Dehydrating Garden Produce to Preserve It

I harvested these berries on June 9, 2021 and dehydrated them in the oven. This was the first time I've dehydrated strawberries, and they turned out nicely.  

The finished product - minus a few that I couldn't help but pop in my mouth, of course! Delicious.

If you're looking for an easy plant to grow, look no further than strawberries. They're a hardy perennial plant, which means that if they like where they're living, they will come back year after year without replanting. The plants also spread out considerably, sending out runners that make new plants at the end of each growing season.

I started out with three or four strawberry plants, and in three years, they have spread out into a very nice bed.

If you don't have actual gardening space, strawberries also do well in containers, so they can be grown on a patio or balcony.  

The strawberry patch:

 

 

I dehydrated one full cookie sheet and one small, square baking pan of halved strawberries in the oven. I don't have a dehydrator, but you can obviously also do them in an actual dehydrator.

I washed the berries, hulled them (took off the green tops), and cut them in half.

I lined the cookie sheet and baking pan with parchment paper and dehydrated the halved berries in the oven at 200 degrees. The berries should be placed on the parchment paper cut side up, and there should be a little space around each of the berry pieces. None of the berry pieces should be touching each other. It took about five hours for them all to dehydrate. I flipped the berries over once halfway through. 

I cut my berries in half, but they would dehydrate faster if you cut them into quarters or slices.

The smaller pieces dried faster, and I took them out of the oven at various intervals, leaving the bigger pieces to continue drying.

If you do start this process, make sure you do it on a day when you are going to be home for the duration. You will have to check on the berries at various times. 

Mercury Busts Out of the Retrograde Shadow, and Things Pick Up Speed

So mooooooo-ve it!

Photos: Willow

We are now gradually moving out of the edgy, mental stress and challenge indicated by an extended square between Mercury in Aries and Saturn in Capricorn. 

Messenger planet Mercury was retrograde in Aries from March 22 to April 15, forming three squares to Saturn in Capricorn during its transit of Aries (the final one April 25), and this indicated a complex and somewhat stressful start to spring in the northern hemisphere.

(Not to mention below normal temperatures in locations worldwide. Chiron on 29 degrees Pisces, the degree associated with the last day of winter, coincided with a winter that didn't want to end!)

We're now moving forward, but we've certainly been required to work for it every step of the way.

Communication and intelligence planet Mercury is putting the pedal to the metal as it breaks free of the Saturnine hold that has added challenge and hard work and strategy and complication and complexity to our fresh, spring plans. 

Mercury busts out of its retrograde shadow at 16 degrees Aries on May 3 and moves out of orb of the square to Saturn, now retrograde, in Capricorn by May 5.

This indicates a strong propulsion forward, and we must be prepared for it. After biding our time and working through challenges and making adjustments to the delayed timing indicated by Mercury retrograde and Mercury square Saturn, we must now be ready for things to take off quite quickly! The connections we're making, the conversations we're having, and the information we're sharing are bringing us onto new ground. The territory we have been striving to reach is about to get here fast, and this brings new challenges and requirements for successful navigation. 

Mercury in Aries will move into a particularly cardinal-dynamic period on May 12 and 13, as it forms a square to action planet Mars at 28 degrees Capricorn (May 12 at 6:30 a.m. PDT) and a conjunction to revolutionary Uranus at 29 degrees Aries (May 13 at 3:50 a.m.).

The Mercurial action around this time indicates particularly potent movement, as Mars will be just inside its retrograde shadow at 28 Capricorn at the time of the square (returning to these themes again in late August). Uranus will be in the final minutes of the sign of Aries at the time of the Mercury-Uranus conjunction, ahead of the Uranus ingress of Taurus on May 15. 

The Mercury-Uranus conjunction at 29 Aries is actually the last non-lunar aspect to Uranus before it enters the sign of the bull. This indicates the potential for mental breakthroughs, hot ideas, and startling/exciting realizations as Mercury and Uranus conjoin on the potent anaretic degree of Aries. The Moon will also be in Aries on May 13, forming a square to Mars in Capricorn and a conjunction to Uranus, and this amps up the potency of these aspects. We're fully immersed in the drive into new terrain. 

We can expect big, bold movement around this time, especially movement that we have been working for throughout the Mercury retrograde process. Some breakthrough moments are indicated as we break new trail and hit our strides.

However, there is also an indicator of some "peak stress moments" hitting around these times, as well. 

Mercury moves into grounded Taurus on May 13 (5:40 a.m.), immediately following the "too hot to handle" conjunction to Uranus at 29 Aries.

Mercury transiting Taurus indicates that a bit more of a mellow mindset is possible in the last two weeks of May, and this comes as a relief after the extended stress and charge of the Mercury in Aries retrograde in square aspect to Saturn in Capricorn. 

A nice, stabilizing trine between Mercury in Taurus and Saturn Rx in Capricorn occurs on May 18, and these two bodies are working together from much more harmonious angles. This earth trine should soothe some of the frayed nerves and raw mental states following the hard-angled cardinal energies we've been navigating.

May 18 also appears to be a fortuitous date to plant a garden! This date follows the 24-degree Taurus New Moon on May 15 and will involve Mercury in Taurus exactly trine Saturn Rx in Capricorn, as well as the Moon quite comfortable in its domicile of Cancer.

If one is planting according to the lunar cycle, it is said that plants that grow above ground should be planted between the New Moon and the Full Moon. Plants that grow underground should be planted from the Full Moon to the Balsamic Moon. The Moon in a water or earth sign is considered fortuitous for planting, and Moons in air or fire signs are said to be less fortuitous. 

So the Taurus New Moon on May 15, the day of the Uranus ingress, provides an official opening into Gardening Season 2018 (except for you lucky people who can garden almost year-round).

I generally plant my gardens intuitively, when I have the time and energy to plant, as I'm sure most people do these days. I also don't generally plant the above ground plants and the below ground plants at different points in the lunar cycle. But since the astrology seems to be lining up nicely, I may pay a little closer attention to it this year.

It's been a long haul, friends, but as Mercury burns its way into new degrees of the zodiac as of May 3, we're over the hump. 

Happy Gardening, and enjoy the warm and sunny weather!

Concentrated Consolidation and a Moment of Anticipation Ahead of New Growth

The North Node of the Moon, newly in Leo, is currently forming beautiful trine aspects to Venus and Uranus in Aries (conjunct at 27 degrees on June 3) and to Saturn Rx in Sagittarius.

This forms an energetic Grand Fire Trine formation (energetic because the North Node is a calculated astrological point, not a physical celestial body), which is extra specially gorgeous because it propels us into an absolutely magnificent set of astrological aspects that carry us through the summer of 2017. These aspects will involve multiple Grand Fire Trines with some of those morphing into air-fire kite formations with the addition of Jupiter, soon to be direct in Libra (June 9 direct station at 13 degrees).

Grand Fire Trines indicate time periods characterized by intensified creativity, artistry, inspiration, passion, excitement, enthusiasm, exuberance, fun, and movement. These formations indicate a time of general encouragement and high spirits.

The involvement of Jupiter in Libra within kite formation indicates that we are building and developing the social fabric in highly beneficial ways this summer, particularly in August and September. There is an emphasis on teamwork, mutuality, common ground, and finding ways that work for all involved.

(More on the splashy and colourful summer of 2017 can be found in this patron article, "The North Node Enters Shiny, Happy Leo, and There's Almost Too Much Goodness to Contain in One Article!")

The energetic Grand Fire Trine involving the Leo North Node opens us into a new creative chapter that picks up speed as we move through the first part of June. Consider this the first activation at the heart in a series of activations at the heart. We're channeling some very powerful joy over the next few months...

At this point, we just want to have some fun with it all, and with the North Node transiting playful Leo for the next 18 months, we can do just that.

Projects, Projects, Projects With the North Node on Zero Virgo Until May 9

Last year around this time, I was relocating to a new province. I planted a garden in Saskatchewan before I left but moved before I could enjoy the "veggies of my labour."

I moved to the new location halfway through June and spent the summer getting my bearings in my new locale.

I visited the local Farmers Market (and set up my own DIY table there for a few weeks) and was also happy to learn that my local grocery store carried a nice selection of foods, including organic.

Still, I missed my garden terribly! More than one might imagine. It was like an ancestral psychic panic when I thought about having no space to grow food after having a garden five years running in Saskatchewan. The trauma and vulnerability of the landless peasants, reliant on someone else's land, over which someone else has ultimate control. It runs through the blood of most of us, I'm sure.

I applied with the community garden for this year but was only able to secure one 4-foot by 6-foot bed.

Since being poisoned by Cipro, I have to eat a diet of mostly fresh vegetables (my body rejects most other foods), so this was not going to cut it considering the volume of vegetables I needed to produce.

I scoped around for more space, but the community garden was full. The local college had a little bit of space available under some landscaping fabric, but it was two bus rides and a three-quarter kilometre trek just to get to the garden spot. A little on the inconvenient/arduous side, but I went to check it out anyway because I was pretty well desperate.

I was talking about gardening one day around my apartment building, and my landlord overheard. He said he would be happy to put in a raised bed in the adjacent yard! Oh, man. Was I overjoyed.

That still left me a little short of space for things like cucumbers, zucchinis, and tomatoes, which like to spread out a whole lot. So he said I could spade up some sod along his hedge to make an extra vegetable bed. Eureka! Amazing! I found my garden space, and I could make it right in the yard of my apartment building. There's an outside water source, too, to make it even more convenient.

The first project to get to work on was the raised vegetable bed. This part was a bit more complicated and definitely required assistance from my landlord, as I had never made one before. Now that I've taken part in putting one together, I can see that it is quite simple if you have the supplies and tools required. (Thank-you to my Awesome McPossum landlord. I hope he is well-rewarded for his kindness.)

Tools/supplies needed to build a simple raised garden bed:

 Isn't it cute?

- wood (6 pieces that are longer, 6 pieces that are shorter, of a 3-inch depth to make a 9-inch tall bed like the one shown)
- a drill
- large nails/spikes
- a hammer
- a vehicle, possibly with a trailer (to get the wood and also to pick up the soil)
- a spade (pointed shovel)
- a level
- top soil 

Led By the Deep-Down Depths of Our Hearts During This Sizzling Hot (And Historical) Leo Season

Wild Roses and Tiger Lilies with Yellow Flower Photograph Grouping

from Renegade Heifer Photography

Photos: Willow, on Willow's wall 

The Sun and Mercury have just entered Leo, the sign of the rock star, the artist, and the local celeb, and these bodies form their exterior conjunction today on the zero degree of Leo (1:23 p.m. CST), squared by the Moon in Scorpio tonight (10:04 p.m.). 

This Sun-Moon square marks a First Quarter Moon that is absolutely bursting with creative potential, and things have only just begun...

The fiery and passionate Leo influence doesn't fully let up until early October when Venus moves back into Virgo (October 8).

The Sun and Mercury in early Leo join Greater Benefic Jupiter (expansion, wisdom, benefits, luck) in late Leo, while Lesser Benefic Venus (love, relationship, values, money) prepares to retrograde into the sign once again on July 31. 

This concentration of bodies in Leo indicates that things are about to get a whole lot more rock-and-roll. 

Leo is flashy, bold, confident, stylin'. 

Leo has star power, even if it's just local celebrity.

  

Leo is about the tremendous power of art and music and creativity and style and fun and personality and pizzazz to join us all, beaming, at the heart.

It's the power of an old drinking song, it's the power of an old gospel song, it's the power of an old classic that everyone knows the words to.

Leo is hot, there's no doubt about it. 

Leo has sizzle, and squaring Scorpio, that sizzle is enough to make one weak at the knees. Once masculinity and sexuality planet Mars enters Leo on August 8, joining the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, we're in full-on heartthrob territory. We're in love with ourselves, with our lives, with our friends, families, and lovers. 

This love carves out your heart, takes full possession of it. It's almost too much. But it can never be enough.

It will be impossible not to follow our hearts and our passions this summer with so much Leo energy involved, squaring Saturn in "can't deny reality" Scorpio. With Saturn involved, some strict restraint will be necessary, to be certain. There will be many instances when we have to play our cards close to our chests. But we're boiling inside. We have the fever. And we'll eventually have to let it out.

This could get very interesting.

Jupiter is in late Leo, on the final weeks of its year-long transit of the sign, and the time is ripe.

Greater Benefic Jupiter doesn't roll back into Leo for another 11 years (2026). Lesser Benefic Venus will not be retrograde in Leo again while Jupiter transits Leo during your lifetime. This extended interaction between the benefic planets makes this Leo season one for the history books.

Believe in the power of your own creativity, your own style, your own personality, your own heart. It's dripping with potency.

With the bodies in Leo working on the square to Saturn in late Scorpio, the creative fertility of this Leo season (July 22 - August 23) is almost explosive. Things are ripe-to-bursting. Things long dormant are coming back to life.

As some readers know, I have been trying my hand at Plutonic punk gardening for the past four years. You can read more about this year's efforts at the end of this article.

For three years, I've had puny gardens. The first year, I got no rain. The second year, I got no direct sunlight. The third year (last year) was the flood that consumed almost my whole town.

But this year:

 

This year, I've have enough lettuce to feed myself, my parents and sister, my cousin, two friends, six seniors at the seniors complex, and some of their family members! I will have enough vegetables stored in the freezer to last two years, more than likely.

Yesterday, on another lettuce run, I stepped out of the car and the ground was alive with masses of little frogs jumping every which way. Frogs are considered a fertility symbol, and this, to me, was another indicator of the fertility and big creative potential of this special summer.

We're painting our lives and our world in bold new colours this summer and fall, led by the fevered and passionate fury of our hearts. This is catalytic creative power, spurring reactions and changes in whatever it touches. We could not possibly foresee the full effect. The ripple effects go on and on and on...

With Venus stationing retrograde on the zero degree of Virgo (July 25), we are being asked to determine precisely what we need to create: in our lives, in our selves, in our relationships, in our social settings, in our communities, in our world.

And with the squares to Saturn in Scorpio, we need to create certain things now. We need certain avenues and outlets for our passions. We need to inject more fun, more style, more heart, more sizzle, more sass, more rock-and-roll into our lives and social scenes.

This is not frivolous stuff. True art and creation are not frivolous things. This is a deep soul need, a need for creative propulsion and advancement beyond old, stagnant scenarios, relationship dynamics, and ways of being. 

We need to release some of the old energy we've been carrying, and the only way we can do it is by being the full and true works of art that we are. 

The way we do it is by taking some calculated risks, opening some rich new facets of our personalities, connected right down deep to the soul. The way we do it is by taking calculated creative risks, putting our personal stamp on things, injecting our personalities and style into the world around us, creating a life we love to live amidst collective chaos and difficulty, while the walls crumble around us, while we face collective annihilation.

This is the type of creative power that grabs you by the deepest depths of who you are, singing it or sculpting it or saying it or painting it in a way that makes it all undeniable.

We are helpless in the face of the tremendous creative power and potential of this summer of 2015. And we love it.

Create a life you love to live so that you would choose to do nothing different if this turned out to be our last days. 

There is a New Moon in Leo at 21 degrees on August 14, followed by the Sun and Venus forming their interior conjunction at 22 degrees Leo on August 15. The percolating creative energy simply explodes into new life, new love, and new beauty at this point. 

Mercury will be in Leo until entering Virgo August 7.

Jupiter leaves Leo for Virgo on August 11.

The Sun will be in Leo until entering Virgo on August 23.

Venus will be in Leo July 31 - October 8. 

Mars will be in Leo August 8 - September 24.

Getting Our Hands Dirty as We Move Through the Taurus (Farmer/Rancher) New Moon

You mess with the bull, you get the horns.

Photos: Willow

The Moon is currently in exaltation in Taurus ahead of the Taurus New Moon on May 17 (10:13 p.m. CST) when the Sun and Moon will come together in conjunction at 26 degrees of the sign. This kicks off a 28-day lunar cycle coloured by themes of Taurus the Bull until June 16.

Taurus energy is rich, rustic, sensuous, earthy. It's slower-paced, grounded, and dense. It's simple, basic, and traditionally-minded. It's close to the land, close to the dirt, close to nature and to the seasonal cycles. Taurus is a sign known for its love of relaxation and simple pleasures, but it is also a sign that is not afraid of hard work. Farming and ranching would be two classic forms of rustic hard work associated with Taurus, but any job or project that requires endurance, perseverance, and a sustained effort to make progress in the physical world would classify.

The influence of Mercury, Mars, and soon the Sun (May 21) in Gemini during this Taurean lunar cycle, however, indicates that much of our hard work this month will be mental, verbal, information-related, and organizational rather than strictly grunt physical labour. This hard work is made less arduous if we can manage our stress levels, keep information flowing, and avoid overloading ourselves with too much busyness, conversation, information, worry, or social activity.

We're working to keep many balls in the air while simultaneously putting a new foundation under our feet. Keep it as simple as possible.

Taurus is the sign of the farmer, and Taurus season coincides with sowing/planting season in much of the northern hemisphere. This makes it a good time of year to turn our attention to food and to the sources of our food.

In keeping with our farming and ranching themes combined with a strong Gemini/Mercury influence, passing and receiving information about the state of our food supply are key components this month. 

This very Mercurial lunar cycle is a great time for the wider dissemination of information about the state of our food supply, the state of our farmers (including stress, depression, and mental health issues which are prevalent among farmers and ranchers), and the state of our food distribution networks.

The miserable, terrifying, and ongoing 500-year drought in California, a major food supplier for North America, is one element that must be brought more strongly into the collective psyche at this time. 

This is also a good time to talk frankly about the widespread problem of hunger on this planet (including in "rich" countries like the United States and Canada), as well as the lack of political will to alleviate this horrifying situation. Forty-two million Americans are trying to subsist on food stamps at this time. Nutrition should not be an afterthought, but this becomes the case when it's a struggle just to fill your stomach - and the stomachs of your children - on a regular basis.

A Handy Guide To Plutonic Punk DIY Freestyle Gardening Under the Uranus-Pluto Square

The Garden Patch

Photos: Willow



Organic vegetable gardens are ideally planted in idyllic natural settings surrounded by trees, flowers, and perhaps a babbling brook.

But if you haven’t noticed, we’re working with far from the ideal here, people.

Tip #1: If the only available spot for your organic vegetable garden is, in actuality, down a prairie trail within sight of a pump jack and open oil flare, amuse yourself with the irony of the situation. Keep your fingers crossed that you and your veggies are out of range of the toxic byproducts. If you are not out of range of said byproducts, revel in the intense survival drives of both the Plutonic punk garden and Plutonic punk gardener.

Pumpjack and oil flare

Tip #2: The concern may cross your mind that chemical spray drift from neighbouring fields could find its way onto your organic produce, but again, a make-do situation on Planet Earth is a make-do situation on Planet Earth. Try to suck it up. Under the intensity of the Uranus in Aries – Pluto in Capricorn squares, there’s really no pretending. We're doing the best we can, and the planting of an organic vegetable garden under such conditions is a true attempt at survival between the cracks.

Tip #3: Most gardeners will use a motorized garden tiller specially designed to work the soil of their garden spot in preparation for planting. If you don’t have access to such a machine, a disker hooked to a full-size tractor will work in a pinch. If you know or are related to a farmer or rancher who can assist on this front, you're in business.

Tip #4: If you find you don’t have a hoe because you left it at an aborted strawberry picking job years ago, just dig your row with the edge of a spade.

Tip #5: Usually, gardeners will use a string tied to two stakes stuck in the ground to ensure their rows are made in straight lines. If you are a DIY freestyle variety of gardener, though, and don’t have string or stakes or really even the inclination to use them, you can dispose of this step as a finicky aesthetic quibble.

Tip #6: If you find you have a surplus of seeds after you’ve planted your row, just add a bit of length to the end with the trusty spade. This will obviously create rows of differing lengths, but diversity makes the world go round, right?

Tip #7: If your garden stubbornly refuses to come up, resulting in a (premature) declaration of its failure by those who observe it, comfort yourself with the Plutonic principle that spontaneous, against-all-odds growth is not only possible but probable. This is a Plutonic punk DIY freestyle garden, after all. There’s no counting it out early. The phoenix shall rise.

Cucumber plant

Tip #8: Due to multiple factors, you may find that not all your garden comes up. In fact, only two of your ten potato plants may come up due to the use of regular, rather than seed potatoes. Again, as a DIY freestyle gardener, accept that improvisation sometimes comes with drawbacks. As a true Plutonic punk gardener, however, immediately shed concern about or attachment to the dead zones, focusing only on what has survived. Applaud the survival of the plants that have showed themselves, growing under these inhospitable Uranus square Pluto conditions. Love and tend to the plants that have courageously burst forth, and think of the meals you will enjoy.

Tip #9: People will generally maintain a weed-free garden patch, but when your garden has been disked with a full-size disker and tractor, you are going to end up with a lot more ground than you need. Keeping weeds at bay will mean removing them from your rows and from the surrounding area, but leaving a perimeter of weeds to do their thing. The weed patch will, of course, be much more green, full, and lush than anything you planted, but just ignore this taunting from the natural world.

Raggedy-ass DIY freestyle garden

It’s true that these crooked, raggedy-ass rows of arbitrary length and spotty growth would scandalize the old folks. They would continue to scandalize anyone with more usual ideas about gardening. Luckily, this garden spot is out in the country, down a prairie trail no one uses, hidden by a jungle-like patch of weeds around its perimeter and will escape most notice and critique. 

Hidden down a prairie trail

Under the attempted corporate, agribusiness monopoly by genetically modified and chemically-treated seeds and food, growing and eating organic or non-GMO is a revolutionary act.

If you do not have the space, the time, or the inclination to do your own DIY freestyle gardening, please visit your local farmers market or contact your local Hutterite colony and load up for the year.

Many vegetables can be quickly blanched and frozen and will keep all year round. Having local garden produce at your disposal through the winter months is a wonderful thing.

Potato plant

Ceres in Gemini: Information and Disinformation about Genetically Modified Seeds

Dwarf planet Ceres (grains, cereals, and the fertility of the Earth) entered Gemini (media) June 24 where it will stay until September 26. It will retrograde back into Gemini December 4 until April 25, 2013.

Issues related to food and agriculture are going to be talked about, thought about, and covered in the media during this time, and there will be ongoing releases of information designed to sway public perspective.

Soon after the ingress, I heard a “news story” on a local radio station involving an interview with a shill for the genetically modified seed industry. This individual was talking up the benefits of genetically modified alfalfa, using the standard argument that we need to move to GM seeds in order to produce more food for a growing  global population.

In actuality, genetically modified seeds have not proven to produce much higher yields at all. This is just one of the common faulty arguments used to promote insanely dangerous, untested, and unproven genetically modified seeds.

The push for the widespread introduction of genetically modified alfalfa is on, with multiple GM corporations trying to get in on the game, but the introduction of GM alfalfa would be devastating for the organics industry and for all non-GMO crops and livestock.

In Canada, a proposed moratorium on the sale and planting of genetically modified alfalfa was blocked in March, 2011 by the Harper Conservatives. The pro-GMO Conservatives now have a majority in Canadian Parliament, and allowing the widespread sale and growth of genetically modified seeds in this country is on the agenda.

With Ceres in Gemini for the next while, the organized and monied media push for the widespread use and acceptance of genetically modified seeds/foods will be heating up. Pro-GMO propaganda will be flying fast and furious, and the opposition to GM seeds and foods needs to match it step-by-step.

Please vocally oppose genetically modified alfalfa and all genetically modified seeds and crops, and support a moratorium on their sale and planting. Talk about the issues, and keep them on the public radar screen when you can. Support and buy food from local, non-GMO farmers whenever possible. 

 

For more Willow's Web background on GM alfalfa:

- All WWA articles on GM alfalfa

-- Short mainstream news story  

-- Longer astrology journalism article