My horse-trough "Hab" lives on!

A I recently confessed, I'm a lifelong gardener. However, in the last few years Earth has had little need to "fear my botany powers." After a couple of bad falls on the ice a few winters ago, it was hard for me to get low enough to garden. I needed some kind of raised bed for easier access.

Signy and Pascal created a sturdy base for my project last May. Later, Ty filled it for me.

Well, thanks to my Beloved and my long-suffering adult offspring, I'm back, Baby! My Mother's Day present was a galvanized horse trough on a sturdy wooden stand, filled with rich, composted soil. This collection of creative solutions now sits on our back patio in easy reach of a hose, and I've been having lots of fun with it.

My cool-season crops (spinach, kale, and a leaf-lettuce blend from Morgan County Seeds) continued to yield regular crops of salads and greens well into what we Kansas Citians think of as "winter."

As cold weather approached, Pascal and I made a "dome" out of two basement-window-well covers, to protect my plants from the frost. On windy days (here at the edge of Kansas, we get a few of those), a bungee cord holds it down. It's not excessively elegant, but it works.

But then it snowed. It got really cold. I thought when temps hit the single digits that my horse-trough garden was a goner.

I was wrong. Under the dome, it's alive! How can this be? Fortuitous placement, it turns out. Back in May, we set it up right next to a furnace vent. The air goes out, and directly up under the edge of my makeshift dome. You can see the life-giving vent pipe at lower right in the photo below:

We've gone through two rounds of single-digits and snow, now, and each time I've gone out as soon as I dared, uncovered the garden, added a couple quarts warm water, and my crops have come back to life. In fact, I really need to harvest again.

Potatoes in the Hab, from The Martian: now that's extreme farming!

I've started thinking of my little survival-miracle on the back patio as "The Hab." (For Christmas, my son gave me a copy of The Martian, by Andy Weir. Thanks, Ty!). My horse-trough garden is not as amazing as "Martian potatoes," but who knows? At this rate I might be able to harvest spinach all winter long.

IMAGES: I took most of these images myself, except for the last one. Many thanks for it to NASA! It's from their fascinating article, "Nine Real NASA Technologies in 'The Martian.'" 

Are You this Woman? Artdog Image(s) of Interest

If this is not you, I bet you know several variations on this woman. She is not perfect. She has to prioritize and triage. But she rocks!

Of course, moms through the ages have been masters of multitasking. One of my favorite sculptures at the Nelson-Atkins Museum is the 8th-century Central Asian Caravan Woman Rousing her Camel While Nursing. Obviously a consummate multi-tasker.

It's not just moms who excel at multitasking, of course. I once had plans to create a portrait of my husband Pascal along the same lines as the Modern Mom image (he is at least twice the multi-tasker I am!). I did have second thoughts, however, about portraying him in the same manner as the Lord Shiva, who is, after all, a god . . . might never hear the end of that one. 

IMAGES: I originally found the "Modern Mom" as part of an assembled image on an article by Rose Fres Fausto, and traced it back to a now-defunct site called Modern Mom, via Belevation Mom; I eventually got the image I used here from Photobucket. The Central Asian Caravan Woman is from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. Many thanks to all!

Winter Blues? Try these ideas with a creative approach!

Do you live in a place where you have cold winters? If so, this post is for you.

Where I live, we are currently experiencing cold weather, including snow. My sister-in-law in Minnesota has it worse, but it's quite cold enough in Kansas City, thanks!

Yes, those are bare trees behind hm.

Pascal Gephardt, my Beloved, hates winter and loves summer. Every year on the Summer Solstice, he exclaims that he can feel the world turning colder with the shortening of the days. 

Sometimes he'll shiver with dramatic flair and look for a coat, even if the air temperature is in the 90s F (32 C or above). 

And on the Winter Solstice? I'll let the picture at right tell you how he celebrated it this year. (For a few minutes, until the pictures were taken. Then he hurried back inside). Silly? Well, yes. But I love the creative flair of his response, not to mention the ironic impulse.

Is Winter really bad for you?
There are a lot of reasons to think so, actually. Here's a great video from DNews, with a number of reasons why winter is a bad idea for humans. 

Less sunlight can cause lower levels of Vitamin D in our bodies, which places us at greater risk for illness. It also can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder (appropriate acronym: SAD). No, it's NOT all in your head. Winter really is out to get you. 

Can Creativity "Cure" Winter?
I wish! But creativity can come in handy when you're going through it. I've collected some of my favorite ideas about creative things to do, that can lighten the winter blues. If you have other suggestions, please share them in the comments section! 

1. Plan your Summer Vacation! When better, right? This is an anywhere-anytime idea. Collect images of your dream destination and paper your cubicle at work (management willing, that is), your refrigerator, or bulletin board with them. Create an idea journal, or just paint lovely pictures in your mind. Consider the possibilities! 

Just walking past Jessica Abelson's beach-vacation-themed cubicle ought to get the whole office smiling!

2. Have a fireside camp-out. I know people may suggest this for entertaining children--and kids are great generators of creative fun. But who says an adult can't roast weenies and marshmallows in the fireplace (assuming you have one) for him/herself? 

No fireplace? There are creative ways around that, too. Got candles? Got computer? If you need to look at a fire, those might do in a pinch, though you'll probably have a hard time roasting weenies on them.

Creative solution for a "Fireside Chat" meeting
theme. Could work in a living room, but it won't
toast your marshmallows too effectively.

Cradle a tin cup of a warm drink in your hands, watch the flames (however generated), and pretend you're in your favorite camping spot. 

Play "sound effects" in the background (recordings of all sorts of things are available). Crickets? Birdsong? Waves on the beach? Wolves howling? Be--what else?--creative! 

3. Take a cue from Pascal, and act as if it's summer. Fix yourself a tall, cold fruity drink (I'll leave the contents to your taste preferences). Add a parasol, if it helps improve the festive mood (available at party stores or online). Play Bob Marley or the Beach Boys. Make an ice cream treat. Put on a lei, your sun hat, your favorite Hawaiian shirt. 

Lots of ideas for planning gardens large and
small are available online and in books.

4. Plan this spring's garden. Even you only have a container on your balcony or a planter by your window, winter is the perfect time to browse through gardening catalogs or websites. 

If you have more ground you can cover, consider making more elaborate plans for growth and development. 

Remember, after a winter cooped up inside, getting out in the sunshine will help you make up those Vitamin D deficiencies you've developed all winter. 

Best of all, everyone knows fresh-picked veggies are the tastiest, and how better to indulge in cut flowers all summer than to grow your own?

IMAGES: Many thanks to my husband Pascal, for letting me post his photo (which I took), and to DNews for the video. The epic "beach vacation"-themed cubicle is from Jessica Abelson's "Complete Cubicle Survival Guide." Check out her other great ideas, too! The "Fireside fix" with the computer image was the creative idea of my friend Tracy Majkol, at a meeting of the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society last May. The garden-planning image is from Wendy's post, "Garden: Planning," from the blog This Beautiful Day.