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Show Thoughts From The Garden... by Tonya LeMone It's time to spring into gardening.... Possibly the most anticipated season of all four seasons is Spring and especially this year after what seemed to be the longest winter ever. Even though it happens consistently every year we never seem to dread or tire of the thoughts of spring. Every year we anticipate the smell of the dark soil as the water and soil become one and then the first seedlings pop through. Every year I anticipate the little green tips of the sorrel peeking through the composted herb garden. You would think we would grow tired of this same routine year after year but to a gardener it adds a slight hop to our step and actually makes us long for the arduous task of weeding. Gardening has been around since the beginning of time Garden of Eden "Time began in a garden".... but it was, in the beginning, only' to sustain life. Later gardening became a way of creating beauty outside the walls of our homes. In this techno world we live in we have become somewhat distracted and long for bigger, better, faster and have lost the close ties we once had with nature. However, for the gardener spring once again renews that slow pace and rewarding fruits of our labors. As each new year begins in the garden we look for something new to add to our existing gardens, something that will possibly enhance and increase the joy we receive from our little plot of dirt. This year we are trying something very new in our garden. We have a goat! I know many of you, especially our neighbors, ask why, as you contemplate the future of your prize rosebush. I can't begin to explain the joy our little "Verbena" has brought us. She is a pygmy goat and is about the size of a medium size dog. She follows me around the garden in search of some apparatus to climb on and longing for a little scratch on the head and a handful of grain. The main purpose for this new addition is for the goat's milk. However, a pygmy goat gives very little milk but she is the trial run for the larger goat for the near future. This last winter I have been making a variety of cheeses, some inquiring goat's milk, and realized how expensive it is. . . .thus the goat! Many people have asked for the recipe so I am including it: Making Cheese At Home: 1. Bring Vi gallon of milk (whole organic cow milk or - ; goat milk) to just before a boil, stir constantly. Remove from heat. 2. Add cup of vinegar (white distilled or regular cider vinegar) and immediately it will begin to separate. 3. After 15 seconds pour through a cheese cloth draped over a colander that sits in a bowl. 4. Drain to the dryness you prefer 5. Season with herbs and kosher salt 6. Enjoy! Hanging in my studio is a sign a friend gave me that says: "When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy there is ALWAYS the garden" So even though spring may come the same time every year.... without fail.... and we do the same routine each spring it never is boring to a true gardener. In fact it is much anticipated knowing that no two days will be the same in the garden and that the most delightful thing about a garden is the anticipation it provides. There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone weeding you would find them smiling. Gardens are our own autobiography even if they include a goat named Verbena! See you in the Garden |