Summertime Blues

I have been working on healthier eating and exercise since April and have taken off 20 pounds. The big bummer is that I have lost a total of 1 pound in the last 5 weeks. Let's get this straight: 1300 calories a day (sacrifice!), daily exercise, and nothing. I can maintain that level of dedication when I am losing, even a little, but one pound--not cool. Will measuring body fat help? Shake it up with bone-strengthening weight -lifting program? Run more miles? (NO!)

On another note, I had the chance to take a little ferry trip to Port Orchard, which is where a lot of Kitsap County action happens. Silas needed to go there, and find his way back to Bremerton, so I accompanied him there. It was cool! The boat is a well maintained part of Kitsap's bus system, and holds maybe 25 people and a couple of bicycles if needed. It's just a 10 or 15 minute ride from Bremerton's ferry terminal next to Puget Sound Naval Station, landing at Historic Port Orchard. I was able to enjoy Bremerton's newer waterfront parks en route to and from the boat, along with a lovely walk near remarkable homes, businesses, and waterfront in P.O. I would love to take my parents to Myhre's Diner there next time they come visit.

All God's Creatures

I have kicked up my daily exercise this summer and am walking about 3 miles each morning, beginning at about 5:25. My route is a big loop around the larger streets near home. I pass a small low-income-kind-of-scary-but-not-really mobile home park, Crossroads Church, 3 apartment complexes, a dental building, Woodlands Elementary, a big beautiful fancy mobile home park, some vacant weedy and woodsy lots, and many private homes.

Across from the entry to a newer development of homes are some fields belonging to some farmers, or property that once belonged to a farm. The past 2 mornings I have walked by and the 3 quite large (what I believe are) Angus steers have been munching their pasture snacks right up near the road. It has been a treat to see these magnificent animals up close. I think I will feel a little sad to see the field empty when they are prepared for the table. By the way, they don't moo back.

I met up with an adolescent racoon on my walk today, and the poor critter didn't know what to do when he saw me. He just froze. I crossed the street and sort of kicked a pebble his way, and he scurried up into the brush at the edge of the school. I turned around after I had passed, and he was hurrying across the street to another wooded area.

Crows were out all over, finding food and making mischief. The air was full of birdsongs, beginning with my own back yard. There were a couple of dogs out taking their stumbling owners for their morning smokes, including Siggy, my neighbor's little furball, who had Grandma out chasing the end of his leash. She wasn't smoking. I didn't see any kitties out today. Could they be sleeping off the night's high adventures?

I think this summer of walking around the 'hood has shown me more roadkill than I have ever seen in my life up close and personal. You know those cartoons where the chipmunks and squirrels are spread-eagle and flattened in the road? I have seen more of those little things than I ever really cared to see. (Did I ever care to see ANY?) They are real! And the crazy downed birds--Did they smash into speeding windshields in their aerial enthusiasm? I can only imagine....

My favorite sight of my walk today started with munching sounds. Crunch, crunch, crunch. "What could that be?" I thought. I stood still (letting my precious aerobic activity be ruined) and looked around until I figured out what was making the noise: The tiniest racoon I have ever seen, smaller than a little cat, with a wee bandit mask, was up on a squirrel feeder eating up all the squirrel treats in a private front yard. It was totally cute! However, if it had been my yard, it wouldn't have been cute, because racoons are major pests around here and will throw a party for all their friends and family in a place where they can find free snacks.

My walks aren't usually chocked full of animal encounters, but today really was remarkable. I feel blessed to live in such a beautiful place, with nature's bounty every where I look, hear, and even smell.

Saving Seeds

One of my ultimate goals is to grow my own food and save seeds so that I don't need to buy seeds again. For one thing, I am cheap--er, thrifty, frugal, practical, greedy. Who knows? For another thing, I really like to be self-sufficient. You know, if the world falls down, I still want to have fresh food on the table.

One way to be sure you will get a plant that is the genetic offspring of your original plant is to buy non-hybrid open pollinated or heirloom seeds. In your seed catalogs you will recognize the plants that are able to be grown for their seeds. Then you plant your desired plants, and choose the very best one(s) to grow for seeds. When harvest time comes, you simply leave those choice plants in the ground (pot, planter, etc.) and let them go to the flowering stage. Each of those flowers progresses to a seed. In all honesty, I don't really choose the best one to save, I just end up saving the one that goes to seed first. Then I quick harvest all the other plants so that we can eat as much of what I planted and that grew for food. This may tell me why I don't always have success with seed-growing and -saving.

Food for Everyone is a site that sells some interesting things, including a #10 can full of non-hybrid seeds that they call a perpetual garden. Though I believe Utah (which has extremely different growing conditions than we do here in the Northwest) was the place this idea was developed, I look forward to planting some of these seeds and seeing how they do.

After your plant has completed its growth and has reached the seed stage, you pull it out or cut it off at the stem. Then you have some choices to make. I have hung my plant upside down in a darkish dry place with a paper towel below it to catch the seeds as they dry and fall down. I have also simply placed the plant on the kitchen counter wrapped in a paper towel, and let nature take its course. In a few days you will find some lovely seeds to store for another growing season.

Isn't nature cool?

I have tried to save seed in the past, and, as most things for me (including marriage, but fortunately not motherhood), the first time was a bust. Generally, however, when I assess what went wrong and try again (and again and again?) I end up doing a pretty good job. And I am here to tell you that I have done something I never did before: I saved onion seeds! I will let you know when they grow some new onions, though I totally know they will.

I have successfully grown and saved and regrown nasturtiums (nasturtia?), marigolds, radishes, and am now looking forward to growing onions from saved seeds. I am hoping to save all sorts of things in the future. Let's see what this year brings!