Nature's providence

Thought I'd get a job I'd been interviewing for. Found out today that this is just another job, in a series of jobs, that is strangely beyond my grasp.

But on to nature's providence.

First, I'm listening to Promontory off the soundtrack to Last of the Mohicans. 

I hope there are moments where you can stop and breathe quietly, taking in the world and its magnificence. If you find yourself wondering what I mean, try this:

*Step outside. Yes, you can do this now.
*No matter where you are standing, you should be able to look up and see the sky.
*What is between you and that vast swath of multi-layered gases up there? Can you feel any wind? Do you know how that wind is made? Do you understand the complexity of the air you are breathing, the interplay between the sun's heat, gravity and the atmosphere and our planet's gravity?
*If you can feel wind, think about skin. The sensations you can feel: smooth, cold, soft, rough, dry, wet, and so on.
*What do you hear? Cars? Birds? Wind murmuring through leaves?
*Atmosphere, wind, skin, gravity, heat. Waves of light, sound, and sensation. The marvelous complexity of a single moment.
*Not such a simple moment anymore.

This is creation: the organization of potential into the knowledge of a moment and a place.

Your garden, lawn and other areas of your stewardship provide opportunities for creation.

Today, I wanted to write a bit about chickens and another area where our labors provide for us.

Here are some chickens:

We have seven chickens. Annemarie, my wife, could tell you what type they are; she provides the majority of their care. I'll spend more time another day discussing what has gone into the getting and raising of these hens, but today I'll just say that they have a good life and we get from three to six eggs a day from them. We have learned a lot from them and they will probably pay for themselves in another six months.

There is something that feels more complete inside when you watch your kids interacting with chickens as the chickens eat pests and weeds. There is something miraculous about a little girl who has a terrible phobia of animals who, when her family raises four chickens from chick to hen, completely and naturally overcomes that phobia. In my heart, these chickens have paid for themselves because my daughter plays with them, cats, dogs and recently had a pet earthworm.

I had an assistant this morning with the chickens. He put on his rubber boots before heading out to the messy coop:

At the coop, he went right to the laying boxes and poked through all of them:

He found one:

I love my assistant.

Nature provides so much, if we open our lives to it. There is work, much of it repetitive and mundane, but in the very banality of that work are the moments of connection. Connection to creation, to firmament and to life.

Last year we planted two very young fruit trees.

Here is the peach tree:

The cage around it is a tomato cage surrounded by chicken wire. I put this on because in fall of last year, we had deer essentially stripping it down past its bark. I wanted my tree to live, so this has been its protection. It's looking good. The cage will come off soon.

Here's the pear tree:

It's smaller, but it's doing well so far.

We also have a raspberry bush, still quite young but doing well:

All three fruitful trees/bushes set us back less than fifty bucks total. The fruit, work and connections they will provide are worth far more than that half-benjamin.

It's a great time to put in a fruit tree or bush. I'll discuss how that can be done tomorrow. There is a particular art to it.

My friends, I hope your day is filled with moments of peace and happiness. I also hope you will pass this site along to your friends, family and enemies. If you're enjoying it, so will they.

Until tomorrow.

Progress report on the lawn

Okay. Part of having a provident garden is being aware of the earth, soil, elements and everything else that might be a part of the ecosystem we are working in. This planet is providing us with the food and other necessities that we have and it is sheer selfish ignorance to not think to the future as we work today.

This is about stewardship, not global warming, so back off Mr. Gore.

I mention this because you might be tempted to call a lawn care company to come in and kill all of the weeds in your garden. Or you might be tempted to get a few packages of chemicals with which to kill weeds and fertilize your lawn.

I believe that we are better stewards when we use the principles of nature to make our lawns look lovely. A lovely lawn is also healthy for us-- it produces loads of oxygen. In fact, a lawn that is 50 feet by 50 feet produces enough oxygen for a family of four. Grass is a very efficient producer of oxygen due to the fact that a plant produces oxygen based on how much of the plant is green. So for a tree, it is the green leaves that do the delicious deed while the trunk does not. For grass, it is the entire blade that makes oxygen.

All of this while reducing carbon dioxide and other bad gases.

I'm not saying grass is better than a tree or two, but healthy, thick, lush grass is very good for your family--better than patchy, struggling grass. And adding chemicals to make a lawn healthier is essentially an oxymoron-- add toxic stuff to reduce toxic stuff.

Meh.

So all this is said to encourage organic and chemical-free lawn care as you make your yard yummy.

Behold:

and behold again:

If you compare this to two weeks previous, before I de-thatched, mowed, reseeded and watered regularly:

...you can see that there is some improvement. Yes, the light is different, but the grass is already a little thicker and has a more vibrant color.

Look at the detail. Here is the before detail shot:

and here is the one from two weeks later:

See how the brown patches are disappearing and how the grass is thickening?

No chemicals.

Remember that I first raked this-- which was plenty of work, don't get me wrong.

But remember that I had this assistant:

... so it was made better by how charming little Mr. B. can be.

After raking, I mowed to pick up more debris and get the soil more ready. Then I reseeded with straight seed-- no additives. Since then, I have kept the soil moist by watering a little in the morning and a little in the evening. We also had some rain-which helped.

I won't mow for at least one more week. That will give the seed time to sprout and establish itself better.

I feel great when I see my improving lawn. I feel a deep sense of satisfaction that I have wrought this lovely work of art in partnership with nature-- not opposing it with chemicals and the like. I feel more connected to the earth and the world around me when I water my lawn, standing in the presence of the Wasatch Mountains.

I even get to say hi to the multitude of joggers that pass by while I'm out front.

Provo is replete with joggers. One morning, during my ride to work- which is about a 2 mile, fifteen minute bike ride up a lame hill- I counted over twenty joggers.

Tomorrow, we will talk sustenance. Real sustenance from this land. Specifically: chickens and fruit trees.

Remember to share with your friends, family and enemies!