Christina's Garden: January reading

It snowed last night and we're snowed in. Time to get out the woolly socks, put some more wood on the fire and get out a book or two.

January (especially when it snows!) offers up more time for me to reflect, take inventory (personal and business), set new intentions and work on projects that there's just no time for during the spring and summer seasons when Mother Nature determines that my priorities involve outdoor work as much as possible.

It seems this is true for many of us who get to live a lifestyle that's in harmony with the flow of the seasons. Not if you're a snowplow operator, tho' : )

This morning's snowy walk from the house to the garden.

At the garden gate.

The plum tree by the cob wall.

Shadows and light on the cob wall.

So these days there's more reading for me. Books, magazines, the internet and of course, seed catalogues are great sources of beautiful images and inspiring ideas. Fun and important refueling....because there's going to be so much other stuff to do starting in just one short month.....

A book I'm reading right now: "A Householder's Guide to the Universe, a calendar of basics for the home and beyond" by Harriet Fasenfest. Love it.

Organized seasonally, by month. I'm reading March right now. A few folks I know who visit this blog may like this book too!

I like that the author writes from her own experience and I love this book (you can take a look inside at that link) for all the little details it sheds light on....like the real-life practicalities and changes that are necessary in order to make the sustainable, local food production so many of us talk about really attainable in our households and in our communities.

For example, if you grow tomatoes and want to make your own sauce, planning vacations around the same time as tomatoes are ripening just doesn't work!

Yes, of course!....if more of us are thinking about growing, harvesting and putting away our own food, we need to think about when we'll take our vacations. Seems there's a major societal shift needed here since so many of us go on summer vacation. If we want to be more self-reliant for our food needs, it doesn't work so well to be taking vacations away from home when it's the busy planting, harvesting or processing time.

I love when a book shows me an enhanced way of thinking about something that I thought I already knew all about! That's what this book does. Overall, it's very basic but it's all in the details born of the philosophy at it's heart: "Householding is in form and function the foundation for a home-based economy because it is in our homes, gardens and communities that the work needs to be done. " (pg.17) yep, I agree! Seems to me this is quite a challenge for us in this world we've created. At least for the little North American bubble in which I live!

For Mayne Islanders who're interested in this book, Lynn at Miners Bay Books has ordered it in so you can get it on-island! And while I'm thinking of Miner's Bay Books, the Microgreens how-to book is also in stock. This is the book I showed everyone at the workshop in November and the one I mentioned in this post last year.

Another book I'm liking these days and a nice companion to A Householder's Guide to the Universe is "Canning for a New Generation: bold, fresh flavors for the modern pantry" by Liana Krissoff. Nice recipes and photos, ideas. I'll be coming back to this one all year long, I'm sure.