dirty nails & looking at justice

the time, it approaches. tomorrow david and i are picking up our rototiller from dennis and erin fry's house and are taking it over to our shared garden. sunday we are getting our fingernails blackened!! muhaha! here is this years plan, i hope that is able to be viewed publicly. let me know if there is a problem. ill also be using flowers to both attract pollinators (bees and butterflies) and good predators (praying mantid, parasitic wasps, lady bugs, etc) as well as to mask the scent of certain plants (i.e. nasturtiums to cucumbers, african or french marigolds to tomatoes). this will be the first season im really starting to stretch my legs with organic techniques so we shall see where it goes! last year we didn't do much of anything besides set up slug traps with beer. btw those are rather revolting alive, compounded in grossness when they are dead and swimming in beer. better that than those slimy buggers eating our lettuces! our collards got hit with something last year but we never put a ton of effort into fighting it or even figuring out what it was. i think with organic gardening (dare i suggest any gardening) that there needs to be a reasonable tolerance of bugs. it's their garden too.

sidebar: there is a really good children's book called "Who's Garden Is It?" that i highly recommend. it is about a lady who sees a gorgeous plot and says "who's garden is it?" and a gardener claims it. a rabbit rebuts his statement saying it is his garden. then another animal rebuts that. so on and so forth until even the bacteria are fighting over who's garden it is! it's really a great way to introduce children to the idea of permaculture and ecosystem symbiosis.

i love augustine. i mean im his mama and all that but i really *like* him too beyond the obligatory i'd-die-for-you commitment that comes with being a mother. he is just so chatty and joyful and tells hilarious stories. we had his teacher conferences today and they just raved about how sweet and joyful he is and that his joy is infectious around the classroom, including them. this is not the first person to have said that exact same thing. his teacher at church said "if im ever having a bad day, i need to just talk to augustine!" i dig that. he is exactly the kind of kid i always wanted him to be. i would change absolutely nothing about him. we flew kites at the park a few days ago - his first kite. the kite he's had since near christmas and has never flown before. he shared it with a kid who wanted a turn and BLAM stuck in a tree. he took it like a champ! intense disappointment but understood there was nothing to be done and no sense in getting mad at the kid over an accident. we take sharing very seriously in our family. not just toys and on a kid level, but everything we own is everybody's as well. if we are using it or have immediate plans for it, it is ours. if we are not using it and have no plans for it, anyone can borrow it or have it depending on the situation. i want to raise generous children who are not motivated by "things" but by ideas. ideas of charity, generosity, community, love, and integrity rooted of course in our family in Jesus. i want them to look at the world and determine what justice is through the eyes of Christ.