Oh, for the love of laundry.

The more I search out amongst this life for the simplicity upon which I wish to build MY life, the more I come to realise the extent to which modern conveniences deprive us of the artful nature of many everyday tasks as they were performed in the past. Not to mention how much we now take them for granted. And, as equally beautiful as were the ways in which those days now long passed were lived, so too were the tools that were used to perform such daily household undertakings. So as I search daily for ways to create a more meaningful existence, I also set about fossicking and foraging through op-shops and second-hand stores for those items now aged, and vintage, and full of history and character that will always remind me that in fact I still have hands, and hands have much ability and purpose that seems to be preoccupied in this modern world.

Okay, so I still employ the services of my electric washing machine and not of my washboard, but not that many years ago there simply was little if any other choice. What can now be done with the push of a few buttons, used to be a whole days performance, yet even with modern convenience some of us still can't seem to find the time. 

If you consider the amount of time that we spend each day wearing clothes, drying our bodies with towels, washing the grubby faces of our children with cloths, or snuggled up between blankets and sheets to sleep, then linens and fabrics have a fairly important role in our lives; And, so to then does laundering it. 

I must admit I do enjoy the luxury of having a machine that washes my clothes for me, as opposed to having to make a trip to the river every time a basket of dirty clothes needs washing. But then again, just like the sweetness of dry sheets freshly plucked from a clothesline in the open breeze, I imagine the effort of a good old washing day down in the river would feel rather rewarding.

Yet either way, the task itself can be far more meaningful and rewarding when the importance of what washing is can be considered, the beauty in it discovered, and the effort sought - to get physical and get your hands dirty, or in this case clean. Gently caring for the cloths, and clothes, and fabrics that in turn provide us comfort and protection, rather than seeing it simply as a monotonous chore.

Equally important is what we use to wash our clothes. Since I was very little I have had to live with the often irritation of scratchy skin, but having for the past few years begun using plant and mineral based washing powders, I have aided the resolution of a potentially lifelong discomfort. It also helps to live a healthy and balanced life, but every little part of life makes up the whole. I also have the peace of mind in knowing that what is discarded back into the earth is of as least detriment as possible.

The good thing about living with such enthusiasm is that regardless of the task at hand kids seem to enjoy getting involved with anything you do, it seems to simply not matter when it's fun. If everyday that I wash our clothes my little man sees a joy in me as I do, and he can share in that, then I don't doubt that he may also discover this love for laundry.

Being outside in the breeze with your toes in the grass and breathing in deeply - its delightfully serene and calming with a real childlike enjoyment to it, and why should it have to be any other way. Life is meant to be enjoyed, filled with simple pleasures, like floating between sheets drying on a line, Or eating left-over birthday cake in your very own make-shift tent on the side of a hill...

...And reading aloud stories to the passing breeze of giants, and elves, and devious little woodland animals causing mischief in an enchanted woods a few forests away from here...

The Seeds We Sow

As our magnificent summer days gradually draw down to a close, I find a gratitude for the springs of hope found and the rather effervescent effects these past months have had on our simply being. Each day still brings a comforting warmth to our adventures along riverside, upon seashore or amongst our secluded magical forest, and the evening light still lingers about longer than it will once the inevitably approaching Autumny-Winter nights arrive, although, there is a noticeable shortening, if only by moments each day.

I am also rather pleased that I chose to set aside my sewing machine, my needles and treads, my pencils, and all of my other creatively crafty ventures (just for the time being) to utilise every moment possible we’ve been offered out beneath the sky spent floating upon lightly summer breezes, getting our fingers deep amongst the soil, and in further exploration of the great unknown beyond our big back garden. All of this has been substantial and symbolic in the strengthening of how we are to live life. But, it has been the process of creating our own rather productive vegetable garden that has really changed something in both myself and my no longer six year old boy, but as I write, whilst he sleeps, he’s in transition to awaken tomorrow as seven.

Ideally, a healthy garden starts with good soil, but occasionally we’re not so fortunate. Sometimes there is the need to nurture; to condition the soil which would otherwise only cause the plants stress and lack the goodness to produce strong and healthy vegetables, and herbs, and flowers. And then there are the seeds that we sow into that soil, that bring about colour and growth and life to otherwise bare earth left simply only with the potential for great things. I quite like the sentiment in such lessons both for gardening, and for parenting, and just in life for that matter; for it is the seeds we sow in our children that become the garden of their lives. So a few months ago when we first mustered some productivity out of the intention to start a garden, had begun building its structure and tilled and gently tended to the soil, we gathered ourselves some seeds. But their was one in particular that seemed extra full of potential......

A little pair of hands took that seed and placed it beneath the surface of the earth collected into a little pot by a window, and patiently we waited... Three days later that one seed sprouted two tiny little leaves and they began to stretch themselves out to bask in the warmth of the sun.

Two leaves grew, and then another, and another...

After a number of weeks, and many more leaves had grown as well as numerous courgettes which were picked and eaten, one particular courgette began to grow bigger than the rest, until it eventually became a marrow. 

Apparently once it had matured it would be full of seeds that we could harvest. So just like any other day, we set about to work through our list of daily tasks of living, and on this day it was to go in search of these seeds.

Farewell to Marrow, I'll miss you.

  

There were many lessons to be taught and learned through this journey. For a little boy one day off arriving at seven, many of these came to fruition when he saw the dozens of seeds inside a marrow he had grown from just one. There were lessons of patience and perseverance and the rewards of practicing such virtues. Lessons of nurturing and care, of germinating seeds and growing them into plants let alone into vegetables that can be harvested, cooked and eaten. Lessons of sustainability and development, and the ongoing process of composting our waste; of resourcefulness and creativity, of courage and adventure. And, of the cycle of life, in that all of what we had accomplished had started with one simple idea and one small seed. That one seed, went on to reproduce more seeds than we would need to grow courgettes to feed the whole neighbourhood next summer, and that first lingering thought has stemmed into a vast array of exciting ideas to nourish our minds as we pursue our ideals; to live resourcefully, sustainably, creatively and endlessly abundant with Life.

It's all in the seeds that we sow.

Tomayto, Tomahto

However you pronounce tomato, there is something simply delightful about the flavourful, juicy, colourful and totally versatile fruits of the tomato plant. But to grow them yourself in your very own garden opens up another world of tasty possibilities. For the first time this past summer my little man and I have grown our very own tomatoes in an array of shapes, colours and sizes from the rich soils of my newly up-and-running vegetable garden; with rather some success I must say too. In the middle of spring, being some of the very first plants to go into my fresh new garden beds, we enthusiastically planted about eighteen tomato seedlings. Having sourced some from my local organic grocer and the rest from a green-fingered old chap at a church fair, all up I paid roughly about $15 for what I had no idea would produce more than 15 kilos of fruit.. and counting. But at the time, it was in the ground they went.

 

 And we curiously watched them grow...

Watered them regularly, feed them occasionally with liquid manure fertiliser and watched them slowly get bigger...

Until eventually we had a tomato hedge, as of course being a first-time gardener I planted them a little bit too close together. But, we then watched as an abundance of fruit grew, and out from each of the tiny little yellow flowers came a tiny little tomato.

 

and then finally they began to change colour and we were picking between 400 & 500 grams of tomatoes everyday. Yet even eating them everyday, the pile began to grow and I had to get creative.

  

I've eaten them freshly sliced on top of my toasted sourdough, I've made salads and pasta sauces, I've roasted them and I've pan-fried them..

they've been tossed together with leftover pasta, avocado & herbs and gone to school with my little man for an exciting school lunch,

they've come with silly faces and proved rather entertaining at times,

and alongside some red capsicums and a few fiery green chillis straight from the garden they've made a number of batches of fantastic relish as well..

It's been helpful having well draining and fertile soil, lots of sun, and two avid enthusiasts gently keeping watch... but with some good compost, a bag of manure if its handy and a little bit of effort, a small spot in your back garden or a couple of pots at the back door, even just four or five lively green plants should provide you with a decent crop. Its totally economical and so definitely worth the effort; and you also save on all the packaging that comes with commercially grown tomatoes. I unknowingly started with a fairly big patch this year and I reaped the rewards for it.. but next year I'm totally going bigger... 

So in a few days time as the daily pickings begin to slow, I'll take a few of each variety and squeeze the contents out into jars and soak them in water for two or three days. Once the little bit of flesh has separated from the seeds I can drain them, dry them, and pop them into envelopes for next year. So come the first week of the next spring I'll stick them straight into fresh seed raising mix for germination, and we can start the whole process all over again. I cant wait! But first I've got Autumn and Winter vegetables to grow, so there's much work ahead to be done, fun to be had, and joy to be found in our garden.