We all need to Slow Down on Mainstreet!

I have toyed with the concept of a gardening journal or blog as a way of jotting down my plans of plants and visions of vines.  I’ve had the desire to create a bloom log for my home, to note the coming of spring with the emergence of the first blooms and expansion of buds.  Those exercises would allow me to develop a running calendar of events that over years would allow me to predict the changes of the seasons.  For instance if the silver maples bloomed on the twelfth of April this year, and the red maples are usually two weeks behind them… over the years with a running tally that information could lead to some great gardening deductions.  But as I’ve thought about it more I’ve had a hard time limiting myself to topics within the realm of gardens.  

Gardens and their by-products are huge fixtures in my life. I get really passionate when it comes to preserving the harvest. Whether its freezing, drying or canning the harvest I plan on trying it.  In the household I grew up in a lot of our food came from mason jars. To this day, I have a hard time straying from our classic dill pickle recipe.

I like things that take time; I’ve never been one for the instant gratification.  This was the inspiration for the name of the blog, I think its easy for us to become caught up in the fast paced, instantaneous aspects of our lives and I think we all need to Slow Down. For instance, I’ve always wanted to make my own wine.  In my mind I found it was necessary to produce my own grapes before I could make my own wine.  By planting my first five vines just last year it puts my first batch of grape wine a good few years out.  To fill the time, I took up mead production because the honey was readily available, with my brother being a bee-keeper.  Together we’ve dabbled in a few batches. Its a wonderfully exciting process but takes months to reap any reward.   

Pictured here: Secondary Fermentation of Mead batches.
Mint, Chili Pepper and Red Raspberry.

Whether it be working in the soil, watching plants grow, or picking that first ripe tomato… there is nothing else that provides me with such a good balance between patience and anticipation. The posts that follow will be my adventures in my backyard and I'll probably bring you into my kitchen (I've got a few garage projects in mind as well.)