Midsummer extravagance!

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When I walked around the garden today, I was so happy to see the tomatoes ripening, to pick some lettuce and the last of the peas. The summer squash is pouring out abundance, the beets are big and delicious, the corn knee high and cucumbers flowering inspite of being eaten down a couple of times by the striped beetles. It makes me feel so rich to be in the midst of growing, thriving life.

I tilled the weeds that have cropped up, disturbing a robin nest in the grapevines. Two or more speckled babies flew out and both momma and papa circled me aggressively while a speckled baby sat very still in the oregano, blinking shiny black eyes. It was one of those moments where there is stillness in the midst of life and I just stared lovingly at this tiny feathered bit of life before I finished tilling and left mom and dad to figure out how best to protect their family. Today all is quiet. Babies have been rescued and now I begin to plant the next stage of the garden.

It is easy to forget in the middle of all this abundance, that there are crops that need to be planted. I'm going to put in a second planting of beans and lettuce and fertilize the corn again. Corn is a heavy feeder and I like to see the leaves a deep green instead of lime green. So onward with the work to keep me fed all summer and into the fall.

July 14, 2010

Midsummer extravagance!