by Charlene Burgi
Messy kitchen
Last year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, cut a CD that went platinum shortly after it came out. The CD included a song called “Dirty Dishes” that tells a story of a mother who, while saying grace, is thankful for noisy children, slammin’ doors, a never endin’ messy kitchen and dirty dishes.
Listening to that song gave me pause for thought. I came up with my own list, though not in the poetic form as found in the song.
I am thankful for 60 pounds of tomatoes that wouldn’t turn red this summer because it allowed me to can, dehydrate and freeze whole ripe tomatoes after the weather cooled.
I am thankful for piles of donkey poop that need to be cleaned up as it means the four donkeys are here safe and sound after two of the jennies wandered the range for five months before we found them. I am also thankful for the manure they produce that adds rich organic matter to the garden.
I am thankful for aphids on the cauliflower growing in the greenhouse as it gives me an opportunity to use Bay-Friendly knowledge to organically eliminate them and a drive to learn more about greenhouse gardening.
I am thankful for farm equipment breaking down, rabbits in the garden, snow to shovel and fields to plow. These things mean I live in the country, which is a dream come true. It also means I am thankful for a husband that knows how to fix, repair, create and build to keep our dream-come-true running smoothly.
I am thankful for the challenges found in the garden for they give me topics to write about so we can collectively find good solutions. I am also thankful to Ann Vallee who edits my work every week and puts the gleaming shine on the weekly blog, and to Libby Pischel for creating the position at Marin Municipal Water District that provided an avenue for me to continue writing the blog that kept me grounded in a year of turmoil.
I am also thankful for the turmoil that brought family and dear old and new friends close by to help us in Lassen and Marin. Those people in our lives are far too many to name, but they filled gaps that Jack and I were unable to fill during a year of family illnesses and losses. These people were there to share their love and support in ways beyond measure. For that we are eternally thankful.
I am also thankful for you, the reader. Each week I feel a connection to you as I write about the common passion we share—the good earth under our feet, the dirt under our fingernails and the joy of seeing beautiful blooming flowers, a garden loaded with edibles, and birds and butterflies flitting about as they relish in our works.
It is a time for thanksgiving and there are so many things to be thankful for. I wish you all a blessed one.
We are very grateful to have YOU. A popular author coined the phrase “petty tyrant.” We are better and stronger for those petty tyrants in our lives. As Tiny Tim said: “And God bless us, everyone.” Happy and a Hoppy Thanksgiving.
I wish we could share a single photo of our garden. I have one corner that we call “Chaos” or the “Mother Load.” OMG, you need sunglasses even when it’s raining. Such glorious rain. None of that Sandy stuff, thank you.
In the spirit of this post: I am thankful that my garden is a hot mess, because it means that I have a garden, which is something that I dreamt of for years. Charlene, I’m so grateful to finally have the opportunity to put all your tips and wisdom to work. Happy Thanksgiving!
Charlene, thank you for allowing us into your life with your warm, thoughtful prose. We also feel very grateful for being able to continue living in San Rafael with our wonderful garden, family and friends.
That was beautiful and poetic. I appreciate your sentiment. Your letter has become an email I always enjoy.
I’m thankful for your articles and the most interesting information. I’m thankful for my beautiful tree in our front yard. Her name is ” Precious”, we call her that.
She brings big smiles to our neighbors, some have her photograph as their wall paper on their phones. Enjoy all, we all have a lot to be thankful for here
in Marin. I’m off to give a turkey to B Street for our homeless here in Marin.
i am so thankful that i stumbled upon you with all the goodies you post in my life with your bounty of information and endearing language.
Charlene, I thank you for your knowledge and sharing it with all of us and telling us how to go from Woes to Wows!
Ernie Pitz
Charlene, I always look forward to reading your Newsletter. There’s information I can apply in my own garden, and I enjoy reading about your adventures with your relocation to a very different climate. Thank you for your heartfelt sentiment in this one.
I am overwhelmed by the responses from all of you. May that light of thanksgiving continue to glow during the holiday seasons.
Always,
Charlene
[...] Last week’s blog mentioned I was grateful for the aphids on the cauliflower in the greenhouse (a must read, lest you really think me daft). A blast of irrigation water seems to have held them at bay. I was ready to douse them by adding three tablespoons of dish soap to a gallon of water, if water alone didn’t work. [...]