Sowing

Today I sowed some cool-weather crops, so I hope that it stays mild for a bit longer. I planted beets, carrots, lettuce, kale, and mustard. We've had passing thunderstorms recently and again today-- I hope the rain is feeding the seeds and not washing them away!

all this squatting is good exercise!


I'm proud

Here are a few images of my lovely house. I can't take credit for any of the interior design, that is all the work of my housemate Sarah. She has a distinctive sensibility about color and materials and especially likes old objects that have the texture of age. I really enjoy this window full of glass objects, which is constantly but subtly changing.

Mom and Dad-- can you spot the Magic Tree? My one contribution!




The dining room looking towards the kitchen and back yard

First garden!

This past week I began my very first proper vegetable garden. It is very exciting-- I can't wait to put seeds in the ground and look out for the first sprouts. This week I built a compost bin(more like a corral, actually), dug two beds, and today I added lime, fertilizer and compost. This week, I am ready to get some cold-hardy seeds in the ground. I already feel more in tune with the world outdoors, which is waking up to spring-- I hear woodpeckers and chickadees every day, saw the first leaves emerging on our tuliptrees, and felt some raindrops today. I am also thinking more about our household ecology-- how our food scraps will soon nourish the soil, and how we might be able to harvest rainwater.

Garden season

Yesterday I lent a hand to help build a new garden at the Hereford residential college at UVA. This project grew out of my friend Lily's master's thesis work on Jefferson's unrealized plans for a botanic garden at UVA. Lily and her cohort are reviving this intention and beginning with a demonstration garden this spring. We had a productive afternoon under cool skies, and dug 3 1/2 new beds. I hope that the torrential rains today don't wash away all our work!

As the weather warms I look forward to sketching outside again. My new house is near a forested hill, this evening I watched the sun setting and casting golden light on these tulip trees.

wind, water, and ice

On a walk over the weekend at Ragged Mountain Reservoir, we heard a strange sound in the silent winter afternoon, like a bird call, as we walked over the earth dam. Getting closer, we saw that the sound was actually produced by the water in the reservoir lapping against the sheet of ice. A rock thrown on the ice made more good sounds-- these ones like metallic echoes. After awhile, the wind shifted directions and the whole surface of water changed appearance-- now, it was running away from us!