What I'm reading

Books and websites such as these (1, 2, 3) have inspired me to try to eat seasonally, locally, mindfully and sustainably by transforming my balcony from an ornamental to an edible garden and myself from a gardener to a farmer (although I think I can be both).

I have so much to learn. In my quest for knowledge and guidance, this week I returned to a trusted source of wisdom on how to live with nature: Orion Magazine. Here are links to a couple of articles I'm reading in the online version:

Stalking the Vegetannual by Barbara Kingsolver
Grace Before Dinner by Deborah Madison

thank you

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

–e.e. cummings

i thank you, jen lemen, for introducing me to this perfect poem tonight

Happy Canada Day

In celebration, I am posting links to Flickr photos of all the provincial and territorial flowers. (Note: none are edible, although the Pitcher Plant might like to eat you--it is a carnivore.)

British Columbia
Cornus nuttallii Pacific Dogwood

Alberta
Rosa acicularis Wild Rose

Saskatchewan
Lillium philadelphicum Western Red Lily

Manitoba
Anemone patens Prairie Crocus

Ontario
Trillium grandiflorum White Trillium

Quebec
Iris versicolor Linné Blue Flag Iris

New Brunswick
Viola cucullata Purple Violet

Nova Scotia
Epigaea repens Mayflower

Prince Edward Island
Cypripedium acaule Lady's Slipper

Newfoundland and Labrador
Sarracenia purpurea Pitcher Plant

Yukon
Epilobium angustifolium Fireweed

Northwest Territories
Dryas integrifolia Mountain Avens

Nunavit
Saxifraga oppositifolia Purple Saxifraga