Inspiration

It's time to be more. It's way past time really but I'm trying not to think about that. All things happen for a reason I firmly believe it. Yet, there are days when I wonder why I've put off things that I know I should be doing. I believe there's a reason, even if I don't know what that reason is.

Well, today is the new now. Its time to become inspired. Not just inspired, but inspiring! Today, and I mean right now. Things are changing and will only get better.

I've decided to start up my old garden consultation business, right here in good ol' Portland. Which also means I'll be putting more blog posts about what you (yes you) can do in your garden on a regular basis. Doesn't mean I won't post other things that affect my daily life, but gardening is my focus these days so why not post more?

What's inspired me? Growing tomatoes, blueberries and basil actually. And being excited that maybe by next summer I'll have bees! More on that later but first.. to business.

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About me:
I've always been a gardener. Even as a kid I worked in gardens for my grandparents, even if I didn't understand what I was doing. As I grew, I found myself gardening anywhere I could. Whether in a windowsill of my first apartment or on the side of the garage growing tomatoes in pots. I've always been a huge advocate for growing a portion of your food. For years I ran my own landscape design and garden consultation company. Then I put that on hold to go back to the tech industry, for awhile.

About my services:
I specialize in natives, organic veggie gardens, identifying soil and irrigation issues along with some permaculture and sustainability suggestions.

I'll be working on a proper site here soon, with details on how to get in touch with me.

Thanks everyone

Teenage Suicide, New Friends, and Fireworks

Yesterday was a whole bag of bizarre and had a quality of surrealness to it that is hard to describe. It was supposed to be a day of fun, gardening, some studying and maybe having dinner with friends after. Didn't quite turn out that way.

After gardening up a storm earlier I decided to take a nap. I was worn out (especially since my cat wakes me up at 5:30 every morning). and laid down for about 20 minutes until I heard screaming. At first I thought it was the little kid upstairs who was getting in trouble or being grounded or something and he was fighting back. Then I realized it sounded more like animal rage. This time I was convinced someone was beating him. I ran outside thinking to find out what I could hear from my courtyard and both mom and kid were outside screaming and crying. It was at that point the fire truck arrived along with ambulance and soon enough there were 6 cop cars in front of my apartment complex. Her teenage son had committed suicide while the mom and little brother were at the store. As I piece together the story apparently they had had a fight about doing chores. I have no idea if he had been planning this for ages or this was sort of a "fuck you mom" thing. I'm not sure the family will ever know why, I certainly don't ever expect to learn it.

I ended up taking the little brother to my place and sitting with him for several hours while we watched movies, played video games and both police officers and trauma professionals questioned both of us and the mom was out front talking to the police. What a cool kid he is. He hugged me, held my hand, talked to me and at one point said "You're a good friend, thank you". All this from someone under 10 that I'd just met, basically. I even made us peanut butter n jelly sandwiches, but he wasn't too keen on the nectarine jam. What can I say, I don't have a ton of kid-approved foods in the house. I don't envy this sad turn of events for him or the rest of his family. For the little brother, I know he's got a long road ahead of him, and I hope that he's able to see past the guilt at some point in his life and learn and grow from this tragedy. It will be incredibly tough but I hope for the best. And yeah, I do hope we get to play video games together again.

After they left and took off to nearby family I walked across the courtyard to my neighbor. First thing she asked was "Want a glass of wine?" I loved her already. We sat and talked about this whole ordeal for awhile. Neither of us really knew what was going on internally and we will probably never know. She and I probably talked for a good hour, at one point coming back to my place and discussing color choices for my living room decor. She was remarkable. We're even planning a picnic sometime soon. Out of tragedy comes new friendship. I'm grateful for that.

And to cap off the night, as I'm on a video call with a friend I hear loud banging. Wasn't quite gunshots but it was still bloody loud. Turns out, local college had a fireworks display going on. It was a magnificent show and just what I needed to cheer me up and to bring a sense of happiness back.

Our lives are not written in stone. We're not guaranteed a certain number of years. Some of us are taken early and some of us choose to go early. For whatever reason this teenager chose to leave our world, I hope he's making sense of his pain and is able to forgive himself enough to move on.

The sun is still shining..
Blessings

The Gardens are alive!

It’s April, and right now though the weather changes constantly the gardens are starting to be alive with color. As I’ve walked around just my little neighborhood in this city I can once again call home, I’ve been amazed by the amount of color I see around me. Not just the fact that everything is such a brilliant green, but the reds the blues the yellows and the purples. Seems everything is alive and ready for action!

The daffodils & dahpne’s have reached their peak and the tulips are taking over. I’ve seen such gorgeous colors of reds and yellow tulips out there. It’s amazing to see all the leaf action happening on the trees (notably the Japanese maples), and other trees are starting the process too. I’ve also seen some nectarine trees already doing their thing. Bring on the fruit.


I’ve seen the verbena’s starting to brighten up, and I have to say I’m really impressed with how many lawns have been removed and replaced with hardier perennials. And yes, dare I say.. people have planted vegetables in their front garden spaces. Who needs all that grass anyway?

This is one of the reasons I love Portland so much. People are willing to see their space as more than just a lawn to be mowed. It’s a place to grow, to bring in a diversity of plant and wildlife.

What to do in the garden:

It’s about this time of year one should start looking at their fertilizers, their equipment and once more turning their compost piles. Get those suckers warmed! If you haven’t already, apply a thick layer of compost on all your soil, even if you’re not going to plant there. For all the places you will be digging in, I would also recommend an organic All Purpose fertilizer as a layer under the compost. No need to “double dig” the beds. Nature doesn’t double dig, work with her not against her. Layer fertilizer then compost. 


And when I say fertilizers, I don't mean something synthetic. Stop putting that fake-oil-created-nitrates into the ground. It's bad for the soil, it's bad for the plant. Did you know that after sitting only a few weeks a "fake" fertilizer will turn into a salt? Salt will burn the root system. Synthetic ferts will developed after WWII in order to start mass producing food. Sure, it does increase the volume of the plant faster than a natural organic fertilizer can, but then if you eat enough fast food burgers you'll increase in volume too, right? Compost and an organic all-purpose fertilizer is all you need. May take a bit longer but the results will be more favorable.


When you’re ready for tomato’s just dig a hole about 2-3 times the size of the root ball and put that sucker in. Make sure to put the soil far up the plant stalk (the little hairs on tomato’s will form roots as the plant grows).


You should also take note of what fruit trees need to be pruned, consult the books for that particular variety and before they have much of a chance to bud out clean ‘em up.


I’m sure there’s more to do but that should keep the weekends busy for a bit.

Have fun out there.. and keep growing!

Portland, so far.

It’s been over a week since moving back to Portland and I thought by now I’d have missed a thing or two about SF, but honestly I can’t say that I have. Sure, I miss people that I love and have grown attached to but have I missed things...? Not so much.

I want to say that I even miss Philz coffee but hey, I’m in Portland. You can’t swing a cat without hitting a roaster or two in your general vicinity. Maybe I miss the fog. No, I have real seasons up here. I see the temp guage really drop, the rain really fall and I see the seasons as they should be (imho).

I have to say that I already feel so much more at home. Maybe it’s because I know some of the streets and neighborhoods? Maybe it’s because I’m comforted by friends I’ve known awhile? Or maybe it’s because things just happen here. Naturally. SF to me seems forced. Urgent. Everything there is done with extreme urgency. For those of us who don’t party, don’t drink (much), aren’t into this or that scene SF can be tiring. Exhausting even.

Portland has been great. The weather has been cold, been rainy but it feels good. Already found a knitting group, stocked up my pantry and started to get back in a groove with friends. Even started shopping for a bike!

I’m happy that I finally have the space to spread out a bit, and allow myself time to breathe. It’s been a huge change, a painful one, but one I don’t regret even for a second.

To those SF folks who said I’d miss it and I’d want to come back: I can’t say that you’re right, not at all.

The Last Days

I admit, I’m torn about leaving SF. Leaving the bay area. I’ve called this place home for so many years it’s hard to believe that in just a week I’ll be moving to Portland. I don’t say “back to Portland” because I feel this will be something new. At least, I feel I’ll be something new.

When I left to come to SF in the summer of 95 I was young. I was still somewhat naive about the world (though I knew more than I do now), and I was ready for the challenges of making a fresh start and learning new things, meeting new people.

And I did.

Though I really don’t “love” this city, I am often finding myself being nostalgic, or even wistful about the fact that I won’t live here. I’ll miss some things, others not so much. And that’s ok. I am definitely looking forward to new adventures and rediscovering places I completely forgot about.

For now, all I’m concentrating on is wittling down the to-do list, getting rid of the clutter that one accumulates in ones life, and planning my next adventures. Best thing about moving is getting rid of old crap you don’t really need.

But yeah, I’ll miss it here. Well, some of it anyway :)