Spring, the Color Blue, and my Kitchen Window

Snowmelt Icicles on the Barn
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart 2010

Around February of every year, I start to have cabin fever. The walls of the house seem to close in, the drapes are too dark, the windows need to have more 'green' coming through and icicles are long on the edges of the barn roof. By March, that cabin fever has become full-blown Spring Fever.  It doesn't help that the weather gets warm, the snow begins to melt, and then we are hit again by snow and sub-zero temps. I just finished working on a video from this year's Junction City Ice Cutting Event in February and had spent a lot of time thinking about the event, the pond, the ice, and how that ice would be used in the hottest of days this summer. Along with that, seed catalogs lay in piles with sticky notes on them, new packets of seeds next to garden plans and bags of potting soil sat frozen on the front porch. It's hard not to get a bit depressed about winter and the cold.



As a writer and a homesteader I know that the mind, like a closed up house, requires that the winter's cobwebs get shook out and aired out so the colors of summer can brighten up the place. With that in mind I decided to head to the basement, get out the bucket and soap, and start early spring cleaning. I had this idea that as I washed the walls and cabinets of my kitchen, I would be inspired to think about new things to write and thus the dusty walls in my head would get washed and preped for fresh new ideas and spring is also a great time to start projects....

Washing out the Cobwebs
The Idea

I filled the bucket full of hot, soapy water and as I dipped and sloshed the wash rag in the mix, I happened to glance at my kitchen window. The day is bright and I notice that the little elder and beetle bugs that show up near spring are leaving little dots all over the windows.  There are spiderwebs in the corners and dust and bug skeletons on the sill. Yuk! I usually put my african violet plants on the sill and have happy pink and purple flowers to look at, but the violets are now in another room, recovering from getting too cold. Plus, the new pots that they are in are just too wide for the ledge. My window, now clean and clear, is in dire need something colorful and growing.  I finish up the kitchen cabinets, stare at my kitchen window for a while, then call it a day, heading to bed.

Shopping for Blue

Inspiration often comes to me during the night. It can be a picture that I wake with or a particular color that stirs up feelings from days in the past. That morning it was the color blue. I had dreamt of a sunset with a blue so cobalt you could not paint it and a cerulean sunset laced with fiery orange. The cerulean blue had stayed behind to greet me when I awoke. It exploded in my senses as soon as I looked, once again, at my kitchen window. The painterly muse came upon me then so I finished up breakfast, tidied up the house and headed for town, not sure of what I was looking for or what I would find. I only knew that there would be something that would call my name and say 'window' when I saw it.

And so it happened, my hands on the shopping cart. I saw the blue mosaic solar lights out of the corner of my eye, down an aisle that I was not going to venture into. Just down the aisle next to them were the cerulean blue clay pots and saucers, then the potting mix, and then the seeds. Since I had not yet purchased my herb seeds, this is what I chose for those pots. I was anxious to get home and embark on my window project, so I finished up my shopping - 2 hours later - and headed back to the homestead.

Pots, Solar Lights and Seeds
copyright (c) Marlene Hobart

Unpacking a 3-hour shopping trip that had encompassed 3 stores took some time and setting up the kitchen counter for gardening took some more but finally the project was ready to begin. I assembled all the parts:

• 4 Blue ceramic pots,
• 4 Blue ceramic saucers,
• 4 Blue mosaic solar lights with the dirt spikes kept inside the tubes,
• 4 packets of herb seed:
• Lemon grass
• Miniature Greek Basil
• Greek Oregano
• Rosemary
• Potting Mix
• Plastic tub
• Large spoon for mixing.

The Window Project : Step-by-Step

Mixing the Soil

I opened up the potting mix and scooped up a bunch into the plastic tub, adding warm water to moisten the peat and stirring it until it was mixed well. A bit more perlite in the mix would have been better, but since these pots were going to remain in the house I would be able to keep an eye on them drying out or getting water-logged.

Setting the Lights

Press down the potting soil tightly so the peat wicks the
water  to your plant roots.
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart

Next, I held the solar lights up inside of the pot, being careful to offset them and not have them positioned over the pot's drain hole. I then filled up each pot with the moist potting soil until about 3/4" below the rim, making sure to pack the soil down tight into the pot and around each of the solar light posts. If you don't pack the potting mix down tight, it drys out quickly and literally starves the plants of moisture.  I water them by filling up the saucer so the mix needs to be able to wick the water upward. This also helps the plant roots grow deep instead of remaining near the top.

mmmm Herbs

In each pot I sprinkled one of the four herbs that I had purchased; lemon grass for flavoring soups, rosemary for my roasts and mashed potatoes, oregano for my lasagna and of course basil, for my pesto and everything else.  I do so love basil. 

Now herb seeds are generally very fine and a packet can contain hundreds of seeds. Herb plants will get big and the pots are only about 6 inches across, so I'd only need a few, but enough starts so I could thin them out to the healthiest one or three as they grew. So, on top of the soil they went, with a very thin layer of more potting soil above them and some water to moisten the seed bed. After finishing the seeding I then placed them in the saucers, lined them up on my kitchen window sill and took pictures.  The color was perfect.

My Kitchen Window - Notice the Solar Panels Outside
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart

The Final Test

It was still early afternoon so the sun was bright and no clouds blocked it from shining through the window. There were two more things left before the project was complete.  I went into the living room and scrounged around the houseplants looking for two little resin birds. One was blue and the other was yellow. When their legs get too dry they chirp, a simple reminder if I get too busy to check the pots on a sunny day.  I tested their batteries and electric eyes and set them in the center two pots. The final test came later that evening. It was time to turn off the lights and head to bed....

My New Nightlight
Copyright (c) Marlene Hobart

It's A Success!

As the herbs begin to grow, I will thin out the plants to just a few or one single healthy plant and then keep them pinched off so they don't over-grow the pots or the solar lights. I can hardly wait to take those pinches and add the herbs to some great new recipes.  Every night I now have a beautiful glowing blue window in my kitchen that gets it's energy from the sun or from the lights in the kitchen. Every morning I'm greeted by four happy blue ceramic pots. I can hardly wait now for spring to arrive, but I have calmed a bit of the spring fever down - at least for another week.


Note: You can find these lights now in most stores. They are marketed for using along pathways and contain small solar cells in the top of each light, and a rechargeable battery within the headpiece that can be replaced when it no longer charges. This year there are several colors of the mosaic or stained glass style of decorated lights and the prices are very reasonable. I find all kinds of fun uses for them.


Peace
Marlene Hobart

Related articles

• Simple Steps for Tackling Spring Cleaning, Room-by-Room (lifehack.org)
• Herb Garden Ideas (glenns-garden.com)