A Holly, Jolly Solstice

Weretoad and I had a lovely Winter Solstice!  I was so excited and in a festive mood.  While he was away at work, I finished wrapping gifts, put on some Solstice music, and lit the tree.  It's the only night we leave it on and it's a great reminder of what we're celebrating.

I also busied myself preparing the feast you see at left.  I made a vegetarian roast with baked scallions, carrots, and potatoes.  I also made fresh bread, steamed brussels sprouts, and bread pudding.  Mmmm...carbs... Magical, wonderful carbs!

In addition, I brought home cranberries and made popcorn to turn into garlands.  We did that after our ritual.  After discussing what we should do, Weretoad and I decided to honor the Nature Spirits who have to struggle through the bitter cold.  It is a hard time to be wild.  Many creatures die.  Food is scarce.  We forget that in our warm homes with our stocked larders.  Our main offering was the garland which we put on the little spruce we keep on our patio.  Next year I would like to do more for deities as well but I'm still uncertain as to who I should honor.  Should I visit the Norse deities of my Germanic ancestors and honor Odin as he rides through the sky?  Should I honor the Cailleach as the crone of winter?  Should I give praise to Angus as he is associated with New Grange and thus the Winter Solstice?  I lean more towards the latter two...  I guess we'll see what next year brings.

We went a bit overboard on gifts this year.  In years past we kept a tradition - three large gifts and three stocking stuffers.  This year...  we kind of forgot and got lost in the joy of giving to each other.  We really need to restrain ourselves next year.  That said - I got some lovely gifts from my husband!  In addition to some shiny and practical items, he also contributed to my growing Pagan library. I got a recycled three ring cardboard binder - something I want to use to make my new Druidic grimoire.  I also received The Black Pullet (an old grimoire) and Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Muller-Ebeling, Christian Ratsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl Ph.D.  (For my birthday a week ago, he gave me Toads and Toadstools: The Natural History, Mythology and Cultural Oddities of this Strange Association by Adrian Morgan.)  Needless to say, I have a ton of new books to enjoy and learn from!  Squee!

Today I am busying myself with last minute gift sewing and wrapping.  Yes, I still "celebrate" Christmas with my vaguely Christian family.  I love the excuse to see them. They know I consider the gifts I give them to be Solstice gifts just as the ones they give me are for their own holiday of giving and love.  We somehow meet on common ground.  At the same time, I look forward to having my own large home and throwing wonderful Winter Solstice parties for the whole family...  Some day...  This year, I enjoyed my quiet Solstice with Weretoad. :)

( For My LJ and FB Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

On Eating the American Mandrake

I'm very much a novice at herbalism, foraging, and wildcrafting.     I take my time learning and experimenting because I understand that it can be dangerous if you don't do your homework.  But even if you do a lot of research, you still have to be careful.  You never know what you'll be allergic to, for example.  You have to try a small sample first.  That way, if you are allergic or if your resources left out an important detail - you're more likely to be okay.  Hopefully.

One of my favorite blogs to read is 66 Square Feet.  The author,  Marie Viljoen, is passionate about food and plants.  She decided to experiment with the May Apple - aka American Mandrake (pictured at left - photo by Ms. Viljoen).

I love her most recent entry.  What an adventure!  It's very unfortunate that the authors of the books she was consulting didn't include the detail about the seeds being toxic!  I'm glad she's okay and lived to tell us the tale!



( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

My Autumn Equinox: Part One

Yesterday I talked about what the Autumn Equinox means to me.  Now I'm going to share with you some of what I've been doing to celebrate it!

I've started to collect twigs from specific trees to create small ogham staves.  So far I've started luis/rowan and dair/oak.  I'm proud of them so far!  Here they are with some festive mini pumpkin gourds.

Some of the last summer flowers cut, bound, and ready to offer at a gathering I attended last night.  They turned into the table centerpiece!  

My personal altar with an autumn-colored altar cloth and harvest offerings.

Here's a closeup of the cornhusk doll I made.  She's probably the third one I've ever finished so...  she's not as impressive as some others out there!  I'm proud of her all the same.  I actually grew the corn that she's made out of!  Granted, because only two spouted and were grown in containers, they didn't produce large ears.  Still, I was able to grow my own offering and autumn decor (the stalks have been cut and tied to an iron post outside).  This dolly is going to be part of the main offering at Muin Mound Grove tomorrow.  Everyone was encouraged to make a corn dolly to place in the fire.

More harvest offerings!  Everything except the gourds were from my own garden.  I included the tiny ears of corn.  Behind all the flowers, fruit, and vegetables is a harvest Earth Mother doll I crocheted.  She's my planned personal offering for the big ritual tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to seeing my grovies tomorrow and celebrating the harvest.  On the actual Equinox I  went to Better Farm for a potluck dinner, casual "ritual," and bonfire!  What an amazing place!  I met so many wonderful people.  Everyone was so hospitable.  Sharing a meal with local gardeners, artisans, and free-thinkers; listening to a fiddler and guitarist tweak out an acoustic "Knocking on Heaven's Door;" standing in a candlelit barn; and sitting around a smokey fire while crying "I hate rabbits!" every time the smoke hit my eyes - now that was a great way to spend the Equinox!  

( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

Ahimsa and Druidism?

The fact that I'm a Druidic vegetarian quietly amuses me.  My ancestors were Irish, Scottish, and Germanic!  They ate mutton, haggis, and sausage!  My ancient Irish ancestors looked to Druids for spiritual guidance - which often involved blood.  On Samhain, the herds were culled before the hard, cold months.  My ancestors were from Northern Europe.  They were herders, raiders, hunters, and fishermen.

They would probably have a hearty laugh at me!  Yet I understand that their world was different from my own.  They had to eat meat and other animal products to survive.  Animals were often raised more sustainably than they are today on their giant factory farms.  My ancestors in the northern climes just didn't have the choices that the Mediterranean Pythagoreans, the Hindus, or the Jains had.  Not to mention, my ancestors did many things that probably should not be done today anyway...

I've been a meat-free vegetarian for about as long as I've been a Pagan*.  For me, the two are hand in hand but I've never been able to exactly express why.  I've always known that a part of it has to do with a deep respect for nature.  But that is only part of it.  Carnivores and omnivores are also part of nature and I do not deny their place or rights.  My spirit guide is a carnivore.  My animal companions are carnivores.  They have never expressed a desire to give up meat and I don't think it would be healthy to force it on them anyway**.  But I feel like I have a choice, and I don't feel like it furthers me from the food chain.  I am basically an herbivore.  If my spirit animal doesn't eat me first, then I will die and be eaten by smaller things and go back to the plants I ate.  As long as I am not in a survival situation, I feel quite content eating as I do.

An lj friend and fellow ADFer*** recently posted this article entitled "I Was Wrong About Veganism" by George Monbiot.  Basically the author, who once insisted that Veganism was the only ethical response to the environmental, health, and food dilemmas of this world, takes back the statement and gives his reasons based on new statistics.  He argues that going local and returning to traditional feeding methods is the best for the environment and the animals.  I totally agree, and the article made me feel better about my recent decision to consume dairy products again, albeit with a nearly strict preference for organic and/or local.  The rare bit of cheese I eat must be rennet free.  (On a side note, I feel like Brighid, my patroness who has very close ties with dairy, kept bugging me when I gave it up.  So yes, in a way I do feel spiritually obligated to eat some of her essence.)

My friend is one of many Pagans I know who argue that eating meat and eating local is a moral act, to use her choice of words.  By eating meat she is imitating the Gods.  I get that, and I'm not about to say they are wrong, horrible people - especially if they are eating sustainably harvested meat.  And yet...  I still don't feel compelled to eat it myself.  I've never felt spiritually motivated or pushed to.  Quite the opposite.

I recently started to read more about Hinduism and Jainism in my quest to better articulate what, exactly, drives me to live the way I do.  I could call myself an ethical vegetarian (someone who is a vegetarian for ethical reasons), but that implies that people who do eat sustainable meat are unethical...which isn't right or healthy to assume, in my opinion.  I do what I feel is ethical for myself.  In my studies, I came to the concept of ahimsa which is Sanskrit for the concept of doing no harm.  It is an interesting and complicated subject but I rather enjoy learning about it because a lot of it is what I believe for myself.  My friend Parallax first helped me begin this process of articulation when she mentioned a thought she had had when she was a vegetarian - there is a difficult to express hierarchy, which is why many of us are somehow okay eating plants.  But even so, I try to be as respectful to plants as possible, thanking them for their nourishment, asking for permission before I harvest them, and leaving gifts of nuts or drink when I do.  Even then, I try not to take everything - just enough for myself and for the plant to further flourish.  Turns out, Jains believe in this hierarchy and have organized it.  It is quite interesting, especially in light of recent arguments that "intelligent" animals like dolphins, whales, apes, octopuses, and squid should not be eaten at all.

So what does all of this mean to someone following a Druidic path?  In Irish lore, some people are under geasa - magical bound to do or avoid something.  Fate.  One famous geis belonged to Cuchulainn.  Because of his practically totemic connection to dogs, he was spiritually forbidden to eat of their flesh.  As fate would have it, he ended up eating dog (due to other geasa in place) and this was part of his undoing.  Perhaps not eating flesh period is my own personal geis - my spiritual fate?  Perhaps it is merely this life's lesson.  I have already learned much from my journey of fruit salads and lentil burgers - integrity, compassion, empathy, acceptance, patience, creativity...  So much.  Perhaps in this life, I am not meant to eat the salmon of knowledge - instead I am to share the hazelnuts of wisdom with the salmon themselves.



*I gave up red meat when I was 8 so I've been a flexitarian or vegetarian of some sort for a very long time. 
** It would totally fail anyway.  My cats like catching flies waaaay too much.
*** I don't know if she wants her username floating out in the virtual ether so unless she wants official credit, I will respect her privacy.  

( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

A Lovely Day Exploring the St. Lawrence River

I was recently diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed medication.  I need to be careful with regards to sex and booze, but my doctor told me that I can go out as long as I cover my mouth when I cough.  Weretoad and I had planned for yesterday to be a "date night."  He was going to take me to a bar I wanted to go to, but that probably wouldn't have been a good idea so we did sober activities.

First we had dinner at The Mustard Seed.  As always they made delicious, meat-free meals.  Weretoad let me have some of his ratatouille wrap and I shared some spring rolls with him.  We each had some chili.  We decided to drive to Cape Vincent next just to see what it was like.  This included a detour to Tibbets Point where we saw gorgeous houses, a real light house, a mink cross the road, and the St. Lawrence joining with Lake Ontario.  We witnessed some absolutely beautiful scenery there.  Cape Vincent looks across to a wind farm.  I understand that several residents are unhappy about that, but I find them serene and lovely in their own way*.  I put my feet in the St. Lawrence for a bit and thought of the River Goddess.

Next we drove along the river until we reached Clayton.  They have their farmers' market on Thursdays and I was delighted to catch it.  We purchased some cookies, French bread, banana peppers, carrots, an onion, and a buttercup squash.  We then had some dessert and sat by the river while a band played.
It was kind of funny, actually.  Until I moved out of my parents' house, we used to go to Old Forge, NY almost every Sunday for a concert in the park.  There were usually rock-n-roll bands (which I love) that played a lot of Beatles, Elvis, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, and such.  As the concert in Clayton started with some old fashioned doo-wop, I turned to Weretoad and commented that someday, when we're old, bands will start to play our generation's music in parks for free concerts.  Sure enough, this band played a number from Blink 182, Green Day, and several other contemporary bands.  I was amused, especially with all the older people dancing to "All the Small Things."  Heehee.  I hope I never lose my sense of youth when I'm older.

We ended the evening by watching the sun set along the St. Lawrence, chased by speed boats and slow steamers.  The rose and orange clouds piled up towards Canada, looking like the background of a majestic Thomas Cole painting.  We looked into the waves and I thanked the Kindreds for such a beautiful place and a wonderful day.  Even though our plans changed, we found joy by the life source of Northern NY in the presence of the River Goddess.


*Not to mention my appreciation for alternative energy!


( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

Living in Northern NY

As of August 6th, Weretoad and I have been residents of Northern NY for a year.  We moved up here from the Mohawk Valley last year.  It's been a bit of a transition.  I've been meaning to write about it.

In many ways, the North Country is similar to the Mohawk Valley.  It's still NY and therefore we witness similar plants and animals.  Each area enjoys productive agricultural areas and lovely rivers and/or canals.  We're a couple hours away from the Utica/Rome area, so I'm not seriously removed from my family and friends.

That said there are differences.  Few people see wild bears in the Mohawk Valley, but they're quite common up here, as are bobcats*.  There have even been lynx and cougar sightings.  This is probably because life up here is more agriculture than in the Mohawk Valley which is heavily urban and suburban except for a few happy exceptions.  The bigger animals haven't been driven out yet.

The rivers in the North Country seem more appreciated.  They are a central part of life here and not just something discussed in 4th grade social studies.  People celebrate our rivers.  Schools incorporate them into their songs.  The St. Lawrence is huge to our tourist industry, and many people who reside in this area enjoy it for sport, beauty, and sustenance.

The urban and suburban centers, while spread apart, have grown on me.  Alexandria Bay is kitschy but the views are beautiful and the swimming area is great on a hot day.  Clayton is one of my favorite places to go.  It seems to be the artistic center of Northern NY with its textile museum, antique boat museum,  studios, galleries, opera house, and art classes.  The view of the St. Lawrence is just as spectacular there.  The dining is also wonderful and vegetarian friendly.

Potsdam, an hour away from us, is a lovely college town full of cafes, international cuisine, boutiques, and access to the Raquette River.  There is art and academia, and it seems very pedestrian friendly.  I wish it were closer so I could live there!

Our city is Watertown.  While smaller than Utica, it seems cleaner and more alive.  There are many shops, restaurants, a huge and ornate library, and a thriving farmers market that is right in the middle of everything on Wednesdays (although parking is hard to find...) and a second, smaller one closer to the community college on Saturdays.

I am finding things to keep me busy outside of work and home.  There are a lot of classes that I would like to take advantage of when I have a little more money - yoga, sustainable/organic gardening, tai chi, weaving, drumming....  I've even found belly dancing classes a few towns away.  The CUUPs chapter is now providing me a place to practice Paganism more regularly with others.  A second New Age shop just opened up here.  The Mustard Seed in Watertown is my vegetarian cafe.  We have an amazing Thai restaurant, a decent Indian restaurant, and now have hibachi!  We are super close to the Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Ottawa, and Montreal.  The military presence originally gave Northern NY a conservative feel, and I'm sure a majority of people here are very conservative, but the area is more diverse than that.    I'm feeling happier here and more at home, and that's even without me waxing poetic about how I have an amazing job with wonderful people!

There are things I miss.  The proximity to my family and friends is one of them.  My parents, especially my father, keep talking about moving up here.  They really like it.  I wish they would.  I miss seeing them as much as I used to.  There are things about Utica I miss as well: the amazing Stanley theater and the art museum mostly.  The Stanley gets Broadway shows and MWPAI has a spectacular collection as well as their affordable film series.  Weretoad and I used to take advantage of that all the time.  We also miss Minar, the Indian Restaurant in Utica.  The place in Watertown isn't bad - it's quite good really - but the environment at Minar was special.  The staff knew us and the decor was warmer feeling.  Utica also had more independent cafes.  I've found some in Clayton, Canton, and Potsdam, but Watertown only seems to have Paneera and the closest thin in my hometown is a Jrek's Sub Shop.

I also miss how close everything was in the Mohawk Valley.  Unless living in the extreme outskirts, it only took 15-20 minutes to get anywhere.  Up here, we have to drive 30 minutes to Watertown, 30 minutes to A Bay, 40 minutes to Clayton, 40 minutes to Canton, 1 hour to Potsdam...  It's annoying and stressful to someone who wants to be more environmentally friendly.  But even if I were to move to Watertown so I could be closer to everything there, I would then be 30 minutes from my job.  I can't win, aside from moving in between - which is what we'd like to do.  But, as the author of F that S says in her latest blog entry, living in the North Country comes with a lot of driving.  Her entry assuaged my inner guilt, reminding me that the little things one does to help the environment do add up.  Thanks for that!

While I'm certainly not close-minded to moving elsewhere down the road, I am finding myself happy here.  I have days or moments when I am annoyed by the driving, but that's really the worst part, and I want to focus on the best parts, of which there are many.

Here's to another year of exploration and growth in the North Country!


* I've not seen either yet, but my place of employment was on lockdown due to a bear once.


( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

Happy Summer Solstice!

The longest day of the year was largely overshadowed by work today.  I'm thankful for the celebratory time I had this weekend.  I would like to pick strawberries though.  Weretoad and I have a tradition in which we pick strawberries on or around the Summer Solstice.  I know there are places up here; it's just a matter of getting the time.

We made today special by visiting with a friend who was in the area with her boyfriend on vacation.  I haven't seen her since our handfasting in October.  It was great to actually hang out with a friend in our neck of the woods for a change.  Immediate family aside, people generally don't visit us.  We're rather far from the tribe.  We went to the Lyric Cafe in Clayton and sat outside.  Weretoad and I had iced chai lattes and roasted mushrooms with onions and peppers.  Mmmm...  The Bay makes for a nice atmosphere, even when it's only a appreciated in the background.

My vacation officially starts next week.  I'm looking forward to more time in Alexandria Bay.

First Harvest!

My husband and I made tempeh sandwiches with a side of steamed asparagus for dinner today.  We sliced some organic tomato for the sandwich and also used some freshly harvested oakleaf lettuce from my garden today!  I have some more stored in the fridge for future sandwiches or salads.  I think I would like to get another container for some spinach now...  Gods, I can't wait for some ripe home-grown tomatoes!  Those are the best.





[ For my LJ friends, please visit me at: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ ]

I'm feeling pretty good today.  I've been doing a lot of soul-searching and research this month.  I've been making changes, thinking about them, tweaking them...  I've been reflecting on my spirituality and other spiritualities.  I feel like I found a happy medium today, and that I am at peace with myself and my relationship with everything.  This last month has been a journey/experiment.  I feel that I've found a balance I'm happy with and spiritually secure in.

In other news, I've been working on a drawing*.

I know it's kind of difficult to see.  I'm not done with him yet, and I actually want to go over him with a fine pen.  It's the first drawing I've done in a couple weeks.


*http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/

Visiting for Easter

My parents want to visit next weekend!  I'm very happy and excited to see them, but the situation makes me laugh.  They were talking about going out to eat somewhere but I suggested making dinner.

"But it's Easter!  We don't want you to have to work."

Oh, my silly if well-meaning parents.  I explained, for the millionth time, that I don't celebrate Easter and that I wouldn't mind making them a nice dinner so that they don't have to work or spend lots of money on their special holiday.  They deserve it and I've been meaning to make them a nice dinner since moving up here!  We have a Cracker Barrel in Watertown and, ever since discovering it, my mum has been addicted to visiting us and going there for dinner.

As some of you know I've recently given up dairy, making me an ovo vegetarian.  I'm trying to eat more local when it's available, so I'm only eating eggs from local farmers I trust.  In other words, when eating out, I'll be a vegan.  My mother is concerned I won't get enough protein so I'm excited to show her what I can do.  My father is surprisingly more supportive.  Although not a vegetarian, he's been trying to give up/limit his dairy for various reasons.

One of my new favorite things to make is shepherds pie.  I make it just about every week using a haul of root veggies from Doxtater's Farners Market and a mix of peas, mushrooms and, occasionally, tofu.  Recently I've been favoring the mushrooms in this recipe.  I think that will be the main dish, along with some homemade bread and some sort of green.  Maybe a few deviled eggs to celebrate the spring.  I'm not sure about dessert yet...  I have some frozen strawberries so maybe I could do something with them.  Hmmm...maybe pound cake with strawberries?

Where would we be without our freezers?  Seriously, I feel so dependent on that and my refrigerator.  This summer, I really want to do more canning and, maybe, get a dehydrator.  My soon-to-be brother-in-law has one and it works amazingly well.  When I think about how my ancestors kept their food, it's really amazing to me, and I can understand why spring and summer were so celebrated.

So what about you, dear readers?  Do you have Christian family members celebrating Easter?  Are they including you in their celebration?

New Things in the North Country

Oh!  A couple things I wanted to mention before bed.

First off, Watertown is getting a sushi and hibachi restaurant!  Woo!  I have no idea when it's opening but the thought of a more diverse cuisine up here is worth celebrating!

Second, there's apparently going to be a psychic fair in Clayton, NY (40 minutes away from my current home) in the Clayton Opera House on the 24th and 25th of April.  There isn't a lot of information on it at the moment, but I'll try to keep abreast of the situation.  I don't know if I'll go or not, but it seemed pertinent to the Pagan community.

Have a goodnight and a lovely Monday!

Eating local means eating within season.

A couple years ago I was attending a Wicca 101 class lead by my good friend Katrina. At this time I had already left Wicca for Druidism, but I felt the desire to attend her class for various reasons: friendship, a hope to learn something different, a new perspective, and an excuse to practice my meditation skills. One of the biggest things I got out of the class was a newfound understanding of the Wheel of the Year and its connection to the land and agriculture. Intellectually I realized that certain foods were connected with the seasons and were therefore symbolic of the holidays. It wasn't until her discussion on food and the High Days that it dawned on me - eating, especially to someone on an Earth-centered path, is an incredibly spiritual act!

That lesson, combined with my desire to be more sustainable and ecologically responsible, has lead me to seek out different ways of eating and cooking. My husband and I have cut out most of the HFC in our diet. We're now trying to limit the amount of corn we have. Basically, if we don't expect corn to be in the product but it shows up on the list, we don't buy it. This means no more Kraft Mac and Cheese or Smuckers jam! In other words, we're attempting to avoid processed foods while simultaneously starting to boycott big business farms/monocultures . We still buy veggie burgers but we don't eat them often and I'm moving more towards making my own out of lentil, nuts, and bread crumbs. We've been religiously buying organic, naturally sweetened cereals. Our snacks are pickled veggies, fruit, nuts, and dries berries from the Mennonites and Amish. (I like to keep a dish full of nuts on the coffee table for snack attacks.) Trying to wean myself off the Veggie Bootie... I loves it... I may make it a weekend treat. Hubby still likes his chocolate syrup too... Baby steps, right?

Anyway, I was thinking more about our desire to be more supportive of our local farmers' market and how that means, for the most part, eating within season. What's available at the market right now? Eggs, preserves, onions, squash, and potatoes, potatoes, potatoes! We already have tons from a future in-law.

So eating in the winter means eating potatoes. Who ate a lot of potatoes? My Irish ancestors, of course! In fact, our rotund starchy friends have been a staple of the British Isles as a whole for decades. It only makes sense to look to them for inspiration. During my lunch break today I started to collect different potato recipes - Irish, British, and "Newish."

Tonight I'm trying my hand at Cornish pasties. I remember loving them when in Penzance. I only had a couple, but I've always meant to try making them myself. My first batch isn't really anything spectacular, but if I continue to practice I'm sure I'll get better at the construction. Next on the list is vegetarian shepherds pie.

Oh, and my hubby makes some pretty mean homemade French fries.

Eating Local

Eating local has become an important goal for me. My husband and I watched Food Inc. I had been meaning to watch it for months but ...oh you know how that goes. Anyway, it was really well-done. Much was not a surprise or I already knew about it, but there were plenty of "woah" moments for me. Those who know me know that my husband and I are vegetarians for environmental and ethical reasons. I often think I'm a bit more liberal about it than my husband in that I'm always quick to tell people that I'm not anti-hunting or against small, sustainable, humane meat farms. A lot of people expect a barrage of anti-meat talk from me and, though I do consider vegetarianism to be one of the best environmental approaches at the moment, I understand that some people really don't want to or, in some cases, physically can't. Long story short, this documentary isn't anti-meat - it's anti-factory farming and anti-fast food. There were very few gory scenes of slaughter if any at all. There was definitely some footage of the animals' living conditions (toned down - most factory farms won't let just anyone wander in) and some food processing footage. So "icky scenes" shouldn't be a concern.

Anyway, the movie reinvigorated my desire to eat locally. As much as I miss my old stomping ground, there are an abundant number of small, local farms who participate in markets and will sell you meat, eggs, and, in some rare cases, milk from their own cows.

But it's getting to be the end of January! It's cold! What could possibly be in season right now?

Well, according to Sustainable Table there are several things! All thanks to "hothouses" and storage, apples, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, turnips, and winter squash are in season. That's a lot of stew and soup! And mixed with dried legumes.... mmmm!

Spiritual Goals for 2010

Everybody has their lists of resolutions and I've already added my own in the form of environmentalist goals (some of which are harder to keep than others due to hubris). I'm working hard to try and remember my reusable bags and Ron and I have exclusively been purchasing eco-friendly recycled, degradable, chlorine-free toilet paper and paper towels. (We make the paper towels last by only using them for cleaning our ferret cage and getting cat vomit off the carpet. Truly nasty messes. We use rags made from old tshirts for everything else.)

But I have other goals, some of which could have been posted on my list of eco-friendly goals. Anyway, here is what I want to do more of in 2010.

1) Improve My Gardening Skills - This year finds me in a first floor apartment. I'm not allowed to change the landscaping in any way, but I do have a nice little patio. Last year I started a container garden and I still have some of the plants - catnip, chives, and even a tomato plant that has yet to flower! I want to build on my garden this year. Last year I planted beans, lettuce, and tomatoes. Everything was started from heirloom seeds. This year I want to add radishes, peppers, cucumbers, and maybe some eggplant. I'd like to add more herbs as well including oregano.

2) Frequent the Farmers' Market - Watertown has a great farmers' market every Wednesday in the summer. I was only able to visit once in August, the month we moved to the North Country. This year I want to take advantage of all the locally grown food. While I'm hoping to get the bulk of my tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, and herbs from home, I could buy more tomatoes, peppers, and cukes at the market. I could also buy potatoes, squash, corn, and other such yummies.

3) Sew More For My Spirituality - I want to make myself a warm cloak to wear to rituals. My husband could use one as well. I'm hoping to attend Wellspring and would love to make a banner to decorate our tent. I want to ask my grove what they want from me because I would love to give back.

4) Start the Generalist Study Program and the Artisan Guild Study Program. I also want to try getting accepted to the Initiate Study Program. Druidism and ADF have become important to me and I want to learn more and give back.

5) Contribute articles to OL and send more in to Tribeways. Again, giving back.

6) And as always - I want to meditate more.

What are your spiritual goals?