Sat 25 Apr 2009
The Simple Life
Posted by Amanda under Beekeeping, Food, General, Growing
[7] Comments
When I say, “The Simple Life” what do you think of?
What does the Simple Life mean to you? To me it means going back to the basics. I do this with my faith/spiritualism a lot more often than I do it with my food/food source. I want to go back to the basics. What do I believe in? What do I want to support? What activities are closest to who I want to be? Who do I want to be when I grow up?
I know these are pretty deep questions. But let’s start with a definition that we can all agree on.
The Simple life, working the land. Growing the food we eat. Being responsible for what we do to our chunk of land. I hear of the woman who sued MacDonalds or Tim Hortons or whatever for making her coffee too hot. I see people suing people, and the more folks talk about liability, the more I want to go back to the basics! I want to be responsible for my impact on the world around me. I want to be intentional. I want to be basic. Simple. Life.
I don’t know what this means yet. I talk about it in vague terms. I want to grab a’hold of something. So I’m starting with tomatoes. I’m grabbing a hold of my tomatoes and saying “I will be responsible for the tomatoes I eat.” I grow them, I nurture them from seed, I coax them through childhood, and voila! I plant them in the ground.
Or shall I say, Marc plants them in the ground. We planted our tomatoes outside. As you can see, they were a fair size. And we’ll just see how they do. So I shall be responsible for the tomatoes I eat. Or don’t eat, if the case may be.
I’m mentally getting ready to move. This mental preparation is much more time consuming than just putting my belongings in boxes. But it is necessary. And I look at all the stuff we have. What do we have all this for? How much stuff does one (or two) need? But the radio says I should buy more. Have more. Thus Be more.
What I would like to be is less busy doing work stuff and more busy doing life stuff. As Theresa says, I want to be making my own bread, but I just don’t have time to invest 3 hrs into baking a loaf of bread when it takes 10 minutes to buy a loaf of bread. Oh! But What a Loaf!
I struggle with prioritizing my time. I have gardening, bee hive building, cheese-making, bread-baking, socializing, reading, playing music, writing. And suddenly, I need a mental day to recuperate from the busyness of life in general. Will it stop? Does it stop? Someone out there, reassure me!
Remind me, life is a journey. I am on this journey now. Here I am now. Now. I am here.
Here I am. And I wonder why my white shirts are always getting dirty? haha.
Anyway, the tomatoes are planted and outside. The bees are gathering nectar and pollen. The leeks are “leeking,” the radishes are sprouting and I am gathering my motivation to try another volley of this journey.
Wanna come?
Let’s cheer the tomatoes on!
April 26th, 2009 at 7:42 am
I think your quest lead a simple life is wonderful. Out here in the West, we live in such a materialistic world. A big storage unit place just opened down the road from us and the name of it is called, “Storage for Your Life”…… kind of sickening when people have to rent storage units to hold all of the stuff they own because their garage no longer fits it all or their house is getting too small.
What you say about responsibility is right on. The people in our culture are trying to take less and less responsibility for what they do. Nothing in our society tells people to grow up. People in their middle age don’t know how to cope because they’re stuck blaming everyone except themselves for how their life is turning out.
Anyways. I hear ya. And even though I don’t have a HUGE vegetable gardening bursting with life, re-prioritizing activities and things has definitely been on our minds lately, especially with our new thoughts toward our future. Rob is hesitant to even buy a patio set this summer because he figures we’ll just have to get rid of it next year!
Talk to you later.
April 26th, 2009 at 9:01 am
…a quote from a little book entitled, A Woman’s Guide to a Simpler Life. “Being ready for a simpler life implies that we are willing to hold up every choice, past and present, and consider whether it grows clearer or fuzzier when viewed in the light of what we hold most dear…Even thinking about simplifying your life represents progress.” Andrea Van Steenhouse
“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” Amelia Earhart, American aviator
Go, little tomato shoots, go!
April 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Your toms are HUGE!! When did you start them? January??? ; )
April 28th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
I’m starting small also but I think that if enough people start small then it’s way better if no one starts anything at all. I have my little tomato seeds that you gave me and everyday I look to see if there is a little green sprout. I’ve also planted 3 zucchini seeds and my strawberries and raspberries are reaching out for the sun. I’m proud of your simple life and proud of what your doing.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I had a lovely tomato plant last year from Heidi’s seeds. It was big and healthy and I tended to it all summer while at Shawnigan. Every time I questioned my ability to look after my “soon-to-come-outside” baby, I would look at my tomato plant and say, “It’s healthy and strong, I haven’t killed it. The baby will be fine.” And then we moved to Lantzville and I put the tomato plant in it’s pot up in the bigger garden and it got lots of sunshine and started to flower. The tomatoes were lovely and not quite ready to pick… and then I gave birth and holed up in my little birthing room for a week… and the tomatoes withered in the too hot sun and the plant shriveled. I took Aurora out to water it once, but then another week went by and it was in even worse shape and it all died. It was a sad end to a lovely strong tomato plant. Thankfully, Aurora is now the healthy and strong one and she hasn’t followed the lead of the tomato plant that had been my reassurance that I could look after a child.
May 5th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
And yes I am aware that my comment above has absolutely NOTHING to do with living simply. I felt compelled to share about tomato plants. But I do have lots to say about living simply, just not right now!!!
May 6th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Andrea: haha, I started them March 1st. I was an eager gardener. I mean, it snowed at least three more times after I’d planted my seeds.
Karina: Thank you for your thoughts. I don’t even consider having a veggie garden as the only way to live simply. Your exploration with sour dough starters, yoghurt and sprouts have been inspiring to me that I can do it myself! Thank you for your encouragement.
Mom: Thank you for your encouragement and cheering on my tomatoes. I love your quotes.
Michelle: Your tomato plant representing the capability to care for something, nurture something, I believe that is one of the foundations of living simply. I’m really glad you shared that story.
One thing I’d like to add is that I thought living simply would have a relaxing atmosphere. Though it may be more peaceful, as my mom says, it certainly is busy! Last night we ran home to make homemade pasta, then to run out and repot the blooming tomatoes so that they don’t grow out of their pots. Busier than ever but sleeping soundly. I think it evens out!