Springtime Reflections

Enjoying the joyful moments after our springtime elopement in the Texas hill country.

Spring has always been a favorite season for us. As lifelong gardeners, we have always delighted in the new opportunities the season brings. There is something oh-so-satisfying about clearing out last year's overgrowth and starting fresh as the trees start to show glimpses of green, the new buds sparkling in the morning sunlight as birds, just as twitter-pated as we are, flit from branch to branch calling to one another announcing, "Spring! It's here! It's here! It's here!"

We adore this time of year so much, we even planned our wedding for the day before the spring equinox. We just celebrated our 11th anniversary and each year, we spend the day making an Italian feast and we read our wedding vows to one another as a recommitment to what we promised all those years ago. It's become a sweet tradition for our little family that we now cherish and celebrate with our daughter every year.

This year we have also heralded in the spring in a new way now with our budding flower farm. We are soaking in the seasons in closer alignment with our little corner of the earth, each subtle shift has become a delight in our daily work. In spring, we notice first the slight change in the light, the ever so tiny shift of the earth's axis signaling a move toward longer days, more sunlight and we see nature taking its cue to again start its miraculous annual cycle--buds forming on trees, birds happily welcoming the new beginning, and the all around breath the world seems to take, with the air feeling clean, cool and crisp. You just can't help to get a spring in your own step!

Aside from our quiet work behind the scenes, planting hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny seeds with the hope of a beautiful tomorrow filled with seasonal farmed flowers, we have also marveled in all that naturally blooms around us. Allen a scientist by trade, and both of us longtime science nerds, research everything we see and make note of its uniqueness on our land. From the woodland violets that we've been carefully tending and have now spread over vast segments of our dappled light, to the wood sorrel, which most traditional landscape lovers loathe as it disrupts the monotonous green of a lawn with a joyous yellow bloom, that's actually edible and imparts a delightfully sour flavor on the palate, everything has a place and we delight in the natural beauty that is coming back to the place after working to remove invasive species.

Delightful wood sorrels fill pockets of our farm with sunny yellow blooms and their adorable seed pods, also known as fairy pickles. Every part of the plant is edible and a delight to the senses.

Our interest has led us down a path of edible blooms. We grow many types that serve as both cut flowers and as an unexpected, but unforgettable garnish to recipes, like salads, desserts and charcuterie boards. Though many don't impart much flavor, the fantastic wood sorrel sure does and would make an incredible addition to the perfect bite of crisp cracker topped with a creamy brie and a drizzle of local honey, finished with a perfectly placed bloom along side a couple of the plant's seed pods--also adorably known as fairy pickles. Our daughter absolutely loves them and spends hours hunting them in the afternoon sunlight after we wrap up our school lessons for the day. They are also packed full of nutrients, such as vitamin C, beta-carotene and antioxidants. Delightful in every way!

Avie shows off her incredible fairy pickle harvest.

With all the wonderful things happening in nature, it brings such respite to our souls in this chaotic world. When things seem extra challenging, we like to say we keep our hands in the dirt and that is a pretty accurate description of our day, planting, weeding, tending--flower farming requires hours of labor to produce a single bloom. But we reap not only the beautiful rewards, it's scientifically proven that getting your hands in healthy garden soil provides a multitude of benefits from a boost of serotonin, improved gut health, a reduction in allergies and asthma, while improving immunity from all the microorganisms that are not only helping the soil, but us, too. Not to mention all the beautiful vitamin D we soak up from the sun. Gardening is good for everyone!

Until next time, I'll leave you with our favorite reading from our wedding day, what's titled the Apache Marriage Blessing from the 1950s Jimmy Stewart Film, Broken Arrow. We love the words and how fits with our commitment not only to one another, but to commitment to turning our house into a home.

Apache Marriage Blessing

Now you will feel no rain,

for each of you will be shelter for the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

for each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there will be no loneliness,

for each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two persons,

but there is only one life before you.

May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead

and through all the years.

May happiness be your companion

and your days together be good and long upon the earth.

Note... please be careful eating or collecting foraged blooms, being certain of not only their identity, but also how the plant grew. Do not eat foraged plants grown from just any yard as many landowners still use chemical treatments. Our farm is 100% organic without the use of any chemical applications.