Philanthropy

I created this blog in an effort to articulate the values that I purport to live by and thereby create an avenue of accountability. So I value hard work, I value growing by own food, I value a structured life, I value philanthropy. I value a sense of community; I value MY community.

In an effort to increase my philanthropy this past year I donated a significant amount of time (and heart & soul) to an all-star cheerleading team. It was an amazing experience to be part of the Prince Albert Cheer Explosion All-star Cheerleading Team this past year. To watch the growth and personal development of each of the 19 girls that called themselves PACE cheerleaders.

Cheerleading is one of very few sports that cannot function without each one of its members; where the "functions like a well oiled machine" adage is very real. Each one of those girls needs to be there, when they are supposed to be; not even one second late! The consequences can simply be aesthetic (stunts don't go as high) but can also be dangerous (there's no one to catch a stunt that is coming down). I think it took them the whole year to learn this, but they did learn it.

Fostering this team effort, a reliance on others, is what true community is all about. I wish that we could put as much trust into each other that these girls have within their team. But the truth is, our society is moving away from community. We are relying on community to do less and less, and expecting ourselves to accomplish just as much. It truly does take a village (community) to raise a child.

I can't wait for next year's cheer team to get started. The coach and other support personnel are all excited to watch a new (with some returning members) group of girls become the best individuals they can be. In the process they will become amazing cheerleaders.

Garden Layout

I have never truly gardened to sustain myself. I have never truly gardened at all, only made sad attempts. I have long held a belief that obesity would be a thing of the past if our society promoted calorie expenditure in order to consume. It doesn't so much matter how many calories are in the bread, but it does matter that I sit in a car, push a cart through a store and then drive it all home in one convenient motion and I can have as much bread as I want. I have made my own bread a few times, but it just one more thing that I would like to do more consistently.In keeping with this life philosophy my garden is going to be a necessity. I will expend hours of effort, energy, and love to grow food that will nourish my body and of course my soul. So this is a crude interpretation of what my garden is going to look like, or rather, how it will be laid out.

	Raised	Bed	Garden		Hanging Baskets
	Pumpkin	Pumpkin	Cucumber	Cucumber	Purple Tomato
	Peas	Pepper	Pepper	Pepper	Roma Tomato
	Peas	Onion	Radish	Radish	Marglobe Tomato
	Peas	Onion	Beets	Beets	Yellow Plum Tomato
Deck Along this Side	Peas	Onion	Turnips	Turnips	Strawberry Vine (topsy turvy)
	Beans	Beans	Carrots	Carrots	Trees
	Beans	Beans	Carrots	Carrots	Crab Apple
	Zucchini	Zucchini	Butternut Squash	Butternut Squash
RubberMaid	Containers
Italian Large Leaf Basil	Chives		Mesculan Mix	Mesculan Mix
Parsely	Sage		Arugula	Arugula
Bibb Lettuce	Bibb Lettuce		Spinach	Spinach
Swiss Chard	Swiss Chard		Mustard	Mustard

The garden is small, which is why Rubbermaid containers are needed to supplement the space. Ultimately 4ftx8ft can only grow so much. The principle of Square-foot gardening is that you don't walk on the soil. You have to be able to reach the garden around the perimeter (hence only 4ft wide). The light, airy soil grows vegetables much better than compacted soil. The other key principle is that the garden is divided in square foot segments. One type of plant will go into each square. If it is a large vegetable (like cucumber or green peppers) then only one plant will go into the section. If the vegetable is small then up to 16 (depending on space requirements) plants can go into each section.

The picture at the top is of a purple tomato plant that I am planning on growing in upside down containers.

Blessings to all.

Becky

Seeds! Seeds! Seeds!

Today is an exciting day. I wanted so badly to get home from Prince Albert. My seeds had arrived. Look at them. Now if only the snow would melt then I could plant them in my garden and call myself a gardener.

I bought heritage seeds from a company in Oregon called Heritage Organics. They sell seed packs, so you don't get to choose which seeds you get, just the size really. I was limited because I am of course from Canada. So I got the biggest pack I could. My mom and I will split the seeds. There are so many.

So this is what I got. A family pack that is supposed to supply enough food for four people to eat for a year. I also got a kitchen herb pack, a tomato lovers pack (mmm) and a salad pack. I don't think I will need quite this much, but they report seed storage of up to 5 years. Please don't take this as a plug for Heritage Organics. I have purchased seeds and they got them to me. Before you run out and spend a small fortune why not keep watching here to see if they grow into something more than just spindly weeds. Tomorrow I am going to give a nice little discussion about how my garden will be set up. I can't wait to start growing.

Okay, as far as my goals went. I got up (I hit snooze, a bad habit I must break) had a shower, brushed my teeth and had a banana. The world is right. I got home and unloaded the car (a feat I normally have trouble with), and even shovelled a bit of the driveway. Good for me! I'm clean and I got some exercise.

Blessings to all.

Becky.

My First Entry! My First Blog!

My first blog. My first entry in my first blog. My name is Becky. I am 29 years old. I've started this blog to document my life. To hold myself accountable to the goals that I am going to set out within the blog. I'm going to use this as a forum for expressing who I'd like to be as a person, working towards healthy goals. I also plan to chronicle my gardening adventures this summer. I have plans for a small garden planted according to square-foot gardening prinicples. It should be an interesting adventure. Eventually I would like to be able to grow a lot of my own food and learn to store it and harvest seeds so that the cost is bare minimum.

So what type of person do I want to be? I see myself as this perfectionist. I see myself having a clean house, getting up early, eating well, exercising daily, taking good care of my friends and family. Unfortunately my ideal and my reality are two very different extremes. I am fairly messy, quite lazy, and ultimately the exact opposite of my goals.

Today will be the start of a brand new day. Today will be the day that I turn around, take a breath, and start over. Okay, it's midnight so tomorrow, since I'm heading to bed. Tomorrow I will be my ideal. I will love myself, respect myself, and learn to take small steps for a better me.

I will get up when my alarm sounds, have a shower, brush my teeth, get dressed, make my bed, pack clothes (going back home) and then head upstairs for a quick bite to eat. I want to buy some makeup, because I see myself as a makeup person who is just too lazy to bother putting it on. I'd also like to buy a few groceries so that I have healthy food when i get home, but this may have to wait until I've planned out some meals.

When I get home I want to spend 30 minutes on laundry. I want to fold and put away the clothes not just wash them and let them pile up for ever and ever. I work tomorrow night, so my hope is that I will get a dog walk in, then a nap, and then I'll put some of that new makeup on, and header to work.

Oh to have plans, things are going to be good.

Feel free to leave comments. I'd love the support.

Becky.