An Urn of Rosemary, and Sunburned and Happy
I
potted up two large, bushy rosemary plants in the huge concrete urn by the side
of the house this weekend. It’s beginning to look like spring, and I see no
more frosts in the weather forecast. I’m willing to gamble on this rosemary,
especially since I have a large glass cloche to cover it if we do get a rogue
frost one night before June.
I love
rosemary. It has so many good uses, including as an excellent first aid,
antiseptic herb. I also use it in my hair as a last rinse after washing. Steep
fresh rosemary in boiling water for a couple of days, strain, and use. A few
sprigs of rosemary in roasted root vegetables is aromatic and delicious.
The
greens bed is taking off. I potted up one large lavender plant toward the back
of our house. Lavender is another one of my favorites. I have a recipe for
lavender shortbread that is amazing. Lavender also makes a fragrant hair rinse
for shiny hair. I love hanging bundles of lavender in the house: it fills the
air with a lovely, clean fragrance. Planting lavender by your garden entrance
is said to bring good luck to the house.
Soon,
I’ll have to get out and clean up and prep the flower garden at the front of
the house. It will also be time to plant sunflower, cosmos, and nasturtium
seeds there. I’m going to pull out the white rose, which never did well there,
and put it in the backyard, where it may make a comeback.
Sometimes,
a plant just doesn’t like the neighborhood you put it in, and something as
simple as a change of location is the solution. Bad news: it doesn’t look like
the gorgeous pink beach rose we picked up in Kennebunkport last summer survived
winter. That really makes me sad.
In a
month, we’ll be working the food garden. I’m so excited for that. My husband
said he will build that watermelon wall for me for my birthday. It’s going to
be a fun experiment that may change the way we grow melon.
Now
that the growing season is closing in, I’ll be blogging more about the gardens
and less about Buddhism. That changes in winter, when the garden sleeps. Feel
free to email me with gardening questions. Get your garden right from the start, and you’ll
enjoy fresh, wholesome, holistic food all summer.
Today,
I’m sunburned and happy. My husband and I took the boat out yesterday (Sunday),
and spent 5 hours on the water, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., the top sunburn
hours. The sun was strong and bright, and we both are really red and sore today.
Bad for the skin, yes, but good for the soul after a long winter. Everything
stings today, but you don’t hear me complaining.
Damah
Daya
Dāna 
