Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Sowing the Seeds of Love

That's what I've been doing since late January. There are seedlings everywhere at the mo, in my greenhouse
in my conservatory
and already planted out in the veggie garden, growing like no body's business.
Whenever I do a spot of sowing that song by Tears for Fears always pops into my head; Sowing the Seeds of Love. And they are so right, that really is what we are doing.


Just think about it. What's a more loving act than feeding the ones you love? Life is precious and can only be sustained with food. Giving our loved ones good, healthy food keeps them healthy and happy too. I think that is one of the big reasons that growing your own food has made such a comeback. With all the rubbish in the supermarkets that is passed off as food, we feel the strong urge to grow our own to make sure that we keep our friends and families healthy and ourselves as well.
This feeding of our loved ones goes back a looooooooooooooooong way. There was a time when (wo)mankind were hunters and gatherers. Unfortunately the stress in our society has always been placed on the hunters so lets break the mold and focus on the gatherers. That's you and me, girlfriend!
While the menfolk were off hunting bears or boars or something of that ilk, the women went gathering nuts and berries and veggies and anything else edible that they could lay their hot little hands on. Women had to put food on the table and as the men were not always successful in the hunt (sorry, no mammoth steak today) us women had to make sure that there was enough food to feed all the hungry mouths.
This gathering malarkey went on for quite a while ( a million or so years or thereabouts) and must have been rather time consuming as you had to do everything on the hoof. A lot of thinking and planning was involved as well; you had to remember which shrub carried ripe berries at which time, remember at what time of year you could gather nuts and where, know when it's time to score some edible greens etc. It had to be done all on foot while keeping an eye on the kids as well; hey don't pull the tail of that sable tooth tiger, just leave that big kitty alone! Multi-tasking was the name of the game then too for us women..
The women who were best at this sort of thing had the best chance to survive and pass on their gathering and multi-tasking skills to the next generation (selection is the name of that game). Nowadays we women still possess those skills and that's why we are, for instance, so very good at shopping. We know where to find the best bargains, at which time of year (sale!) and we love bringing home all the goodies by the bagful. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;-)
As I said, all that food gathering was very time consuming and one day a clever woman (it had to be a woman, right?) had this brilliant idea: why don't we grow our own food instead of wandering around hoping to find something to eat? That's how the first gardener was born and as she was a woman she thought not only of her stomach but of her soul/spirit too and she grew all the lovely food and beautiful flowers for the family.
And the women also figured out a way how to prepare all that delicious food once it was harvested and how to preserve it so that there was food in wintertime too.
And we're still doing it today, our methods may have changed a bit but the principle has stayed the same; growing food, preparing it and feeding our loved ones and ourselves with it. Is there anything more satisfying then having & sharing with our loved ones a scrumptious meal prepared with love and homegrown from the seeds of love?
Hot love with Dolly and nasturtiums

Keep on sowing and growing and cooking!

Sowing the seeds of love
The seeds of love
Sowing the seeds
An end to need
And the politics of greed
With loveTears for Fears

copyright 2008 Y.E.W. Heuzen

F
irst of all in gardening, comes the preparation of the soil. Give the plants the food they need and plenty of water, and the blessed sunlight will do the rest. Helena Rutherford Ely, A Woman's Hardy Garden, 1903

40 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Right on Yolanda, and it looks like you've done a lot of gathering from your own garden. Lots of goodness to eat at Bliss today!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

gintoino said...

And you collected all that from your garden? Wow! One if these days my vegetable garden will be a beautiful and productive place just like yours (I hope ;-) ).
BTW did the asparagus seeds I sent you germinated?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Yolanda I love this post. It is oh so true. Your garden is so luscious. The fruits of your labor are too. I love the photo portrait of your beautiful cat.

Anonymous said...

I'm doing plenty of sowing at the moment, I hoping that there'll be lots growing soon but as for cooking...!
There's an Indian proverb which says 'All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today' xx

Piondröm said...

Mmmmm Yummy...Strawbarries.
Ken

lisa said...

Oh yea, more home-grown food is the ticket (especially in today's economy). Dolly looks so pretty in that picture with her fur "windblown"...like a runway model! :)

Cheryl said...

a lovely post Yolanda and how true it is. What is there more pleasurable than picking something from you garden....preparing and cooking it and giving it to those you love.
Your cats are extremely photogenic.

Matron said...

What a great blog Yolanda! I have so many seedlings just bursting out of their pots. I also love your trug pictures. In a few months' time I am going to ask for pictures to post of other bloggers' TRUGS - Matron's trugblog!

Anonymous said...

Wat zijn wij vrouwen toch handig..;-)))))))

Frances, said...

Hi Yolanda, you are so right about growing food being more highly respected nowadays with the prices and chemicals. Thanks for reminding us how the (wo)men began growing their own berries and nuts instead of remembering where they were grown. You took us back to the clan of the cave bear days! Your garden and sweet dolly daisy look exceptionally beautiful.

LBP said...

I just stumbled across your blog and have been just delighted in reading it! I too am a gardner and have been for as long as I can remember. Hunters and gatherers!

Blessings

Linda

Ewa said...

Yolanda,
You gathered a lot already. All you wrote is so true :)
Dolly looks great.
Ewa

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I stink at seed starting unless they can be directly sown, so I have to buy my veggie plants. I also don't have enough sunny areas for veggies, so I have to grow them in pots on the patio. It's a long way from the first gardener putting her seeds in the soil.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this post, however all those good looking fruits and veggies did make my stomach growl a bit! This is our first year of gardening and I can't wait to invite all of our family over to eat some of our home grown veggies. It will be so satisfying to see the people that we love eating the food that we grew with so much love.

Gail said...

Wonderful post! When we were in college most of our friends had vegie gardens and now their children do! I wonder if I had a basement, garage or greenhouse if I would sow plants...but I have success direct sowing into the garden...at least arugulas seem happy!

Green thumb said...

Hi dear Yolanda! You just made me proud...Very Proud, on being a Woman.
What a perspective on things, and so very logical.
I was always a fan of Bliss; this post took me a rung higher!

walk2write said...

Don't forget that women are great healers too. All that foraging in the woods looking for edibles led the ancient woman to discover plants' healing properties.

Garden Cats + Crafts said...

Du warst sehr fleissig mit dem Aussäen, Yolanda. Also wirst Du auch reich ernten können. Sind das schon frische Erdbeeren? Mmh! Sommer ist auch Erdbeer-Zeit. Noch lieber aus Erdbeeren mag ich Himbeeren.

Ein schönes Foto vom Dolly auf dem Baumstamm.

LG, Birgit

Chookie said...

I love your pictures, and you are probably right about women starting agriculture! But what are those green eye-balls in the photo above the salad, and the red things next to the strawberries?

Naturegirl said...

Yolanda I love your banner!
Holy Moly!! Look at all that you've gathered already!! I'm just home and doing a walk about my garden in desperate need of attention!! Spring is here in Canada..Hurrah!!

Kylee Baumle said...

Interesting take on this subject! I enjoyed reading this. And as usual, your photos are perfect. Your kitties are so adorable. WHEN I eventually visit your garden, I think I'll be torn as to which I want to see first - your garden or your kitties! :-)

Anonymous said...

Ha, ha, je weet het mooi te vertellen.....20.000 jaar (of zoiets) in een notendop :-)

Maar zaaien is heerlijk. Het is nu een drukke tijd, alle zaailingen willen een mooi plekje in de tuin.

Anonymous said...

Ik heb deze week ook nog Verbena gezaaid en Lathyrus.
In mijn volkstuin komen de tuinbonen en worteltjes al op. ;-)))
Maar ik zit nog steeds te wachten op mijn bestelde zaden, mag nu wel opschieten anders hoeft het straks niet meer. :-(
Zo ben weer een beetje bij, was al een tijdje niet geweest, druk, druk, druk!
Tot gauw weer!

Karin said...

Interesting post Yolanda (as always!). I have mostly been into growing flowers but nowadays I found it nice to grow my own food and prepare it! :) Love you pics! Do you already have strawberries in your garden? Have nice Whitsun Weekend...

Kram Karin

Libbys Blog said...

You always inspire me and I can't even remember how I found you, but I am so glad I did.
Someone else commented on the tulips yesterday!!!

A wildlife gardener said...

I love, love. love the new header with Dolly...so magical...it's the red hair, don't you think? :)

I enjoyed the fun of your post and agree with your reasoning as well :)

I'm salivating like a big hungry dog now after seeing all that delicious food :)

Esther Montgomery said...

I don't know why it has taken me so long to come across you on the Blotanical lists - but, since I'm here, I thought I would say 'hello'.

So - Hello!

Esther Montgomery
ESTHER IN THE GARDEN

P.S. I wish I hadn't seen your basket of gooseberries. I'm going away hungry and thirsty now.

And annoyed withmyself.

I had a standard red gooseberry bush - but I let the gooseberry sawfly kill it.

I even saw these dear little catterpillars and helped them into the branches - what a twit!

Anonymous said...

Het ziet er ook allemaal zo smaakvol uit, jouw zelfverbouwde heerlijkheden!
En smakelijk is het zeker, omdat het niet met kunstmest de grond wordt uitgejaagd, smaakt alles natuurlijk zoals het moet smaken!
groeten, Marian

Unknown said...

What a great story you spin, Yolanda Elizabet, as you explain the origins of gardening. :) And now I, like a few others above, am very hungry and need to grab a bite to eat... if only they were your tomatoes and berries that I would be eating!

Anonymous said...

Great post Yolanda.

Sowing seed is a wonderful way to watch what youve sown growing and finally being harvested and feeding the ones you love.

EAL said...

Great post,

fellow Tears for Fears fan

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

What a beautiful backdrop the nasturtiums are to your star Dolly!

Also, before even reading all the way into your post, Tears for Fears' "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was indeed already going through my mind, only I'd forgotten who performed the song--thanks for mentioning it... and for giving me the earworm!

~ Monica

Anonymous said...

Oh, heerlijk! Al dat lekkers, watertandend zit ik om 22.30 achter mijn scherm deze reactie te schrijven ;-)

Dat liedje trouwens, heb ik ook altijd in mijn hoofd. Mijn cosmea's en pronkerwtjes zijn net de grote wereld ingestuurd in de hoop dat ze het goed gaan doen! We vertroetelen ze eerst nog even flink (mag ook wel met dit weer...).

Daphne Gould said...

Your basket of gooseberries makes me wish I had planted some instead of all the blueberries I planted. Not that I don't want blueberries, I do. But some of them could have been gooseberries.

Sigrun said...

Hallo, mensch, bist du fleißig! Die einzigen Gemüsesamen, die bei mir in diesem Jahr aufgehen (unfreiwillig) sind Zuchini auf dem Komposthaufen.

Sigrun

VP said...

Hi Yolanda - just catching up on my Comments. Thanks for stopping by AND a big thank you for the link. Of course I've put you up on mine too :)

Have a good week!

Anonymous said...

You've quite the productive garden, Yolanda! And much more to come, based on your photos of all the little seedlings. How fun to watch them grow!

Robin (Bumblebee) said...

Yes, where would our gardens be without the women to tend them? And the cats to adorn them?

Robin at Bumblebee

Tracy said...

This post is bursting with deliciousness, Yolanda! I I love Tears for Fears...fab song! I've always found seeds fascinating--we plant them, give a lot of love, water and hope for sun to make them grow and then we harvest their goodness which we can eat...endlessly amazing! I'll be sowing seeds directly in our veggie patch this week--can't wait! Happy Days ((hugs))

Kerri said...

The lovely Miss Dolly matches very nicely with the nasturtiums :)
Your Bliss produce looks delightful and healthy, Yolanda. There's a real satisfaction in starting seeds and watching them grow, isn't there?
And the end results are well worth it.
Well, I'm off to plant so that I can gather later :) We have beautiful sunshine today. I wish you sunny days too.