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BACKYARD MAMA.

 

Color Galore

Good Morning, Happy Monday.

In my extra hour this weekend, I took some time to appreciate the colors. I am in total awe of how radiant the woods near my house look.  The red, orange and yellow leaves contrast so spectacularly against the green pine trees.

One day last week when I was busily rushing home I just look out the car window to see all these colors and all this beauty.

It will be gone soon.  Here’s out pond, many of the leaves have already fallen, reveling the grey branches beneath.

Today I strive to rake the biggest, funnest leaf pile ever!  And will post back here about it just as soon as possible.

 

I’ve recently contributed to 5 Minutes for Going Green. Check out my post on Halloween and another on woodstoves!

Check back here tomorrow of a wonderful fall story.

Thanks!

Standing on Solid Ground

I have just returned from my  children’s yoga teacher training.  It was fabulous. This weekend focused on a Body-Mind Centering approach to anatomy. 

I am astonished at all that goes into movement and the human body.  So starting, literally, from the ground up, I want to share some thoughts about feet.

Recently, I was on a jaunt in the woods and I noticed the beauty of the earth beneath my feet.

The pine cones, pine needles, leaves, sticks, and stones, all crunched as I stepped across them. I noticed the forgiveness of the earth as it bounced back after each step.

In some places, the moss-covered the ground with sweet softness and acted as a gentle cushion.

Branches, stumps, rotting fallen trees served as little obstacles to negotiate.

My feet held me up, confidently no matter what the terrain. As an aspiring yoga teacher I got to thinking about doing yoga in the pine trees and how different the experience would be to doing yoga on the wooden floor of a studio.

This weekend I revisited these thoughts as I learned about the feet, which are uniquely designed to navigated these irregular surfaces. So different then the hard concrete or wooden floors on which we usually walk or stand.

Standing upright with strength on any surface is as natural for our bodies, and especially our feet, as breathing.

How is it for you to stand strongly despite the uneven surfaces of life?

Free as a Bird

In May 2008, I made a $32.00 investiment in 8 chicks; six chickens and two roosters. At first they lived in a plastic container in the living room with a heat lamp; there was a constant peeping chicks in the house. Then we moved them to the basement and into a plastic kiddy pool given to us by Erin (who was my biggest cheerleader through this process).

When the chicks became birdies flying around the basement, we moved them outside to this lovely A-frame chicken tractor my dear husband built for me. Feeding the chickens became one of our morning family chores. (I have since lost the plans for this chicken tractor, and would modify it to include wheels and an extended chicken run).

In November of 2008, they laid their first eggs. I remember feeling that this chicken business was really faith in action; for six months we fed these animals, with total confidence that they would produce for us; and then they did!

Here’s the J-man as a very happy chicken farmer.

I had always dreamed of chickens roaming the yard free as birds; however our chicken tractor seemed more practical because we live near a pond where foxes and other predators abound; last week I decided to run the risk of loosing a few chickens and now they are scavenging freely in our backyard.

I enjoy looking out the window watching as they peck away at the ground and run after bugs flying by; it is a pleasure to hear them scratching in the woods or running for cover when hawks fly by. We do run the risk of loosing them, I’d miss ‘em too, but at some point their happiness is important too.

As a mother, I am constantly weighing the risks; do I let him climb that high? Can he check the mail alone? What if he cuts himself with the scissors or falls over on the shovel?

I like taking risks, it’s terrifying in some ways, but I’d prefer to live free as a bird then cooped up in a fearful mind. So I let my chickens and my son take risks too.

How do you free yourself from fear?  What have you been keeping cooped up that might benefit from some free-ranging?

Rainy Day Baking with Grandma

Sunday was a rainy, yucky, fall day that was perfect for a yoga adventure. It wasn’t too difficult to find excited grandparents for a couple hours of care, and Jeremiah ended up learning new baking skills in the processes. Lucky guy; the cookies were delicious!

I thoroughly enjoyed a kundalini yoga class and was renewed and rejuvenated!

Worms, Worms, Worms

One of my favorite blogs Steady Mom, has “put out there” a 30 minute challenge for us mommy bloggers; here’s my post.

Timer’s set and here I go:

Earth worms are some of the garden’s most handy helpers. Last year for my birthday my mother set me up with a wonderful worm compost bin for in my kitchen, about a month ago I cleaned out the old castings and started over with kitchen scraps, newspaper, and peat moss.  This post is designed to guide my readers towards making a worm composter of your own.

First, get a 5 gallon plastic tub.  Fill it 2/3rd full of peat moss, newspaper ripped in 1 inch strips and a couple handfuls of dirt. Add fresh kitchen scraps, ideally vegetables and fruits, but some grains are great too, no dairy or meat please!  Then add about a half pound of red wiggler worms. Mix it up… continue to add kitchen scraps, let the worms chew ‘em up and poop out castings!  This is a delicious cocktail for house plants, seedlings, seed starter, or the garden.

These healthy red wigglers came right out of our garden and the children put them into the bin.

Worm compost bins are fun and educational for children, and the castings are a  great treat for the garden.

Off to cuddle my toddler!

Five Materials that Encourage Creativity and Outside Play

Natural play areas are some of the best ways to stimulate the creativity and imagination of children. Here’s a list of things that can be used playfully by young children:

1. Sand- in a sandbox or in a pile. The best sand comes from the ocean, but any will work wonders on children.  Shoe box size plastic containers can be stored in the house for rainy day play or dinner prep play. Hide wonderful shells, stones,  and wooden treasures to find while digging!
2. Water- (obviously not outside in cold weather), buckets of water, water baloons, or a wadding pool. I’ve seen children squealing with delight on the streets of NYC when a fire hydrant is left on for their enjoyment during the summer.  When Jeremiah was little I’d put his high chair on a towel, and give him some yogurt containers of water with a little dish soap (just to make some bubbles) and he’d play away while I cooked dinner. ( I’d get my floor washed to boot!)
3. Stumps- for outside play (or sometimes inside too) tree stumps for sitting on and climbing on, having tea parties or rolling like street pavers.  Cutting a stump in half with a board over the top could be a bus or a bench or a horse! Make stump stairs that climb up then back down for adventurous preschoolers. Don’t have a lot of room for an outside play area? Just one stump can be used in so many ways (I like pine stumps about 1.5 ft in diameter, cut to different heights).
4. Fallen trees- logs are wonderful beginning balance beams (the texture of the bark is rough if the kids fall, but also helps them have a good grip).  My son enjoys climbing up and down fallen trees; I take some care to check for bees or rotten wood, bugs or insects that might hurt him. These can also be horses for riding, or a school bus, or whatever works in the moment!
5. Straw bales- for climbing, jumping, creating houses or tea parties. A few bales can be great, but even just one is a way to encourage creativity and imagination.

Yesterday I looked out my back window only to see the straw mulch that I have for the garden strown across the backyard.  When I asked my son what he was using it for he told me; “Mom, I’m building a chimney.” (With the intonation of “da, why can’t you see lady”).

Guess my son might grow up to build straw bale houses? That doesn’t really matter right now, what does is that he had a great idea and a great experience and although I hadn’t intended for my mulch to be his toy, how could he resist such pleasure?

What do your children play with that comes from nature and encourages creativity?

Afternoon fun with Nana

This afternoon my mom came over to hang out with the kids and me.  We played outside on the swing set, the boys dug holes in the children’s garden, and everyone took turns on the tire swing.  Then our friends went home and Nana had a brilliant idea: an evening kayak ride on our little pond!

 So the troopers: Jeremiah and Nana, set off; I followed with my camera. It’s chilly here so I am very proud of both of them for their enthusiasm. Here they are:

I love the picture below because of the reflection of the leaves in the water and the little wake that mom has created with her paddling strength.

It’s so awesome that Jeremiah gets to grow up close to nature.

 

Thinking of Spring

photo by Jacek Pobłocki

As a little girl, I used to help my mom divide and replant bulbs each Fall. It was so fun, and come Spring our garden was colorful and fresh with new growth.  Over the weekend, I purchased a bunch of  bulbs to start the tradition all over again… I am so excited to get outside in the dirt later today (after the sun warms things up ’round here) and plant some beauty.

I purchased a variety of bulbs including daffodils and tulips, red, purple yellow, and white.  Not only will these bulbs be a wonderful addition to our garden, they will also offer the chance for fresh cut flowers in the Spring.

These are the companies I have purchased my bulbs from; there are lots out there, check the local feed store or garden store or you can order them online:

• Van Bourgondien Dutch Bulbs and Perennials Since 1893 
• Netherland Bulb Company Wholesale suppliers for garden centers

To plant bulbs:

1. Dig a shallow hole or trench (5″ for daffodils; 2.5″ for tulips; generally bigger bulbs plant deeper than smaller bulbs).
2. Set bulb(s) in the hole, pointy side up.
3. Cover with soil and mulch, then water thoroughly.

Soon the crocus’ will be bursting through the snow showing us that Spring is on the way!