will be a nice way to end the week, and I'll have even more to be grateful for.

I feel so much better today.  And it's all thanks to some very simple gifts.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Somthing I enjoyed lately...

In light of all the teacher bashing we have had to endure these last several months, I found this satisfying and interesting.  It made me think about what I make as a teacher.  
Taylor Mali
WHAT TEACHERS MAKE (OR, IF THINGS DON’T WORK OUT YOU CAN ALWAYS GO TO LAW SCHOOL)
He says the problem with teachers is
What’s a kid going to learn
from someone who decided his best option in life
was to become a teacher?

He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true
what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests
that it’s also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we’re eating, after all, and this is polite company.
I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor.
Be honest. What do you make?

And I wish he hadn’t done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy in my classroom
about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, then I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time
with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question, so put your hand down.
Why won’t I let you go to the bathroom?
Because you’re bored.
And you don’t really have to go to the bathroom, do you?

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
Hi. This is Mr. Mali. I hope I haven’t called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something your son said today.
To the biggest bully in the class, he said,
“Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are
and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder,
I make them question,
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over again until they will never misspell
either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math
and hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand if you’ve got this [brains],
then you follow this [heart],
and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this [the finger].
Here, let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
Teachers make a goddamn difference! Now what about you?
from Rattle #27, Summer 2007
Tribute to Slam Poetry

Now, I don't agree with every sentiment that Mr. Mali shared in this slam, but I appreciate the overall theme.  If I had to say what I make as a teacher, I would say relationships.  I would say that I make children know that I care about them.  I make them know that I will meet them where they are and that together we will get wherever they are going.  I make sure every possible door is open for my students when they leave my care.  I also make my students wonder and ask questions.  I make them think and analyze.  I make opportunities for them to create.  I make them express themselves with compassion.  I make them listen carefully and observe critically.  These are the things I work hard to make every day, and more.   I hope I make a difference.  That's why I went into this work in the first place.  Someone once said that teachers plant seeds and carefully tend to the growth of their charges.  Being a gardener, I like that analogy.  I just have to have the patience to see the final outcome and see just what a difference I may have made.  Luckily, I live in a community where I will have the gift of watching these children grown into adults--I will get the joy of seeing the bit of difference I made in their lives. 

Sometimes, in this political climate and at other times, too, it's difficult to remember what I make each day.  At these times it's good for me to remember how to count what I make.   Teaching in a K-8 school I count what I make by the kind words I hear the middle schoolers express to the first and second graders.  I count what I make by watching the older students care for the younger students when they fall and cut their knee on the playground.  I count what I make by the little pictures and cut out hearts I find on my desk at the end of the day.  I count what I make by the little smile I see when my students leave at the end of the day and say goodnight.  I count what I make by the good morning I am greeted with when my students walk in door in the morning and the high fives we share to celebrate their individual victories.  I count what I make in the joy that I experience when my students get it for the first time, when their eyes light up and a smile spreads across their faces from the excitement of learning something new.  When I count what I make in these ways, I realize I'm showered with blessings every day, and I have a difficult time imagining another job as blessed and important as this one.