July 19, 2009 - The Egg Fair

July 19, 2009 – The Egg Fair
I had mentioned earlier that being a woman in na urban area is not a big deal. I can perform the same tasks as any average man. However, after moving to a rural setting, I really miss strong muscles around me. I could easily be the brain.
Today I had to remount the compost pile under the sun and next to a fire. I came home famished and no woman to have fixed a meal for me. I looked around to find a sink full of dishes and fruit flies hovering over. Two washing machines working in their maximum power. I need to hang those clothes in a few minutes and collect others that are dry. Inside the house, bathroom floor covered with dirt, clothes to be folded and ironed, toys scattered around, lunch to be fixed, mother to be fed and cared for. Yet, I am thankful. Not only my visiting sister, her nine year old daughter, my almost eight year old girl, and my father went to an anual Egg Fair at nearby town. They are going to have lunch over there, while I have some hours of complete quietness in spite of tons of work.
I have walked around my vegetable garden and taken some notes. I have started digging for new raised beds. My plan is to cut down the few fruit trees left to transform the whole area in vegetable garden. I soon need to transplant some seedlings and have no place for them.
For the first time, I took some of the compost and incorporated to the soil. I will see the result of it.
Besides the obviously difficulty with a helping hand on heavy tasks, I don’t have easy access to manure. I need my father’s help to go get them. It tasks extra help, truck driving, hauling, and delivering. I can somewhat dig, but I cannot shovel for very long. I look forward in having my own cows so I can really have them.
I don’t miss weekends. I don’t get intimidated by having to work seven days a week and wake up before the sun. While everyone else have gone to the Egg Fair, I chose to be at home so I can keep working. Sowing, planting, watering, moving dirt around are very rewarding. After I learned to sync my spirit with nature, that means, being patient and waiting for the right moment, my garden is flourishing.
My first sowing was less than two months ago. I have already eaten all the radishes and methodically lessening the arugula. The little surprises continue. In the middle of marigold patch, beautiful lettuce is growing spontaneously. I find tomatoes vines with green fruits hanging. Spinach seedling that I thought lost appeared after several weeks. So far, this is how my garden looks like:
Of leafy vegetables: Purple chicory, arugula, lettuce, collard greens, spinach, mustard
Of vegetable roots: beets, carrots, radishes, daikon radish
Of culinary herbs: green onions, pearl onions, yellow onions, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, marjoram, sage, spearmint, peppermint, oregano, thyme, basil, purple basil, nasturtium
Of flowers: brocolli
Of fruits: tomatoes, green peppers, hot peppers, green beans, cucumber
Of medicinal herbs: absint, guaco, calendula, citronela, aloe vera, melissa,
Of fruit trees: too many of them to list
To walk around my garden is much more fun than visiting the Egg Farm, where the least thing we can find is the egg, and most things, cheap Chinese imitation good for sale.