An End Of Summer Lesson: Plant Something Beautiful Among The Disasters

Fausto Zonaro: Young Girl Carrying a Pumpkin 1889

You can learn a lot of things from the flowers.

 — Alice in Wonderland

I hesitated making this post. I wondered whether it was important enough to share. It's a very small update. But I decided I want to share my life even when it's small. Our summer garden was a huge failure. No watermelons. No cucumbers. No sweet potatoes. No eggplants. No zinnias. Only three squash. All the heirloom tomatoes quickly yellowed, died and produced nothing. We were in heaven over the 20 tomato sandwiches we ate this summer (all Early Girl tomatoes.) The four Sunshine Blue blueberry bushes we planted 4 years ago are now gloriously productive. We harvested so many blueberries.

My view of Rudbeckia blooming from the back of our yard.

Mr. Peasant has been suffering an IT band injury, and I have been suffering a shoulder injury due to trying to get the heavy lifting tasks done.  Both of us have been sidelined, and the yard and garden show it. The backyard is covered in tall grass like a highway strip in August. Every time I'd stare out my back door, I was confronted with our failures and inability to tend to our property. The property we prayed and saved for now made me feel overwhelmed.  

But something really amazing and small happened. Two years ago, I dug up a piece of a rudbeckia from the front yard. I planted it near the walking track and forgot about it. This year the plant grew almost 5 feet high! And then, one October day I peaked out the back door window and saw 50 bright mustard yellow flowers. It was incredible. 

Here is the point I want to share. Once that rudbeckia plant bloomed, my view changed.  I'd peak out the back door, and all I saw were those happy yellow flowers swaying in the breeze. It might as well been a Christmas tree with how it lit up the whole yard. I never noticed our awful yard after that rudbeckia bloomed. I only noticed the huge beautiful flowers. 

All the flower seeds I planted in the ground in spring were quickly gobbled up by rabbits. I planted a new bed in August. I didn't think anything would grow so late in the season. I planted the new bed with chocolate cherry tomatoes, an early girl tomato cutting I rooted, candy roasters, basil and zinnia seeds. We got 3 more tomatoes and a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes. Everything in the bed failed except the Zinnias. I've gathered vases full of colorful flowers all month. I'm so glad I sowed more flower seeds. It was the best Zinnia harvest I've ever had. 

Planted 3 tiny clearance mums under each tree of the allee.

Plant the flower seeds late, find a spot for a dying mum from the clearance rack, divide a perennial for next year, and plant a bulb for Spring.  Plant beautiful things in the middle of the disaster. One lovely thing can lift up your soul and your heart. One candle can light up a room full of darkness. Bake some oatmeal cookies, play a happy song, and put a vase of flowers on your sticky kitchen table. We will always have the weeds with us. Remember to plant the good. Remember to plant a beautiful thing. 

I set the Lord always in my sight:

for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: 

moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope.

PSALM 15:8  DRA

Mr. Peasant's Quick And Dirty Guide To Radio Prepping

President's Fireside Chat, 1930s Aimee Schweig

I talk about weird stuff. What I do only works at night, only on the radio.

ART BELL

The Peasants miss Art Bell. He was the pioneer in paranormal talk radio. Art confessed to being bored with politics, so he went after topics that he found interesting. Combine that with a radio in a dark room late at night, and you have a source for cheap but thrilling entertainment. They still play old Art Bell episodes on the radio. The man had a gift. He also had a love for radio being a ham radio operator.

I love radio as well. Radio is my top choice for information and entertainment. Some years ago, Mrs. Peasant tasked me with researching the use of radios for prepping. I had all these visions of complicated ham radios, walkie talkies, scanners, and expensive shortwave radios. When I was done with my research, I concluded that these were the only radios you need for prepping:

1. An AM/FM/WX radio

2. A CB radio

That's it. I can give all the details why I settled on just these two radios, but I did all of that research to spare you having to read all of that. Just buy these two radios if you don't already own them and move on with your prepping.

Charlie Lingar and his son listen to their battery radio. 1945, Four Mile, Bell County, Kentucky

The AM/FM/WX radio should have a ferrite rod antenna built in. Sony has been good with this as well as C.Crane and Sangean. You want quality AM reception, and you want to listen at night when you can get many more stations than you will ever hear on the shortwave bands. You also want the weather band because weather info is the top priority for any prepper. This one radio will keep you informed. I use my radio daily just for ordinary times.

The CB radio is for communicating with friends, neighbors, and family in the event that the phones go down. This happens. There are millions of CB radios out there. and you can still buy them at truck stops and Walmart and Amazon. You don't need a license, and they are stone simple to operate. There are better radios except very few own them or possess the licenses to operate them. You don't need them. Most of your communication needs will be trying to locate a gas station that still has the pumps working. The truckers that still have CB radios in their rigs are good for that sort of information.

Anyone who tells you that you need more equipment than this is trying to sell you equipment. Buying this stuff may boost your confidence, but it really just drains your wallet. Save your money by keeping it simple.

Thank you for reading!

Radio on the Great Northern Railway 1925