Looking Ahead to 2022

Happy New Year! Despite all the challenges of COVID and general living, I'm looking forward to the new year. Anything seems possible at this point - 2022 is a blank slate upon which we haven't yet written. Let's make it a great year, despite all the headlines we read and hear!

This year's theme for Eden By The Bay is "homesteading in the city" (a natural follow-up to last year's  "back to the land" theme). Don't worry - I'm not going off grid or stockpiling food and supplies. I'm a modern gal who loves her gadgets and all the benefits of city living. But I did grow up in Southeast Alaska, and have a soft spot for those who live off the land and make it or do it themselves. I also count myself in the good company of makers, who love to create and make things. I plan to produce, reuse, and thrift my way through the year, with all my twenty-first century gadgets and the power on!

Clockwise: Enjoying light from nature and the city
Solar dyeing with kitchen scraps (avocado pits and skin)
Homesteading with gadgets
Watching Mr. Squirrel eat a mushroom stalk

We'll continue many of our projects from last year, including restoring the soil and landscape, planting seeds, making videos, and enjoying the birds and wildlife that visit our little piece of urban land. We'll continue to dye fabric with dyes made from plants. Instead of expanding the color palette, I plan to experiment with exhaust dyeing (reusing dyes that have been used before), more solar dyeing (using the sun or time to dye), and "eco-dyeing" (direct transfer of color from plants). Instead of viewing movies where plants are the stars, we'll read some "homesteading" books and discover how resourceful and innovative people can be. We may do a little cooking and foraging in farmer's markets, and we'll definitely continue learning about plants, visiting parks and gardens, and experimenting. Hope you'll join me!