Feb 5, 20223 min read

Life in the Off-Season

Hello! It is February and here in the PNW the first signs of the changing season are starting to show. Dainty little Snowdrops flowers and green shoots of tulips are popping up in the garden. Personally, I am starting to wake up earlier in the morning. When I was younger, in my late twenties, deep in the winter I would get nervous that I would never have enough energy for spring jobs once that season arrived. Then I realized that there is a rhythm to the year, and just like the perennials that are sleeping underground, I too slow down in the darker months and become more introspective and can even happily hang out on the couch. It was so good to realize I don't need to fear this lazier mode. Better to savour it! This week I am in the transitional time, moving from lethargic to energized. The kids and I had some lovely snuggles on the sofa this week while at the same time I planned my 2022 garden. Happy making.

I feel best when at least a bit of each day is spent working with plants in some form or another. I am extremely grateful for my greenhouse. It is super tiny and/but I still love it. Warmish and totally dry while the rain pours down and the wind blows outside. A place to take in the green that I crave.

I have all sorts of seedlings in the greenhouse at the moment. Some seeds I planted last August through September, such as Rudbeckia, Foxglove and Viola. I began transplanting into larger pots this week: statice, strawflowers and starflowers. Later on, many of these very plants will be mature and planted into my flower beds while others will sell in the Garden Stand to fill local gardens. These flowers are all great cut flowers for fresh bouquets, but I intend to dry most of them this year. I also planted more sweet peas this week. Hard to believe these seeds will grow tall into the prettiest, most fragrant deer fence!

Indoors, I worked with Rosemary. When I think of taking care of my hair, there are two plants that particularly come to mind: Rosemary and Wild Chamomile. (When I was a girl, I thought I could make my hair blonde if I soaked it long enough in chamomile tea and lemon juice and sat out in the sun. lol. Didn't work! Good thing that I fully embraced my dark hair long ago because I can no longer imagine being outdoors without a hat on!)

wild rose soap, salt bar soap, and shampoo bars aging on racks next to jars of dried botanicals including wild rose buds, organic calendula flowers, wild turkey tail mushrooms and measuring cup of coconut oild

I used rosemary from my garden to make Rosemary Shampoo Bars yesterday. Really fun! Then I washed my hair with the very first of my Wild Chamomile Shampoo. Whenever I try out a new product, I am taken over by butterflies of both nervousness AND excitement. So excited about the prospect of loving a new creation, of a job well done, of research and development that panned out. AND so scared that it won't actually be good enough, not up to my expectations, and I will have to go back to the drawing board. I was so relieved that I actually love my new shampoo bar. I created it to be stand alone. To clean and moisturize my hair, all in one go. It works! Yay! But I also know that not everyone will feel complete without adding another conditioning step or styling product. Some days I will want something else, too. Especially depending on how the weather is treating my hair. So I made a new Rosemary Hair Conditioning Balm. Another fun challenge! I am happy with it! Tomorrow is Friday but I am already looking forward to what I am going to get up to next week.