Author Journey: April 22, 2022 - Just Living

 Welcome back to my scenic route through life! I've been doing exactly that this week. My family has been trying to get a nice little garden going, using a few different methods to see what's going to work best. It's a difficult process for me, seeing I do NOT have a green thumb. I'm so thankful for my dad who's been growing crops, vegetables, and fruit almost all his life. One thing that bothers me is that I wanted to go all organic. And wouldn't you know the tiny patch of land on the north side of our house that has sat idle for years has been leased to a soybean farmer this year. Thankfully, it's too small to apply all the chemicals with a crop duster. They'll have to use a sprayer hooked onto a tractor. It'll limit the spread to our farm...but the bayou's going to suffer. So disappointing...

Anyway, back to the pertinent things...

Author Journey: This Week in Writing

Confession time! I didn't get much done this week. My plan was to work on the maps. I need to make sure the original map from Ripples is still good to go, as well as creating a better map of Shinnoah for The Tale of Outh'n Durr. I opened the program, pulled up the original map, and then ended up doing something else. I've been seriously scattered lately. It's probably because I'm closer to fifty I'm just going to go through some more natural changes. It is what it is, but I'm so ready to get Outh'n's story out to readers. Even if it was ready, I can't copyright anything until everything is ready to go...and it isn't. Almost...

Author Life: The Important Distractions

You read correctly! These distractions are quite important. I'm trying my hand at growing a garden from seeds. Tomatoes are ornery when starting them from seeds, but I hope my last four seeds will take and thrive. I've learned a little bit from the seeds that grew in my first round and those that failed. 

If all the seeds take off, we'll have a nice variety: 

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Dill
• Chives
• Summer Crookneck Squash
• Butternut Squash
• Spaghetti Squash
• Turks Turbin Squash
• Red Bell Peppers
• Chamomile
• Nasturtium
• St. John's Wort
• Calendula
• Firecracker Marigold
• Mammoth Sunflowers
• Sunflower mix
• Peaches
• Pears
• Spinach
• Parsley
• Catnip
• Russet potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Purple Hull Peas (Cowpeas)
• Okra 

And to draw pollinators, I also grabbed three packets of wildflower seeds which I hope will grow in our area. There's echinacea in one of them, so I'm hoping we'll see those come up, at least. My dad started the russets and okra. He's also the one planted the purple hulls. (They're my favorite pea, but I can't eat them anymore. That's sad, but it coule be worse.) The fruit trees are also his, including some young citrus trees which we probably won't see much yield from just yet. 

I am looking forward to how all this is going to grow and hoping for a bountiful harvest when the time comes. I'm also hoping to plant again later for a fall crop. As you can imagine, a garden this varietous takes quite a bit of time and effort. I started today with a headache and that bodes ill for working outside. 

Still, it must be done. Time is running out to get those seeds in the ground before we have too many hot days in a row. I started quite a few varieties inside, but the rest have to go directly into the ground. As I'm typing this, the temp is around 70 F. If that wasn't enough, we're pretty much guaranteed a higher humidity. That's just how it is around here. 

This week's been a M'Neshunnayan kind of week with all the gardening going on. As much as I hate the traditional row-type gardens, it's what my dad is used to and I'm reliant on him and my son for prepping the dirt and pointing out the best areas to encourage growth. I hope to have a few containers full of fresh veggies, herbs, and flowers on our porch, too, though. Your prayers for the success of our efforts would be appreciated so much!

Thanks for reading today. Please don't give up on me. I'm still determined to get my stories out there. 

Until next time...