Kitchen / Garden / Sanctuary - Urban Homesteading to Nourish Body + Spirit
Dinner: Lindsey's Zucchini Cake with Spiced Frosting
Well, I was trying to ‘get it together’ all week and post something, but it just didn’t happen. Not that I really did anything this week, because I didn’t. My visions of recovering from my surgery included getting a whole bunch of reading done, writing lots of posts for my blog here, writing letters, organizing my photos on the computer, and re-doing my recipe binder. And I have done precisely none of that! (Click below to continue reading…)
Julia Child sure is all the rage of late, but that’s a really great thing. I still haven’t seen the movie Julie & Julia, but hubby and I recently watched old episodes of The French Chef (her cooking show from the 60s and 70s) on 3 DVDs. They were great! If you want a good laugh, I highly recommend them. One thing I love about Julia Child is that she’s REAL. None of her pots and pans match — not even all of them have lids, in fact! She improvises and substitutes, and tells her audience how they can, too. (Click below to continue reading…)
I was recently watching a Julia Child episode on DVD, when she launched into this little sermon about peoples’ irrational fear of failure while learning to cook. I liked it so much that I recorded it and posted it so you could see it, too:
Julia Child – “Don’t be afraid of failure in the kitchen” from The Herbangardener on Vimeo.
We must not be deterred if our cooking flops, because that’s how we best learn the quirks of the ingredients we cook with, and how to combine things for the best results. I sometimes get pretty frustrated when my cooking doesn’t work out, especially when I waste good ingredients (and precious time!). But I also know that mistakes can be very good teachers…
I don’t know what sorts of celestial events are going on this week, but it’s been one “off” day after another in my household, which is pretty rare. Oh but wait — we did just have the peak of the Perseids meteor shower. Maybe that’s why. Whatever it is, I’ve been feeling completely out of whack this week, and haven’t had any time to properly remediate the situation with my usual sources of good medicine.
When I’m having a yucky day, I find that immersing myself in an old, happy memory really helps to lighten my frame of mind. It’s a quick, sentimental journey that I can take any time I want.
In the course of my reading, I’ve come across a wonderful Native American concept called good medicine. Good medicine is whatever nourishes your heart and spirit. It’s whatever calms you… brings you joy… whatever can lift you out of a funk. I know when something’s good medicine for me if it makes me feel light, refreshed, alive, renewed, happy, and relaxed.
Good medicine is very individual, so your good medicine may not be someone else’s good medicine. Since it is so individual, it’s our own responsibility to care for ourselves with regular “doses.” Maybe it’s taking a long walk in a beautiful neighborhood, laughing at a funny movie with your best friend, sitting on your porch in the early morning with a mug of tea, being at the beach with your husband, reading a trashy celebrity gossip magazine, watching old I Love Lucy episodes, taking a solo weekend getaway, delighting in your pet’s antics…anything that you love.
I’ve really come to appreciate the importance of making time for my own good medicine. I know it’s time for a dose when I feel overwhelmed, drained, and depressed. Luckily, I have a whole “pharmacy” to choose from when I need a dose, but puttering around in my garden is one of my very favorite remedies. This means that for my health and well being, I have to hang out in my garden — admiring it, pulling a few weeds, sprucing up, clipping, harvesting. It’s so essential for keeping me in balance that I no longer consider it “just a hobby” — it really is my medicine! 🙂
What’s your good medicine?
Welcome to The Herbangardener! This site is dedicated to nourishing the body + spirit, backyard organic gardening, traditional foodways, and homesteading in the heart of the city. Do come along and join me!
"There's nothing more pleasurable than making things by hand, and nothing more beautiful than handmade things."
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
- Theodore Roosevelt
"Only after the last tree has been cut down; only after the last fish has been caught; only after the last river has been poisoned; only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten."
- Cree Nation Tribal Prophecy
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