mi ranchito

Indian Blanket among the Wild Mustard and Dandelions.

It’s Spring. The equinox has just passed us by. Days continue to grow longer and warmer. My little ranchito here in the suburbs of San Antonio is fully alive and thriving.

Last summer I was sitting in my office and gazing out the window at my ranchito. There had been 3 or 4 months of hot, dry — I mean very hot, very dry weather. The front yard had become a desert, totally barren. It’s like I could hear it screaming, almost, like it was in agony.

I dug out the leaf mulch from the bottom of the leaf pile in the back yard, hauled it around to the front yard in a wheel barrow and spread it over the dry dirt like fitting a comforter over a sick child. Autumn rains finally came and the front yard literally exploded with life.

Front yard with some of the high grass mowed (weed wacked) to make space.

Giant Wild Mustard with their brilliant yellow flowers now dominate the front yard. Evening Primrose and False Day Flowers and Dandelions trim the edges. Tall wild grass of some sort has filled in the rest and gone to seed already. Sweet clover grows among the ground cover.

Wild Mustard.

False Day Flower.

All this is wild and grew on its own, Sunflowers, Vetch, one of the earliest cultivars of human history, the Mountain Laurel with their hanging bean pods - they have already blossomed and gone to seed, long strands of Cleavers in the planter box with their tiny round seeds.

It’s been like this all winter pretty much and now even more wildflowers are finding their way to the surface. A few Bluebonnets, Indian Blankets, Dandelions and Thistles of course.

Evening Primrose among the Vetch.

Many of these plants are edible. I have snacked on the tiny Vetch seeds, like little peas in a pod. I have added Wild Mustard leaves and Dandelion leaves to my salad. Yummy. Wild grown and organic.

I love this so much. This is Mother Nature manifesting her personality.

The ancient people (who I am fond of referencing) knew Mother Nature as an entity and a personality. They courted her and loved her.

Sign in Brackenridge Park along the river. “Native Americans camped near the headwater of the San Antonio river for thousands of years before Spaniards established a permanent settlement here. The area’s abundant water sustained a rich array of vegetation and wildlife and provided a cool retreat. Doves, mockingbirds, deer, raccoons and other animals all found shelter among the Oaks and Cedar Elms.”

We live among nature. Actually we are nature. We are a manifestation of Mother Nature’s personality too. A little aberrant perhaps. The prodigal son or something. But still should we not be proud of our heritage. We should say hi to each other from our own planters so to speak.

My little ranchito has taught me to love the earth. It responds. Birds sing in the trees and raccoons live under the house. A opossum comes to dinner occasionally. We all get along. Maybe I am some kind of a god for them, raining down Meow Mix from above. So be it. Amen.

music by J. Pool at IKAL TULUM
Thank you J. Pool!

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