Cèilidh Nam Freumhan

Category: Garden & Seasonal Living

Latest Weekend of Begging the Earth to Provide Me Its Bounty

I am at a point where I can verify that food is actually growing.

There are still a lot of seedlings, though, and many of them look alike, so I have to be careful about what I pull out when weeding.

My cucumber starts died, so I bought four new starts and planted those. The pole beans haven’t germinated yet, so I reseeded in the hopes of getting more than two beans this year.

The two middle cages are the new cucumber starts.

I transferred my tomatillo starts to bigger containers. They were really leggy in the smaller ones and pretty floppy, so I’m not convinced these will thrive either. RIP tomatillos.

Pepper transfers went well. I expect to plant those next week. After that, I’ll transfer my tomato starts to larger containers and start hardening them off outside.

So far, I’ve been able to identify: carrots, lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, chervil, dill, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cilantro, clary sage, and lemon balm.

Voila! Chervil.

To delineate the beds, I used a hoe to make sections. Then I realized that hoeing is actually the best way to get rid of weeds—if you don’t have to worry about destroying your hard-earned seedlings.

The problem is that I can’t really hoe anything but the beds, because then I won’t know where the beds start and end anymore.

One of the things I’m fighting is a clover cover crop (which I definitely didn’t plant), but I actually like it in between the beds. I think it looks cool. So I decided to just take out the bigger weeds in between the beds and let the clover stay.

Closeup of the clover with big weeds I haven’t taken out yet.

May 10, 2026
My Garden System is Getting More Sophisticated (What’s Working)
The garden overview photo was taken as I began this three-hour tour.

On the left side is a cover crop of clover that I definitely did not plant. That is supposed to be a row of greens, but unfortunately nothing has grown enough for me to distinguish between actual food and the three-leaf version of a leprechaun’s dream.

Why Everything Is Numbered

I have a tendency not to plan things out, which becomes problematic when trying to grow food and medicinal herbs.

So everything is divided into numbered beds. What you don’t see is why they were placed where they were.

The bottom half is all herbs:
- #1 loves water
- #2 likes a moderate amount
- #3 prefers it drier, grows taller, and would otherwise shade the others
The rest is organized by nutrition, water needs, and companion planting.

My Planting Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet tracks:
- frost dates
- indoor starts
- transfer dates
- direct sow timing
I had to start marking completed tasks with little stars because apparently I cannot be trusted to remember what I already did.

Eventually I’ll rewrite it in fountain pen like the rest of the commonplace book, but growing actual food takes priority.

The Commonplace Book

This idea sprouted (yes, I did that intentionally) from a terrible mistake last year: I didn’t know what any of the herbs looked like beyond the seed packet photos.

So I started drawing the herbs and writing what they’re useful for.

I’m doing something similar with vegetables, but without pictures. If I can’t recognize a tomato by now, I clearly have other issues that need immediate attention.

Also, I’m not sure why I decided to write my capital A’s like that. I appear to be passing notes in 7th grade English.

Starts Actually Worked This Year

Last year my starts failed because I made too many mistakes to recover from and ended up buying starts.

This year they germinated.

I’d like that entered into the record.

Improved Trellises

I still haven’t built proper trellises because I refused to ruin my cozy “don’t leave the house” weekend by going to the home improvement store.

Instead:
- I flipped two tomato cages upside down and secured them to fence posts for cucumbers
- I used another tomato cage for pole beans, buried to the first ring
Elegant? No.

Functional? We’ll find out.

Bonus Content

This photo is similar to the previous one, but I believe everyone deserves to see my good boy.
April 25, 2026
A Weekend of Making Things (Bookbinding and Crafts)

Some weekends are for errands. Some are for recovery.

This one feels like a weekend for making things.

I’ll be in the garden, watching baseball, and practicing bookbinding with simple materials.

Nothing glamorous—just the satisfying work of learning by doing.

I ordered cardstock that should arrive tomorrow, and I plan to try Coptic binding for the first time. With luck, I’ll end the weekend with a notebook worthy of gifting to a friend. Realistically, it may take a few attempts—but who’s counting?

I chose black cardstock along with a few shades of gray. Even if the work is simple, it suits my minimalist nature.

There is plenty of gardening to do as well, assuming the weather cooperates. Some starts may be ready for larger containers, which feels like a small victory after I had to replant several when my cat decided to have a snack.

Weeding is inevitable. So far, nothing I direct-sowed has germinated enough to distinguish itself confidently from the weeds.

Baseball is inevitable too.

If I can’t watch, I’ll listen while working outside. If I can watch, I can bind books at the same time. Either way, the game will be part of the weekend rhythm.

And after baseball?

Obviously, one turns to a Doctor Who binge.

April 23, 2026
I Thought This Was a Highland Blog (What I’m Actually Building)

Sometimes we begin with one interest and discover it was really a doorway.

When I first created this site, I imagined it as a place to explore Highland culture, heritage, and plant-based recipes inspired by Scotland. That still matters to me. But over time, curiosity has a way of wandering.

The deeper I looked into roots and tradition, the more I found myself drawn to gardens, language study, handmade books, seasonal rhythms, and the quiet satisfaction of learning for its own sake.

So perhaps this was never only a Highland blog.

Perhaps it was always meant to be a place for roots, research, and everyday beauty.

Since beginning this endeavor, I’ve branched into many interests that may not seem connected at first glance—but I love finding the threads between them.

Right now, I’m exploring gardening, canning, Torah study, language learning, baseball stat apps, planners and journals, designing my own planner, and crafting useful paper goods such as reusable notebook covers and hand-bound notebooks. I also enjoy finding creative ways to use what I already own.

Future projects include learning to knit and experimenting with making fountain pen ink.

As a neurodivergent person, I’m proud of learning how to nurture many interests at once rather than feeling pressured to choose only one.

I hope you’ll keep reading and join me in learning along the way.

April 23, 2026