Life’s busy right now and my time in the studio is sparse. I accepted a new job position last week, which means my days are filled with constant to-dos. I’m wrapping things up where I currently work as I’m preparing for my new role. In my down time I’ve been reading and gardening to relax myself. I recently finished A Year of Magical Thinking by the late and great Joan Didion. If you’ve experienced loss, I highly recommend this read. Grief is the guiding force behind my studio practice. Didion’s words opened up my soul and warmed it. Her grief echoed my own. I can still hear her voice in my head. It feels good to be reading consistently again. Up next: finishing Braiding SweetGrass by scientist and Indigenous author Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Besides preparing for my new job and reading, I’ve been eagerly developing my patio garden. The beginnings of this garden started nearly a year ago when Alex and I moved into our shared apartment. I spent the summer/fall of 2021 preparing my home on the inside but not on the outside. I started to visualize what I wanted my urban garden to be during the winter months. I knew come summer 2022, that I wanted to be growing things - things to eat and things to admire! Being connected to nature is so important to me, both mentally and physically. It feeds my soul, it keeps my hands busy and it fuels my creative practice. In the words of my father “there is nothing better than the taste of a home-grown tomato.”
I prepared the garden soil in late-April. I filled the planter boxes that I built in December, which were gifts from my parents with a mixture of soil and compost (from Bennett Compost). I started Brussels sprouts and cherry tomato seeds indoors, which are now outside. I directly sowed catnip, kale, lettuce, native Northeastern wildflowers and clover into my planter boxes. Throughout May, I planted established strawberries, peppermint, snap-dragons, a raspberry bush, marigolds, pansies and johnny-jump-ups, petunias, two kinds of pepper plants; French lavender, morning glories, basil, cilantro and rosemary. Over the weekend I added a butterfly bush to the collection, hoping to lure more pollinators to my garden.
In the evenings I put Pickle in his harness and we “go to the garden.” He bird/bug watches as I inspect my plants for new growth or pests. Shortly after I planted my raspberry bush, a tiny caterpillar nibbled holes in the majority of its leaves. While I was trying to figure out how to stop the little bug, I noticed a wasp hunting on the leaves one sunny afternoon. The wasp comes daily now and new raspberry leaves are sprouting. Nature is a wondrous thing. A few days ago at sunset, I painted my petunias from life with my black walnut ink, which are now part of Summertime Toad. It felt wonderful to be connected to the world around me. Every morning and every night, I tend to my plants and I thank them for what they’re doing. My soul feels so full.
The garden.
Pickle enjoying the plants.
My first morning glory bloom.