Dorothy’s got nothing on me. I just about kissed the ground when we pulled into the driveway last night. A lot had happened. Frost got the asparagus and the wood chucks ate the Brassicas. The new pigs are in the pen and Tom’s chickens are in his living room. It was life. Good and bad and real. After days in a fake hotel, eating generic food and battling traffic, real seems good. My grandsons are sweet and dear and I loved spending time with my daughter and son-in-law but I was still so homesick I could have cried.

We drove home through the Amish country. It is beautiful although there was a lot of traffic. It’s a bit hard to complain when you are part of the tourist rush. We did manage to get off the beaten path a bit, necessary to recover from the insult of rt 30 in York. Mile after mile of strip malls and traffic lights, fast food joints and belching truck fumes is soul sucking for me. Out in Lancaster, I got waved at by a little boy in a straw hat and overalls and felt better about the world. 

I appreciate all of the well wishes on out travels. I kept wondering if any of you were near by. I had someone ask if I was speaking anyplace. I have applied to present a workshop at the Mother Earth News Sustainable Living Fair in Pennsylvania in September but haven’t heard back yet. I am also doing another workshop for NOFA this summer but I don’t know the location yet. Other than that, I am staying home.

I had another question about nutrient dense soil amendments. These are crushed rock minerals that a lot of soil is lacking. I have come to realize that we gardeners are growing soil before we grow vegetables.

Plans for today: replant the Brassicas, plant the potatoes, rescue the asparagus, can some rhubarb, buy a trap for th e woodchucks, feed the pigs and call a real estate agent. I love my house but we need a barn and more privacy. We talked about it some on the trip home. It is surely not a done deal yet but if we find something that gives us the things we are lacking we would give it some consideration. It may only be a pipe dream fueled by those Amish farms but looking would be fun. I can’t wait to hear from you all. I was catching up on a lot of your websites last night. It’s odd how people I have never met can feel like friends. The world outside can be so fake and depressing. Those of us who care about our planet and are willing to sacrifice transient “fun” for the gritty reality of soil and animals and can see a world beyond the mall are a different kind of family. I cherish what you add to my life. Thank you.

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