“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful!’ and sitting in the shade.”
~ Rudyard Kipling, Complete Verse
We’re eating from the garden daily and her bounty is plentiful. Every spring I fret about it but she’s always been generous with her gifts. The stores in the freezer are growing: asparagus, peas, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and strawberries. The canning shelves are going to get a boost today; I’m canning new potatoes.
We’re in the midst of a hot spell. The last time I checked the long-range forecast it looks like we aren’t dipping below +31C (That’s about 88F; the forecast some days is significantly higher than that.) and no precipitation is expected for at least two weeks. Yes, the AC is on.
Gardening has to be done early in the day. I’ll likely pull the peas out by the end of the week and the squash plants will take over their space. Tomatoes are starting to appear on the vines (much to my relief after my spring disaster), the cucumber vines are flowering, tiny sunburst squash grow larger every day, green beans are close to flowering, salad turnips are plentiful, kale and Swiss chard is being harvested and enjoyed daily, and the lettuce–oh, the lettuce!
This is my favourite time of year! It’s busy and oh-so-fulfilling. I’m trying to be intentional this summer about enjoying more time in the lawn swing or on the upper deck with a good book too. We’ll see how that goes.
Canada Day is behind us and our neighbours to the south are celebrating the 4th of July today. Summer is officially under way!
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Here are a few photos I took last week when my girls were here. It was such a treasured time.
As always, your photos are wonderful, including the pea shot.
This morning I walked to garden center and bought a mosquito plant and some bougainvillea fertilizer. Florida is always hot in the summer – humid too! So I tried to get the rose bush pulled out, the new plant troweled in and the flower fertilized before 9:00 this morning.
Marian, I have never heard of a mosquito plant so had to Google it. It’s citronella, yes? It looks like it would be a beautiful addition to a garden or in a pot on the deck! I’m heading out to the garden early this morning too. Let’s both stay cool today…and maybe spend some time with a good book.
I love watching your posts and veggie photos once the crops start coming in! And lovely pics of the girls!
Thank you, Karen!