Who is St. Fiacre, anyway?

Moring temp: 34°F
Afternoon high: 60F
Tonight's projected low: 47F
Humidity: 100%
Moon: Waning, 50%

There were clouds early this morning, but this afternoon has been sunny, warm, with a slight East Wind at 7mph, and absolutely beautiful! Much more like Spring. I'll not complain about warm days again for at least a week or so.

1. As scholars of Christian history are well aware, St. Fiacre was an Irish Catholic priest who lived in the early 7th century. Because of his great love for nature and things that grow, most especially a well-cultivated the garden, St. Fiacre eventually became the patron saint of gardening. As the Catholic Encyclopedia tells us, "He lived a life of great prayer, fasting and the manual labour of the garden. Disciples flocked to him, but, desirous of greater solitude, he left his native land and arrived, in 628, at Meaux, France." Upon his arrival, the stories continue, he was told by the powers that be that he could have only as much land as he himself was able to clear between sunrise and sunset on a single day. Miraculously, St. Fiacre cleared a vast area of forested land, and soon built a chapel for prayer and bountiful flower, fruit and vegetable gardens! Those who visited St. Fiacre's garden found inner peace and serenity as well as miraculous physical recoveries. The Encyclopedia recalls, "He cured all manner of diseases by laying on his hands; blindness, polyps, fevers, and especially tumours." We find these stories to be quite inspirational, and feel a kinship with St. Fiacre, as we as well desire to create a place of peace, serenity and healing. So, what better name for our Homestead than, "St. Fiacre's Acre"? Indeed, when we begin our outdoor work for the day, we try to remember to invite and request St. Fiacre's presence and assistance, and any angels he wishes to bring along. When we do, he graciously shows up, and so do the angels, and the work goes more smoothly, more easily and more peacefully.

2. I double-dug the 10th Garden Bed. Finally, the entire Garden's been double-dug, thank goodness! I worked-in three bags of composting leaves, as usual, but again I'll have to wait on the peat moss until later this week.

Looking to the future: All six perimeter posts are up around the Blueberry Grove (BBG). We now need our bird netting. But the only netting we've found so far is available at Home Depot, and costs nearly $26.00 for each 5' X 45' strip. We'll probably need six of these, and this is currently beyond our economic means. So, I need to find a less expensive solution, soon.