Today I’m joining with Wooly Moss Roots to celebrate Gratitude Sunday.
It’s the time of year when people start counting down the days until spring. I begin hearing a lot of complaining about the cold, the snow, and winter in general.
I understand. It definitely will be nice to feel warmth, wear sandals, and get into the car without scraping off ice.
However, we’re doing ourselves a disservice to wish away the rest of this season. Despite how it might feel, winter will end, and there are even ways to enjoy the rest of it. Continue reading
Here we are at another turn of the wheel of the year.
Today marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Many who celebrate the seasons of the Earth call this day Imbolc, although it is also known as Candlemas to some and Bride’s Eve to others.
This is the time when winter may start to feel long, gray, and drawn out, but the spirit of this holiday reminds us to keep searching. Just beneath the snow are the rumblings of spring. Just as we look out to another gray sky, we also see the days growing longer and new buds on the trees. Continue reading
One of the best things about blogging is discovering a new community of people with shared interests and goals. One such kindred spirit is Mari of the blog Gather and Grow. She is a fellow lover of permaculture and has graciously shared some great tips and inspiration for many of us who are interested in being more self-sufficient but feel limited by the space constraints of the urban environment.
Whether you live in an urban environment, or on many acres of land – I think you’ll find something useful here!
Permaculture designers love challenges. After all, permaculture is not just a set of organic gardening techniques, but a toolkit, a decision-making process, for designing sustainable human settlements. And one of its fundamental principles is: “The problem is the solution.”
What if we apply this principle to a challenge that many of us are all too familiar with: living in small urban spaces with little or no access to actual soil on which to grow food? Permaculture and gardening books present pictures of lovely, lush farm landscapes and large suburban lots overflowing with greenery, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens, perhaps even with small livestock. But what do you do if you live in an apartment, or have only a postage-stamp-sized bit of yard by your front door?
The permaculture answer: you can still do a lot. In this case, seeing the problem as the solution means turning the seeming constraints of an urban environment – the density of buildings, people, and resources – to your advantage, and doing things like intensive planting, vertical growing, and maximizing solar exposure in- and outdoors. Here I present ideas and strategies first for the apartment dweller, and then for those who do have yard space but it’s limited. Continue reading
I am so thankful to have this time of nesting. It has been a period of profound spiritual development, deep insights, and lots of preparation. Continue reading
For me, the effort to live more simply will also come through in the way I try to raise baby Light Footsteps. So for example, that will mean cloth diapers, an attempt to avoid excessive scheduling, breastfeeding, baby-led weaning, and baby wearing (amongst other things, of course!).
In addition to being the method of transporting babies for many millennium before strollers, baby wearing advocates cite numerous potential benefits including:
How does one capture a season?
Is it in the amount produced in the garden or kitchen?
For me, the word “liniment” conjures up images of a very old-timey medicine cabinet. But that certainly doesn’t mean that this old-time remedy won’t work well! The fact that liniments have been around for so long just speaks to their effectiveness.
So what are liniments? Liniments are healing external applications that can be used for a variety of issues, depending on what herbs are included in the mixture. Liniments can be used as a disinfectant for cuts and wounds, while they can also help to soothe sore and inflamed muscles and joints. Some liniments are formulated for helping with circulation problems, arthritis, rheumatism, sprains, strains, and bruises. Continue reading
Summer is in full swing.
My breakfasts are full of local berries,
and my little urban yard brings a plethora of goodies. It’s pretty amazing what can fit in a small space when you fill it to the brim! It’s certainly not a garden of perfect little rows, but it is producing a lot and no space is lost.
Oh. Yes.
It’s that time. Strawberries are here and what a relief it is to taste the delectably sweet, perfectly plump, thoroughly red flesh of one that is locally grown. I wait all year for strawberries to be like this. Does life get any finer? Continue reading
These Light Footsteps 