"There are three things beautiful to see; beautiful before the Lord and men: the harmony of brothers, friendship between neighbors, and a wife and husband well-adjusted together." -- Ecclesiasticus 25:1

Bonhoffer on Learning Spiritual Endurance

"I'm not quite sure how we have largely got into a way of thinking which is positively dangerous. We think that we are acting particularly responsibly if every other week we take another look at the question whether the way on which we have set out is the right one. It is particularly noticeable that such a 'responsible reappraisal' always begins the moment serious difficulties begin to appear. We then speak as though we no longer had 'a proper joy and certainty' about this way, or, still worse, as though God and his Word were no longer as clearly present with us as they used to be. In all this we are ultimately trying to get round what the New Testament calls 'patience' and 'testing'. Paul, at any rate, did not begin to reflect whether his way was the right one when opposition and suffering threatened, nor did Luther. They were both quite certain and glad that they should remain disciples and followers of their Lord. Dear brethren, our real trouble is not doubt about the way upon which we have set out, but our failure to be patient, to keep quiet. We still cannot imagine that today God really doesn't want anything new for us, but simply to prove us in the old way. That is too petty, too monotonous, too undemanding for us. And we simply cannot be constant with the fact that God's cause us not always the successful one, that we really could be 'unsuccessful': and yet be on the right road. But this is where we find out whether we have begun in faith or in a burst of enthusiasm." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Well, here's the vinyard finished.

And here's this year's berry harvest. This is just from the ones immediately around my house: didn't have time to get to the rest.

I hope all my other plants do as well as these wild berries; if so, I'll never lack for produce.

"Perhaps I seem to you rather fanatical and mad about a number of things. I myself am sometimes afraid of that. But I know that the day I become more "reasonable", to be honest, I should have to chuck my entire theology." -- Deitrich Bonhoeffer

"They were the happiest couple in that country, because they always understood each other, and that was because they always meant the same thing, and that was because they always loved what was fair and true and right better--not than anything else, but than everything else put together."

 -- George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie

"One feels such a tremendous longing for real peace, in which all the misery and injustice, the lying and cowardice will come to an end."  -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So I was moving all the stones out of the orchard area, and thinking about how much lumber and hardware I'd need to bring in to build the planters around the trees...and I thought; "wait a minute...."

"They have but a poor knowledge of God, who suppose Him to be only capable of doing what comes within the compass of their own thoughts."

-- Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh

Hidden Treasure

Found this today about a hundred yards from my house: a mature American Chestnut! I'd estimate its height at about 30 ft. It's got catkins on it, which means it's old enough to bear nuts. Don't know if it will, as they usually require another tree nearby as a pollinator. But there's got to be something else out here that I haven't found yet, for all these young chestnuts to be growing: an older parent tree that is producing nuts. Because these trees are growing directly out of the ground, not sprouting from old stumps.

Psalm 62 - John Michael Talbot

I was singing this on my back porch this morning, and the birds gathered round and joined in. I felt like Orpheus or St. Francis.

That's my girl: get them started right early.

Orchard Complete

Finished building the grape trellis. All my grapes, berries, and fruit trees are planted. I already have blossoms on my strawberries and one apple tree. 

I still have to finish clearing and cleaning up the ground, to make it nice aesthetically and easier to get around on and maintain. Then fence it in, put the border frames around the trees, mulch, and plant my ground cover. But that can all be done at a more leisurely pace over the rest of the summer; the most urgent and important work is done.

Strawberry beds built. I'll plant this evening when it cools off.

Next up: grapes. I'm going to put them just below the strawberries. Grapes love rocky slopes, which is just fine with me; I have those in spades. So they won't be nearly as much work. Then I'll turn the area inside the retaing wall at the bottom of this section into another planter for the blueberries and cranberries. They both need acid soil (they're related) and have shallow roots, so for them I won't have to dig as deep: just clear out the rocks around where each bush is going, then fill the hole with good soil, compost, and peat moss.

After all the planting is done, I'll build a square frame around each tree, bush, and vine and lay down mulch. Then I'm going to clear out the big rocks from the entire area to create a relatively smooth surface, and let the grass, clover, and wood sorrel grow back over it, and add some lavender. Then fence it in and plant marigolds and crysanthemums along the fenceline: those two and lavender and clover repel pests and attract bees and butterflies.

Next project will be to bring in some more fill dirt and topsoil, and get the grass planted behind the house. Need to do that before working the vegetable garden so I can get the dump truck back here. Then, probably this fall, I'll have the guy in with the tractor to clear the rocks and plow up the subsoil in the garden, then bring in the topsoil and compost for that, and let it sit over the winter, during which time I'll put up fences for the garden and yard, and use some of this rock to build retaining walls where they're needed around those areas.

I've added a native plants area off to the side of the orchard. I've got hazelnuts, chinkapins (American dwarf chestnuts), and mulberries in now, and have wild plums and wild strawberries on the way. I'll also let the wild grapes, wineberries, and blackberries come back in there. I'm not going to fence that part. The idea is: a) have the wild fruit and nuts growing in a convenient location where I can get some; b) create a diversion for the wildlife to help keep them from my garden and orchard; c) share with them, because I like them; and d) let the native species spread and re-establish themselves in this forest. I'm also going to sow some deer feed mix down in the meadow below my orchard. I'm thinking I'll keep the taller trees cut back in that area to keep it as a meadow rather than letting it go back to forest.

Yesterday evening as I was out watering my trees, a yearling buck came out into the clearing and just browsed around, casual as could be, about twenty paces from me. I talked to him, and he looked up at me then just went about his business, completely unalarmed.

220...

Recalculating

I'm thinking that it may be best not to try and plant the vegetable garden this summer. Getting an idea of the amount of work and expense it's going to be to get it ready, it may just be impractical at this point to try and force it--it's almost too late to plant summer vegetables already. Judging by yesterday's labors, doing the entire vegetable garden by hand is going to be next to impossible--the strawberry plants only need 8-12 inches for their roots, but the garden needs to be worked to about 2 feet. So I'm looking at options, like hiring a guy with a tractor to come and drag the plot with a rock rake and/or bringing in some quality topsoil to put down. Parts of the garden have been cut down to the clay anyway in leveling it out, so they're going to need some good soil added back in.

Also, I need to bring in some topsoil to finish the yard area and plant the grass, and if I've already got the garden in, it's going to block access for the truck, and I'll have to cart the soil from the driveway one wheelbarrow full at a time.

Probably the best thing is to be patient, get it done right, and plant next spring. I may get some cool-weather fall vegetables in, in August--lettuces and broccoli and such. And I think I'll put some tomatoes in the large pots I've got the grapevines in now, once they're planted in the ground, and time them so that they'll be ready at the same time as the lettuce; at least get a few salads out of it this year. The key to a good plan is flexibility. I'd rather take longer and do it right than rush and do it poorly.

This will probably work out best anyway. It's looking like it will be at least August before I'm ready to start eating again, maybe later. I never know when I'm going to hit a plateau in my weight loss, and I don't really know exactly at what weight I'll be when I've reached my goal of proper bodyfat percentage; I'm judging by visual appearance more than scale weight.

A little disappointing, but the rewards will be worth it next year. I'm not going to get any fruit off my trees and vines this year anyway, so I'll just treat this as a preparatory year and next year it will begin paying off.

Rocks

Only managed to get the strawberry bed mostly done today. Spent all day digging up rocks...mostly pick and mattock work; my soil seems to be about 50% rock. I'm tired.

Some of the rocks I dug up today.

The rest of them. I'm going to use the rock to reinforce this bank.

Oh, and roots. That's the other thing I"ve been digging up.

Planting!

Today I finally got to go out and start digging and planting. There's nothing like working the land. It was man's first occupation, and still carries a resonance in the soul that brings one closer to God, nature, and one's self.

Today's work: got all my trees planted (except the two that haven't been delivered yet).

Tomorrow's work: gotta move all these rocks and prepare the beds for the grapes and berries.

My nosy neighbor came by to see what was going on around here.

It doesnt look like much yet--still a lot of work to be done. I'll make it look nice later. First things first.

Mike's rules for successful gardening:

1. Plan what you're going to grow, how much space you'll need, and where you're going to put it.

2. Purchase quality seeds and plants of the best varieties for your soil, space, and climate.

3. Prepare the soil. Can't stress this enough: it's what makes the difference between success and failure.

4. Plant. Do it right, and then water, water, water.

5. Protect your plants from animals, bugs, weeds, weather, and disease.

6. Then make it Pretty, if you have time.

7. Last but not least: my super-secret practice for healthy, abundant gardens--I Pray over my crops and bless them in Jesus' name.

Shakespeare: Original Pronunciation

THIS is what they should be doing at the American Shakespeare Center here in Staunton. Not these bastardized, modernized, dumbed-down, pandering, abstract-costuming things they're doing now: as the gentleman in the video so aptly puts it, "trying to drag Shakespeare into the 21st century".

Progress...

This Is What a $45 Million Viola Sounds Like

People endlessly debate whether there's a real difference. They've tried to do "scientific" testing, and all sorts of things, and the naysayers insist it's all in people's heads.

There is a difference. But, a) It takes a true master to bring it out; and b) The difference is not in the ear, but in the heart.