Marjory

The dark winter nights have been filled with dreams of skinny wolves running between dark trees and packed icy snow. Waking from the dreams I look to the sky through my bedroom window and try to see the stars. When the clouds are few, the stars are bright and I feel physically close. I feel the silence of the night while I am wrapped warm in my blankets comforted by my dog and kitties. The winter is a time of inward growth and I feel myself expand filling with stars.

I just want to bake and have my oven on. I am using the last of my garden parsnips for this winter warming yum.

Sweet Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
Ingredients
2 pounds of parsnips peeled and 1 pound of carrots peeled
3 T olive oil
Black pepper and salt (coarse and to your taste)
Mix of dried spices such as oregano, parsley, and thyme that you like
Honey to drizzle
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 (Yes Yes YES, loving the warmth)
2. Cut the parsnips and carrots in half lengthwise and then in diagonally in half.
3. Place in a tin foil lined baking sheet.
4. Pour oil on vegetables, toss well.
5. Sprinkle salt and pepper
6. Cover lightly with a sheet of foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Uncover, add dried spice mix, toss.  Lightly drizzle honey on each piece.
8. Bake uncovered 10 to 20 minutes until they are tender.
9. Check after 10 minutes with a knife for tenderness. Do not over bake and dry them out.

The light of day have been filled with family, my job, graduate school, and adventures in composting. Winter composting is a challenge. I live in zone 6b where composting in freezing snowy blowy weather is not for the faint of heart. I have tried indoor composting without success. I keep several buckets outside my back door to collect kitchen scraps.

I had insulated my compost pile with bales of straw but then had to use them around my bees. Note to self, buy more straw bales than I think I will need. Alas, the bees warmth is more important than my Marjory.

I instead used up lots of cardboard boxes creating an insulated layer but the wind had other plans and blew most of them away. I ended up using a tarp, hoping for the best. Today I remove the tarp, the brown green layer and dug into crunchiness until I found loamy dirt. The day was crisp cold with a bright blue sky. The snow has melted, leaving the earth squishy. I fluffed and fed Marjory. My compost pile is too cold without much microbe action. I was hoping to see a few puffs of steam. I have been layering brown and green materials attempting to trap heat within Marjory. I also noticed the pile was dry. I had thought the melting snow would maintain the compost moisture. I am always learning. Composting in Winter web site was very informative. I think it will really help me next winter.

 Next year I will have a better winter compost heap. I will insulate with straw and cardboard. I will water. I will layer with more brown and green material. Using a tarp was a good idea. This winter I will keep doing the best I can do, loving Marjory.

As in past winters I am digging a trench into my garden and burying the scraps. For the rest of the winter I will leave Marjory to meditate. Meditating helps to pull me back to my center away from the preoccupation of my daily stresses in my life. Marjory and I will sit in winter silence. I will attend to what is happening inside rather than outside. I hope Marjory does too and her microbe action increases.