The May 21 Garden

I spent a pleasant hour or so at the garden early this morning. I wasn’t alone–others were getting a head start on what promises to be a 30 C degree today as well. We worked in companionable silence as we tended our respective gardens. I harvested lettuce for supper; planted more beans, radishes, and beets; spread some coffee grounds I’ve been saving; and pulled a few weeds. Bliss.

I love the community garden. It’s fulfilling to place tiny seeds in the ground, watch them grow and eventually to harvest healthy and organic food. I appreciate the ‘community’ piece of getting to know, and learning from, other gardeners. There’s the physical health benefit of working outside and, perhaps best of all, the emotional and mental health benefits of meditative gardening.  All of this AND you end up with the delicious and healthy produce that you’ve grown yourself. What’s not to love about all of that?

Here’s a look at how my garden looks today, on this unseasonably warm day in May.

The lettuce (Tom Thumb, Drunken Woman, Amish Deer Tongue) is doing well. We’ll be enjoying some of the Tom Thumb butterhead lettuce with dinner this evening.

The spinach is also doing well. We’ve enjoyed a couple of feasts of spinach salad this week.

I’m having some trouble with the peas this year. Between the migrating birds feasting on them and the, perhaps less than good, soil where I planted them, they’re just not up to where I’d like to see them by now. Couple that with the fact that I somehow mixed up the seeds and some Aladdin Bush Peas ended up with my Alderman Tall Telephone peas and it’s just a mess this year. I may end up having to rip them up before they reach their full potential as I’ve got other plans for that space as the season moves forward. We do have a few pods of the bush peas forming already though.

The beans are doing well (middle of the photograph below). This morning I put a few more seeds in the ground to fill up some of the gaps in the rows. My Sunburst scallopini is doing well–it’s my first year for that variety of squash. Also my first year growing cucumber: Marketmore  and Crystal Apple.

With this heat we’re having things will take off even more in the coming weeks. I’ll be puttering, transplanting, tending, and finding all manner of joy in this little plot of ground. It truly is the simple things that bring the most fulfillment.