Planting with purpose

Following my announcement that I had loss Nonna, I was overwhelmed with support from family and friends, some that knew and some that did not. It was such a nice feeling. I was absolutely dreading Friday, the day of her services, I was asked to do a scripture reading and read part of the eulogy, taken from mine and my sister's blogs.

The wake was harder than I thought, seeing her lying there, but comforting at the same time because I got to say goodbye. She was buried in the dress she wore at my wedding which was special and all the cards and letters she had recieved were in her casket.

The service itself was just beautiful, with all the hymns she loved and the priest had many comforting and wonderful things to say. I cried, but everyone cried and some I think just cried with me and that was comfort. I got through my readings and eulogy and felt that I had honored her in the best way I could. My mother in law, sister and friend came which was touching too. Way to be there for me.

At the burial Josh had a great idea, we noticed that there were many folks out that day planting flowers, watering and carrying for the other plots, I imagine for Memorial Day. He said we should plant some basil by her headstone. I am going to do that for sure!

I felt drained and sad from the days events and thought sleeping on it would help. In fact not, I feel worse today. I guess the services really made it all real and now I am trying to get through the day by just thinking about good memories and realizing that she would not want me to be sad forever.

So today, I carried on painting the house. Not as fun as I had hoped because my dad should have been up this weekend. Ah well, I know he will come when he is ready.

I also started planting in the vegetable garden. I need some lime but other than that the beds are there and the plants I started with my class that I taught were ready.

So, I have 8 10ftx3ft beds. I planted 1 bed of eggplant 'Caliope', peppers 'Hungarian wax', 2 beds of Tomatoes, 'Big boy', 'Yellow pear', 'San Marzano' and 'Baby grape', 1 bed of yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkin' Connecticut', and spaghetti squash. Around the perimeter I put in zinnias, sunflowers and morning glories.

On the outside of the fence will be more pumpkins. I haven't found a good place for the basil or sweet peas I have germinated on the window sill but I am sure I will find room!

I feel like this garden will be a memorial to my Nonna who also loved gardening and I will always have her in my heart and feel close to her when I am gardening.

My Nonna

Its been a long battle but this morning my Nonna passed away. Though I have had a couple of weeks to come to terms with the notion that she may pass it didn't quite feel real.

I had a very special bond with Nonna from the beginning, she was always 'my nonna'. She was loving, full of wisdom, insightfullness, generous, funny and kind. Being her first grandchildren and triplets we got alot of her attention. She spent alot of time babysitting us and making Sunday dinner. She shared alot of her rich Sicilian Italian heritage with us and I always felt very connected to her and that culture because of her.

My sister spent some time today reminiscing about the things she remembers best about Nonna and special times with her. I wanted to add some of my own. So here are mine.....

As kids we would dress in my aunt's bridesmaid outfits and parade around the table at Nonna's and she would sing 'Here comes the bride' and she would say someday you will 'go married' .

We would spend Sunday afternoons playing at her house while my mom and dad went out and I remember she would give us some money to go across the street to Ed mini-mart to by hostess cupcakes or slush puppies... we felt like we were getting away with something!

We would sleep over at Nonna's and stay upstairs with my aunt... I always seemed to be the bravest and stay the whole night and in the morning I would help roll out meatballs and watch Nonna cook them out on the deck... she made cooking meatballs look so easy.

Speaking of food there was never a lack of really good food whenever I came over, it could be lasanga, spethini, cream puffs or just cantelope and it would be good. No body except maybe Carmela could cook like her. Her pizza, soup, stuffed shrimp and clams, turkey and stuffing, fish, lasanga, meatballs and spethini were my all time favorites. She loved with food, and even if you were not hungry you ate because it made her happy. I love with food too and I know its because of her.....

One of my all time favorites was her little meatball soup that she would make only for me and my sisters, any time we asked. As kids she would cool each brown wooden bowl (they reminded me of the top of an acorn) of soup outside so it wouldn't be too hot. She inspired us to try anything and everything. We loved 'yucky celery' or finocio (fresh anise), and it was sweet and licorice-y. I am too young but I have seen pictures of us eating pasta with squid in front of an awed visiting Italian set of relatives :)

In the more recent years we haven't gotten to have as many Nonna dinners because I have moved around. But just recently she had Carmela make a second set of spethini because we missed them the last time she made them. Carmela pulled them out of the freezer just for us. She also saved me the special small lentils that make her lentil soup special. Sometimes I would bring her fresh vegetables after she was done with her garden, her face when I brought her fresh favas was priceless.

I loved going to Fiesta and watching the parade with all the family and celebrating with lasanga, actually for me the best part was during the parade and the Italian band would stop and play for us and I can still hear her singing along.

It didn't matter how far away I moved, I always felt close to her and everytime I would see her it was as if time had not passed, we could just pick up where we left off. I loved surprising her by stopping by and just peaking around the corner and seeing her sitting in her chair and her face just perk right up. I would ask her how she was doing and sometimes it was good, when it wasn't she would say 'half and half'.

I felt like she could just read me before I said anything, happy, sad, nervous, stressed she just knew. I loved hearing her stories about times past, she was a great story teller.

She was there for me through all my broken hearts and tears. She celebrated when Josh and I decided to get married, when I told her we were getting married she said 'He is a good boy' and when we realized they had the same birthday she said 'I always liked that boy'.

Nonna was one of my biggest champions, she always stuck up for me even if I deserved to get in trouble. She supported all my dreams... even when I told her I wanted to be a trash collector when I grew up... don't ask me why I had this fleeting dream. Maybe it was because the trash guy would smile at us when we were at her house....

I cherish all my memories and happy times with my Nonna. I consider the last almost 30 years to be a gift from God. She almost died before I was born. She lived to see us reach many milestones including graduating from high school, college and getting married. I am so glad we got to spend so many years together, she helped raise me, shape me and make me who I am today.

Though I am sad that she has left us, I know that there is a little bit of her in me. I can look back and savor the memories and know that one day I will be able to see her again. When she was in the hospital waiting for surgery she made me kiss her on the lips and she squeezed my hand and said she loved me. I love you too Nonna and I am sorry I didn't get to say that to you one more time but I know you know it. I love you my little nonna and you will always be in my heart. So when I say good bye Friday, its just for now....

8 yards of loam

So I ordered a second load of composted loam for this weekend and of course it came on Thursday in the RAIN and it sat there in a pile until I had time to spread it which wasn't until Sunday. Which as you know we got like 3 inches of rain on Saturday night. Figures.

So I spread mud and it took me 3.5 hrs. to do it 1 wheelbarrow at a time. I made a 25x30 square area look flat and smooth! Starting to look like a real garden. I need a bit more loam so I could built up the beds.

Now I am left with a sore back but my garden is almost there! I started some morning glories and other seeds so its on its way!

Basil

I credit my Nonna for my love of culinary vegetables and herbs, especially basil and 'fuzzy zucchini' as I called it. I remember her tiny downtown backyard being transformed into a vegetable garden with trellises, swiss chard, tomatoes and even a pear tree.

After a while my family stopped doing the garden for her over the last few years and I promised myself I would do it someday for her. The closest I got was making her a window box with her favorite herbs, flat leaf parsley and genovese basil for her birthday in the spring. It seemed like a good compromise, she could go out on her porch and pick what she needed rather than going down the stairs to the backyard.

This Christmas, I gave her tiny little terra cotta pots with basil and parsley so she could start them in the winter, rather than waiting for me to do it in the spring. I think she appreciated the gesture and knew she would grow them herself.

This spring, I planned to do her window box again or even do some tomatoes and italian zucchini in her garden. Sadly, she is not well and may not be with us for much longer.

My nonna is a special lady and I feel so sad that I may not get to tell her how much I love her just one more time. I am thinking about her all the time and now as the summer is inching closer I plan to plant basil for my nonna.

Its funny how vegetables and food for that matter can become a common thread between generations. My nonna and I are very close regardless of the fact that we like to grow vegetables but I am realizing more and more how my profession is something that most can relate to. I cherish the time with my nonna and am grateful for the time she spent with me that inspired to enter this field.

I love you my little nonna....

What a beautiful spring day

As a New Englander, I feel it is my right to complain about the weather/climate from time to time. I find myself bringing it up on occassion with neighbors, friends and co-workers and we all commiserate. Over the years I have come to expect spring to be a wash, filled with cool rainy, dreary sunless days from the melting of snow in March until Memorial Day. I have to say that this year I am pleasantly surprised, things started warming up mid March for a change and it has been very dry... almost too dry (but I am not complaining yet)

This stretch of warm, sunny dry weather has helped us get ahead in the yard for once. The yard is raked, bushes pruned, flower garden weeded, iris and dahlias planted and the narcissus and azaleas are blooming! We even took down 3 trees in preparation for a new vegetable garden out friend.

We lost 3 trees in the ice storm so it seemed like the right time to thin some trees and start a vegetable garden. Right now the yard looks a bit bare but much has changed as of today.

Since the ice storm we have had an unsightly pile of tree debris piled high and we added to it in March when we cleared for the vegetable garden. Today, Josh and my FIL rented a chipper and together we chipped the entire pile....in what felt like record time 9-noon and we were done. I am so thankful that I have a wonderfully ambitious husband and a FIL who gives generously of his weekend time to help us improve our home.

After we chipped we... actually Josh and FIL removed 3 like 300lb stones from the soon to be vegetable garden, while I weeded out the area of dandilions and lily of the valley. There is a 6 yard pile of loam waiting for me to spread it. Just felt like a monumental task... so I am saving it for tomorrow. The picture with the shed is the site of our soon-to-be vegetable garden and the other picture is of the same spot last spring with the trees.

Tonight, I will dream and drool over seed catalogues and make my plans for the garden. I have promised myself that I will grow whatever FIL likes for vegetables as some small way to thank him!














All I can say is that I am thankful for spring and the time to enjoy the season which always feels too short!