Friday, August 10, 2012

The Final Countdown: 16 Days

If you need background or a reminder, here’s the gist. I'm currently without a garden because when I was digging it up this spring the dirt looked...blech. About two inches down, it looked horrible. Long-story-short, I'm just mulching the space this year, letting it heal and rest. So now that the big harvest times are rounding the bend, my heart is sad, because other than the basil in our windowsill? Nothing.

In step some of the local heroes in my life.

They are my inspiration today:

And this is only some of it. Home-grown tastes sooo good.
A neighbor called me last night, asking if I needed some of her garden goods? Yes! She called another neighbor who's been trying to get rid of her extra too, so we walked over this morning with our pockets stuffed full of bags. 

This woman's garden is huge, and the plants are likewise. I felt like I was in a fairyland of sorts, and things were proportionally off -- towering corn and gigantic zucchini leaves, great big bulbous pumpkins only now turning orange; they made me feel so small.

For lunch Alpha had his first tomato-and-mayo sandwich of the season. I've been having a hard time getting him to eat a variety of colorful foods lately, so imagine my joy when he came up with a little ditty for the sandwich where the lyrics consisted mainly of: "Yummy, yummy/ Yummy, yummy/ Yummy, yummy,  yuuu-mmyyy..."

I'm inspired by gardeners. Growing anything -- literally or metaphorically -- is hard work. And I'm inspired by people who give without expecting anything but a grateful "thank you" back. It both humbles me and fills my heart at the same time.

Today I'm very grateful. Over these last couple of weeks I've been visiting multiple metaphorical gardens in many of your blogs, and the beauty there makes me feel disproportionally small. I love it. To all those gardeners out there, carefully cultivating their projects, their bodies, their minds; and then sharing their experiences with me to grow and learn from too? Thank you. Y'all make me want to sing, and as I putter off into my day again, I am thinking of your gardens and echoing the lyrics of my son, "Yummy, yummy..."


7 comments:

  1. I am sad with you. For one reason or another my garden is bare too this year, only a few onions stand to attention in our veg patch (there is so much bare earth they look a little pathetic).

    I think I will miss the sharing the most. I usually harvest and what ever I think we won't use is left as little presents on our neighbours doorsteps. I wonder if they will miss their little harvest surprises this year?

    Looking forward to next year though, I should have my new greenhouse to play in :-)

    I am also with you on gardens being inspiring and motivational. Off to find some pictures of my favourite gardens to look at ;-)

    PS Keep up the hard work, the end is in sight, no???

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  2. Yay for onions, though. I love the smell of fresh onions just pulled out of the dirt. Mmm.

    Good for you for sharing. I'm sure your neighbours will miss your gifts, but at the same time, I'm sure they'll understand. Onward and upward to next year, and all the glorious planting that will surely ensue.

    Very hardly working...I mean, workly very hard. Yes. The end is in sight, yay! Thanks for the push -- your metaphorical garden over at The Life and Writings have kept me going.

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  3. Love your bounty! This year I decided to do tomatoes and peppers in large pots, and a large herb garden. The tomatoes are finally turning red! I think it was the heat wave here, but I have been freezing a bunch of them this week. I am the only one who eat them. I will have plenty for sauce. I hope to make large batches of pesto this week as the basil did well. I am sad that the dill didn't. Oh well. It is a fun project. Enjoy the garden goodies..

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I so love pesto. How do you feel about posting your recipe? I'm on the prowl for a good one.

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  4. Growing things is fun. It's gratifying to pick and eat what you babied from a seed. But sharing... that's the true magic of gardening of any sort. Thank you for sharing your bounty with us.

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