Simple Living

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Comment by Cyndi LuHu on June 28, 2008 at 11:26pm

I have a lot to learn about living simply, but I have a few experiences too. One way that I live simply (due to my hectic field schedule during the summer months) is passive gardening. Thank goodness I didn't get to my garden last fall! This spring I have enjoyed volunteer potatoes, carrots, onions, kale, and even found green bean seeds that had fallen from last summer's vines so I can plant them this year (I avoid hybrid seeds so quality reproduction is more likely than with hybrids). The same volunteer tomatoes I've enjoyed the past few years are once again loaded with flowers and setting fruit. In early spring I harvest sunflower sprouts from the warming soil -- these the birds have missed, so it's an interesting twist that they are sharing with me! I gather green things from my early garden(kale, herbs like mint, lavender, and parsley, leaves from grapes, strawberries, raspberries, dandelion greens and roots, and thinnings from young carrots and beets) and chop them into my blender with sufficient liquid to keep the motor happy. Add chopped carrots or an apple or other fruit for more sweetness. After straining, this satisfying drink feels good as I drink it and the fiber-rich pulp goes into bread, soup, or a pesto-like sauce for pasta dishes.
Volunteer sunflowers that survive early harvest host numerous species of buzzing visitors that are fun to watch and who are also welcome pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables.
I don't know if this is what you had in mind for simple living, but maybe it's a start. I'd like to hear your ideas.