Redbuds for Lunch?

Redbuds in bloom dot the countryside.

Spring is here in force, and with it many warm days filled with sunshine. (If I write this loud enough, perhaps the chilly gray clouds overhead will take the hint and float away.) We're readying garden beds for planting and goat stalls for kidding. (Leslie Lupine, our red-brown Nubian doe is due anytime. She had a pedicure this evening in preparation for the Big Event.) Wherever one goes, the bright purplish flowers of Eastern Redbud trees abound--along highways, edging pastures, or in parks.

Trays of peat (and newspaper) pots filled with growing medium are sprouting seedlings galore. Gardeners and farmers examine the earth, checking the soil for warmth, texture, and the presence of earthworms. The cold days remind us to keep seedlings inside, or beneath protective row covers for the time being. Within a few weeks, gardens will begin hosting the young plants in preparation for this year's harvests.

A cluster of pea-like Redbud blossoms.

The Redbud trees lift my spirits and always draw my eyes. Until recently I saw them as mere harbingers of spring, eye-candy as it were, until my friend from Second-Life Farm in Macon County posted a link to an article informing readers of further possibilities. Look closely at Redbud blossoms. Notice how the blooms resemble the flowers on pea plants? Well, apparently they are related.

Following the blossoms, Redbuds put forth slender green pods. While I have seen them in prior years, this year I'm eager to try them--apparently they're quite tasty. The pea-like pods of the Redbud tree are best, I understand, when new--before their seeds achieve significant size. They are said to be tasty in salads and stir-fry dishes. I can't wait to try them!

Check it out on the TennZen blog!

Greening Pastures

Alpaca males browse the grounds in early February, attended by  livestock Guardian.

The alpacas got first dibs on the greening pastures down front. While our camera is currently winning a game of hide-and-seek, we do have this photo from February--before the grounds turned lushly green. Throughout this month (March), we've been repositioning the pasture fence panels regularly to provide the 'pacas with fresh greens and to give areas of pasture opportunity to recover before serving again as fodder.

The goats and horses have been taking turns visiting the greening grounds as well. We've especially enjoyed bringing BullyBob and his boys down front; their capering downhill is heartening to watch. After being penned up for most of the winter without respite, Bully and Joshua and Sting are all but silly with the freedoms of Spring. Joshua has grown into a fine Fainter buck and his first few sorties were nearly non-starters as his joints locked up and he had to hobble out on peg-legs to browse upon green pastures.

Since I made the mistake of allowing the Scotch thistles to go to seed for two years now, hosting a colorful cadre of feeding finches in late summer, the spiny plants are returning with a vengeance now. With recent rains, a good twist at the base brings some come up with taproots intact, yet more are dug in for the long haul. Those spiny leaves are enjoyed by all who are not free to roam the front areas--providing a juicy treat while the critters await their turns down front.

Thistle leaves and whole plants provide treats for the penned-up roosters and growing guineas, for Ms. LaLa goose who has moved into her own dog-safe green enclosure with woman-made pond, for the goats awaiting their turns out loose, and even for the greens-hungry horses. All this and we're sure to still have blooms aplenty for the finches later this year.

LaLa goose has a nest of unfertilized eggs in her new enclosure. When she first began laying I saw the white-shelled mammoths as future planters for little plants, but I neglected to share this vision with the farm's operations manager quickly enough. Those eggs I saw as worth saving became treats for eager Guardians a good three times over before LaLa moved to an enclosure that only I will access. Since then she's only laid three more eggs, not enough to make planters for the children at church or at summer camp--if we land that position.

Indeed, we've come far from the inexperience we brought to bear in 2008, and we're eager to share our love for the land with little ones as time allows. Last year we brought new goat kids to church for Easter Sunday; this year we may bring a batch of newly-hatched chicks in the timing is right. But, folks, if you're the praying sort, we'd really appreciate a good word about our teaching abilities because we interviewed for a Youth Garden Instructor position at a to-die-for wonderful location, and while we're wishing the potential employer well in selecting the best person for their needs, we're still hoping that person might possibly be me. Imagine five-day camps with impressionable young minds ready to learn lessons in stewardship of the earth and to be exposed to the miracles of soils and plant life. Oh, how we would love those opportunities!

When the camera resurfaces, we'll catch up on journal entries for March. For now, know that our world is greening quickly, that neighbors have brought mowers out already this month (and likely will again this weekend when the sun resurfaces), and that garden plots are being readied for planting.

Welcome, Spring!