Garden Thoughts

I like to sit out by my garden in the evenings in one of the old gliders that I found sitting by the side of the road near a friend's house.  It is here that I relax after working (after work), and reflect on what I've done and what I should do in the next few days, weeks, months...

Tonight, I can't help thinking about how long the days have become.  Daylight is my trigger to be working, so it is very easy to stay out in the garden until 8:30 or 9:00, then realize that there isn't a magical kitchen fairy cooking dinner.  And this becomes prohibitive of my next goal:

Sunrise is my favorite time of day.  Every night I go to bed with the idea that I'll wake up and go sit by the garden with my coffee and watch the sunrise.

If it ever happens, I'll post a picture.

Not that I'm complaining.  The lighting bugs are extraordinary this evening, like fireworks in my garden.  The evening is cool, a welcome break from the upper 90s of today (and every other day this week).  I love watching how the light changes the colors in my garden as the sun sets.

A whiff of something reminds me how the smell in the air has changed as the season has progressed.  I never noticed this in my previous years in North Carolina or other anywhere else (and certainly not New York City).  With the first blooms of the season was the huge bush by my shed, casting it's welcoming smell across the yard.  A lilac?  Possibly.  Then came the sweet, subtle iris, followed by the persistent honeysuckle, sure to make its presence known.  I have no idea the cause of tonight's smell.  I do not see anything in bloom.  Who knows, but it sure is a nice reminder of the surprising natural world.

The fireflies really are unbelievable tonight.  My feet are bare in the grass, and I'm sipping on a quality muscadine wine from grapes grown not too far from me.

Now, could someone please go do the dishes?

On another note, some progress shots:

Been hauling dirt from the old garden soil pile into this bed.  Slowly but surely...

I planted some meadow sage and a tick weed out by my bird feeder in the hopes of getting some more bees to the garden.  This soil is hard as a rock and had me about worn out at the start of my work today!  I didn't get very deep; we'll see if the plants survive.

Quite a few buds on my pepper plant!  This is one I started from seed.

Brandywine tomato will bloom soon.  They grow so fast.

Three Sisters... well, just one at the moment, but the beans are starting to come up!  Hopefully will have a replacement squash soon.

I can't eat enough salad to keep up!  I love arugula, but I should have done some more neutral greens as well.  Sun Golds and San Marzanos in the back row, growing strong.  And a lovely nasturtium blossom on the end.