tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1653399301717513709.post206236644145349469..comments2024-03-25T17:18:09.834-07:00Comments on Becoming Gezellig: The Meaning of MaySarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06171205124450749463noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1653399301717513709.post-35717461018375076962015-06-02T17:23:14.497-07:002015-06-02T17:23:14.497-07:00Herbs are great! Whenever I go and harvest a few s...Herbs are great! Whenever I go and harvest a few springs of thyme or oregano for a recipe it makes me feel like I really have it all together...for a moment. Even better that lots of herbs are perennials! After the first year they will really thrive with almost no effort from a human.<br /><br />I agree with you about "do what brings us pleasure," to a point. I think the spurning of domesticity or "feminine" pursuits in the 70s was a shame (just misogyny by another name, in a way, though I can understand how/why it came about), and I'm really glad for the current revival of the arts that our grandmothers had mastered.* The problem with choice feminism in general of course is that in practice we mostly wind up with women, and not men, choosing traditionally female pursuits and paths. (Plus, there's a way in which the current revival of domesticity also causes women -- again, hardly ever men -- to feel obligated to take up pursuits that they really aren't interested in/don't derive pleasure from: the dark side of Pinterest.) And now I feel like I'm veering dangerously close to saying that I need dudes to be interested in the things I am interested in, in order to legitimize my own interests. Which isn't the argument I want to make at all! I do wish there were more fluidity, I guess. But, as a woman who is interested in some of those traditionally female pursuits, I'm not really sure what I personally can do to move things forward. <br /><br />*And, of course, from our vantage point we can romanticize our grandmothers' skills...but our grandmothers may not really have enjoyed some of those domestic arts that they were so good at. I don't think my dad's mom enjoyed cooking much at all, for example.<br /><br />I don't think I'm disagreeing with you at all, I guess I just had a rant in me too!Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06171205124450749463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1653399301717513709.post-41361136715644956422015-06-02T05:40:36.436-07:002015-06-02T05:40:36.436-07:00We are taking another stab at tomatoes. We tried t...We are taking another stab at tomatoes. We tried them year 1, and failed miserably. We didn't try last year. Trying again (just two plants) right now. Instead of growing all the tomatoes, I'm growing all the herbs. Much easier! :-) I've done plenty of teeth-gnashing and breast-beating over the value of domesticity. I think we all get permission to do what brings us some pleasure, as long as it's not hurting someone else. If you're going to have planters anyway, might as well have ones that you think are beautiful. Flowers frivolous? Not to the bees. And if you're going to help out the bees, might as well choose some you love the looks of. As a child of the 70s and its women's movement, I think I felt some kind of duty or obligation to spurn domesticity. I am beyond glad that I had more options than my mother and grandmothers, truly. As a child of the 70s, I understand how far we've come. (Just watch some of the TV ads from that era to see the pool of icky messages we were swimming in as we grew.) But the domestic arts are some of the ones I love best, and I don't think they have any more or less value than those deemed to have more value. OK, sorry for the mini-essay/rant. You touched a nerve. :-)Ritahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13551793959655853424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1653399301717513709.post-80820667319112704012015-05-31T09:14:28.416-07:002015-05-31T09:14:28.416-07:00I planted two whole rows of kale -- my husband was...I planted two whole rows of kale -- my husband was a bit alarmed to realize this but I figure we will just thin it down gradually to about 6 plants. We are lucky with our mild winters -- we just leave the kale plants in the garden and continue to harvest throughout the winter. The plants get really huge and Seussian! But then, during the 1-2 months each year when we don't have kale ready to harvest in the garden and I have to buy it from the store, it feels like some kind of moral failing. :-P<br /><br />Last year was disappointing for tomatoes here, too. I think because it was so hot and dry, and we're not used to gardening in those conditions. I suspect that this year will be similar, so we'll have to try to do better.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06171205124450749463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1653399301717513709.post-86823740492622737382015-05-28T08:53:45.096-07:002015-05-28T08:53:45.096-07:00:)
I'm *totally* a "Yes, let's grow ...:)<br /><br />I'm *totally* a "Yes, let's grow all the tomatoes!" kind of person, too ... just the other night, I planted our eight tomato plants (all the while thinking "I hope that eight will be enough...) but I haven't yet planted the 12 kale! <br /><br />Last year was, for some reason, a really disappointing tomato year, but the year before was a bumper crop - I had tomatoes in the freezer until the following May, which was amazing! Tomatoes are an easier thing to handle when you've bitten off more than you can chew (because it doesn't have to take overly long to prepare them for freezing, if you just freeze them whole) but the kale on the other hand ... I was swearing at myself last fall when the kale kept coming and coming and coming, because it was a lot of work to cut, blanch and freeze, but it ended up being so worthwhile, because it's lasted all winter; I still have one container left in the freezer!<br /><br />And I too, find it rewarding when the things I do don't only matter to me.Marianhttp://greengreyandgezellig.comnoreply@blogger.com